We've booked the Canarian Flavours cruise on the Marella Dream 9th Feb.

Ok I know from experience that it tends to be mostly negative reviews that get posted on review sites but really concerned now that we booked and paid for this trip as there was a really good offer.

We sailed on the Crown Princess last summer and I guess as she was our first cruise we are always going to compare but if memory serves there were lots of negative reviews of her, which we found completely unfounded but the reviews of the Dream are quite consistent.

It's too late to cancel but dreading the thought that we have paid to spend a week on a rust bucket with scruffy bedding, substandard food and the lovely noro virus as a departing gift!

We've just returned from "The Dream" unfortunately it was more a "Nightmare"

We were on her last year, probably our tenth time, and found all OK , we love the layout and staff, find the food suitable for us and love the entertainment , we have an outside plus cabin which is a good size and very clean, no rust, obviously it could have gone down in the six months since out last visit but we would have no concerns about booking again. Just go with an open mind and have a great time. If you have any questions just ask and I will try to help.

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We sailed that ship & itinerary just before Christmas.

There was no noro.

That's something that's usually brought aboard a ship by passengers - mostly unwittingly cos it has an incubation period of about 48 hours. Aircraft spread it, due to the confined space / recirculated air, so the risk is higher when folk fly to start their cruise. It affects all ships from time to time. Princess have a comparatively good record, Thomson's not as good but far from the worst - the worst-performing tend to be those which cater particularly for older folk (but I cast no aspersions).

All ships' crews are well-versed in dealing with it - usually involving confining sufferers to their cabins (which is where they want to be anyway), a deep-clean, and restrictions on self-service in the buffets.

So if a cruise has a noro problem the risk on the next cruise might be higher, but not beyond that.

So Dream's recent noro infection will be ancient history by the time you cruise. :)

Sometimes ships don't allow self-service at the buffets for the first couple of days. That's not necessarily a because there's an infection, because on some ships it's standard procedure - IMHO it should be standard procedure on all ships.

There are things that the crew do to reduce the risk, for instance frequent cleaning of handrails, lift buttons, door handles etc. You can also reduce your risk by frequent hand-washing, avoiding touching handrails, self-serving from the back of the trays of cold food, etc.

Dream is far from the oldest ship in Thomson's fleet. No, not a rust-bucket - and I've sailed a couple of those.

Nor did we have any issue with bedding etc.

Food and service in the MDR were excellent, the Lido buffet is a bit "canteen" and occasionally a bit of a bun-fight in there (as we've also experienced on other cruise lines, including Princess).

The two negatives compared to Princess

- like all of Thomson's fleet, she doesn't have the glitz and the toys of a bigger more modern ship. A negative for some, no big deal for others.

- despite being 99% British, the clientele is more diverse than other lines, and - excuse my phraseology - more "working-class". Snobbery comes into some of the negative reviews.

The positives

- a very friendly atmosphere, both passengers and crew. No false "trained" smiles from the crew, they're a genuinely friendly and hard-working crowd.

- no on-board price shocks that I'm sure you must have experienced with a first cruise on Princess. Bar prices similar to provincial pubs & no iniquitous service charge on top, the price of a bottles of wine starts around £14 - none of Princess' $25 plus 15% service.

No daily service charge, and though we tend not to take ships' excursions they are cheaper on Thomson than other cruise lines for the same or better product.

It's a shame you didn't cruise Dream first, that has rather spoilt you for Thomson's rather more basic product.

But it's a good ship, a good crew, a good itinerary, so - as pensioncruiser says - go with an open mind.

Don't go fearing or looking for fault, cos that would surely impact on your enjoyment.

Have a great cruise

JB :)

Agree with JOHN BULL,we were on Dream oct 17,booked to go on her in March 18/and oct 18 so...................

Look at the bad and good reviews and then take a middle view !! enjoy !!!:)