Caribbean fly cruise with Thomas Cook

[38anchor]

We have booked a fly cruise on Azura for January 2011 and I have just seen on our cruise personaliser that the flight is Thomas Cook - they have just assigned us a flight number whereas before it was just TCX TBA so I am presuming this is now confirmed and they will not be changing to Thomsons etc.

 

Anyway, even though we have booked premium I am still a little concerned as everything I have read seems to point at Thomas Cook being the worst to fly with out of all the airlines P&O use.

 

Anybodies personal experiences, good or bad would be gratefully received. Pictures even better.

[dreamweaver767]

We flew with them last November from Manchester to Barbados for our Caribbean cruise. Firstly Thomas cook fly the A330-200 on long haul and are a very modern aircraft, a lot newer than some of the Thomsonfly 767’s also you get seat back tv and are a tad wider than the 767’s so it doesn’t feel as cramped.

Service both outbound and in were very good, plenty of drink runs and food was very good, not as good as p&o though. Some friend on the same flight paid for the upgrade and to tell you the truth it’s not worth it. Slightly more leg room bigger TV screens with a few more movies to choose from and pre take off drinks. Personally think it’s a rip off.

Of the two as I have flown both carriers and I would rate Thomas Cook as a better choice.

Andy

[sammydo]

we have flown both thomson and thomas cook to barbados, and i would much prefer to fly thomas cook anyday,

may have just been luck, but the plane was nicer, cleaner, and the service was much better. we were in premium in both, but given a choice, i would not want to fly thomson again.

[CASPALL]

Been on Thomas Cook and it was really good although some plus size people people find the seats quite narrow.

 

We paid the upgrade for Thomson and decided it was worth it, although a lot of people say it isn't.

 

We are on a wait list to get an upgrade when we fly back to Manchester in November. Here's hoping....

 

Caryl

[terrierjohn]

We flew with them last November from Manchester to Barbados for our Caribbean cruise. Firstly Thomas cook fly the A330-200 on long haul and are a very modern aircraft, a lot newer than some of the Thomsonfly 767’s also you get seat back tv and are a tad wider than the 767’s so it doesn’t feel as cramped.

 

Service both outbound and in were very good, plenty of drink runs and food was very good, not as good as p&o though. Some friend on the same flight paid for the upgrade and to tell you the truth it’s not worth it. Slightly more leg room bigger TV screens with a few more movies to choose from and pre take off drinks. Personally think it’s a rip off.

 

Of the two as I have flown both carriers and I would rate Thomas Cook as a better choice.

 

 

Andy

Andy, Can you remember the seat configuration on your TC flight, the last time we flew with them it was 3:3:3 on the A330, I prefer the 2:4:2 they have on 767's, that's assuming we can get a window seat and it's neighbour.

38anchor, We also have Jan 2011 flycruise booked on Ventura, but out cruise personaliser says flight details will only be posted 17 weeks before the cruise., I wonder why you are getting preferential treatment?

[BrianI]

The bulk of the cost for an upgrade goes to paying double airport departure tax. You will pay £150 tax compared to "only" £75 for economy from 1st Nov. So effectively £75 of your upgrade goes straight to the government. Good to see some people are helping to keep the government afloat.

Currently the rates are £50 and £100 on flights to the Caribbean

Brian

[OldJerseycruiser]

Terrier John,

 

Go to your travel summary on Cruise Personaliser and that should show your flights. We have our Jan 11 and Dec 11 flights showing on ours.

[CASPALL]

Just found my flight details. Thanks OldJersey Cruiser!

 

 

Caryl

[dreamweaver767]

Andy, Can you remember the seat configuration on your TC flight, the last time we flew with them it was 3:3:3 on the A330, I prefer the 2:4:2 they have on 767's, that's assuming we can get a window seat and it's neighbour.

38anchor, We also have Jan 2011 flycruise booked on Ventura, but out cruise personaliser says flight details will only be posted 17 weeks before the cruise., I wonder why you are getting preferential treatment?

 

It's still 3x3x3 in the eco section, towards the rear where the fusalage tapers in goes down to 2x3x2. Forward section is 2x2x2.

 

Andy

[Marmaduke]

Having travelled in both Thomson and Thomas Cook premium cabin I would say Thomson is better. But neither are worth the extra supplement. Last December I made a late booking and travelled out to Barbados in Thomas Cook economy and then in the following February I travelled on the same flight but in Premium. If there was any more leg room it was negligible, the only difference i noticed was that the seat was wider, and I got half a plastic tumbler of warm champagne before take off. The food in both cabins is identical, being served in a cardboard box, except one has a label saying 'Premium'. Despite having booked that premium flight on the day the bookings opened my husband and I were seated behind each other for both outbound and inbound flights. It would appear that Thomson pre book the Premium seats in date order of booking but Thomas Cook do not. So be warned! I was so disgusted with the premium cabin on Thomas Cook that I complained to P & O and have cancelled my premium seats for this Winters cruise.

[38anchor]

Having travelled in both Thomson and Thomas Cook premium cabin I would say Thomson is better. But neither are worth the extra supplement. Last December I made a late booking and travelled out to Barbados in Thomas Cook economy and then in the following February I travelled on the same flight but in Premium. If there was any more leg room it was negligible, the only difference i noticed was that the seat was wider, and I got half a plastic tumbler of warm champagne before take off. The food in both cabins is identical, being served in a cardboard box, except one has a label saying 'Premium'. Despite having booked that premium flight on the day the bookings opened my husband and I were seated behind each other for both outbound and inbound flights. It would appear that Thomson pre book the Premium seats in date order of booking but Thomas Cook do not. So be warned! I was so disgusted with the premium cabin on Thomas Cook that I complained to P & O and have cancelled my premium seats for this Winters cruise.

 

That doesn't sound good.

 

I have heard that this year P&O are looking to introduce a pre-select your seat option before you fly....... no details yet but I know that being split up from my partner would really spoil the start of the holiday.

[terrierjohn]

That doesn't sound good.

 

I have heard that this year P&O are looking to introduce a pre-select your seat option before you fly....... no details yet but I know that being split up from my partner would really spoil the start of the holiday.

There have been lots of comments about this over the years, and on our only previous Barbados fly cruise, although we were seated together, the passenger next to us was 2 or 3 rows away from his partner; and of course the seating arrangements are identical on the return flight.

Surely it must be possible for P&O and it's carriers to devise a system that puts passengers from the same booking together, how difficult can it be?

 

 

Thank you to Oldjerseycruiser for helping me to find my flight details, but I don't understand why the P&O cruise personaliser does not show the same info against Flights on the front page, as it does under Travel Summary, bizarre!

[sammydo]

i have spoken to P&O on several occasions, re seating, and they will not guarantee anyone sitting together, even if booking is made on first day bookings open. according to thomas cook and thomson,.. p&O allocate the seats, so therefore i would have thought people booking together should be sat together, but i really cannot get to the bottom of it, they all seem to blame each for the seating arrangements, when families are split up, as we were in premium.

on our next cruise, we have NOT booked premium, for the reason i think there might be better chance of us being sat together. last time we paid £800 for our family to upgrade, only to be sat apart, so never again :mad:

[white_rose]

Hi, We are thinking of booking the Oceana Panama Canal cruise. This will be the first fly cruise we would take with a 23kg luggage allowance. Our last fly/cruise was with BA and at that time we were allowed 2 cases each + 20kg cabin allowance. I cannot imagine packing for a 2 week cruise with four formals (including hubby`s tux and very heavy shoes) into two 23kg cases! I was wondering if you got an increased luggage allowance in the premium section on the Thomas Cook flight. We were allowed 30 kg in premium on a Thomson`s flight to Mexico.

[sammydo]

we cruised from Barbados this year, and our allowance was just 23kg per person, plus i am sure it was only 5kg pp hand baggage. .....and that was in premium, so no extra allowances there

 

its not easy, but over the cruises, we have gradually learnt what to take and what NOT to take. this year we bought all our toiletries at the airport, after going through security, when hand luggage had already been weighed, yes its a bit of a pain, but given the weight of toiletries, it frees up a bit more space and weight in your suitcase.

 

this was the same on both the thomson and thomas cook flights we have been on.

[white_rose]

Thanks. I won`t book premium if we don`t get an increased allowance then. Will just have to be brutal with clothes selection! I would buy toiletries airside but we are looking at flying from Leeds/Bradford and there isn`t much choice airside except for duty free which only carry expensive premium brands. It will a whole new learning experience for me. Our last three cruises have been cruise only from Southampton with unlimited luggage - bliss!

[Thejuggler]

Many years ago enduring a 3-3-3 layout in a Monarch A300 put us off longhaul with charters for life - there was barely any shoulder room and we were sat bolt upright.

 

This was magnified when we flew on an Emirates A330 with a more typical scheduled airline 2-4-2 layout - that one seat makes a huge difference in available space per passenger.

 

The next time we went longhaul on charter we booked Premium cabin in an Airtours A330 and it was bliss - 2-3-2 layout and 38 inch legroom - we didn't really care about the rest of the service, just having room to sleep was enough!

[Northern Bear]

We have TC booked for our November cruise in premium and our ticket says maximum of 2 bags up to 30 kg TOTAL. That is for both bags or one bag.

 

Very restrictive carry on sizes too.

[CASPALL]

Carry on luggage is 5kg and hold luggage 23kg per person.

 

Just got our flight itinerary by post yesterday - it's Thomsonfly for us.

 

Just hoping as it's a one-way flight from Barbados to Manchester that P&O will let us sit together!

 

Caryl

[February here we come]

I have checked with our Cruise Personaliser for our flight to Barbados from Manchester. We are due to cruise P&O Ventura in February. This was updated two weeks ago to say that we are flying Thomas Cook.:)