Island Escape cancelled for November

[Rebel Rouser]

For those that are on the Spirit (Escape) some more info I have gleaned today :D

 

have checked for you the only time it is formal is the Gala Dinner evening were the gentlemen will need a dark suit and tie and ladies a nice evening dress doesn't have to be to formal and you can use the buffet dining if you don't want the gala dinner formal night. Every other evening there is no set code you can be casual, it is down to your own preference the other evenings some people may dress up more than others but it is entirely down to you, there is nothing set for the other evenings, ref katie at Thomsons confirmed this to me today.

Hope that helps with your packing,

[Rebel Rouser]

as Spirit is a direct replacement for Escape, at least for those who can fit in as she has less capacity. I would expect them to drop the formal night for these sailings or they could keep it and relax the dress code.

 

 

Knew I had read it somewhere :mad:

[Tina1uk]

:D The waiting is over, we got our Thomson letter today. Cabin all sorted and looking forward to a trip to warmer climates in January.

 

Our departure date is Jan. 14. The date on the letter was November 11 and postmarked on the 12th. Hopefully this may help those who are still waiting for their letters.

 

Very happy with the arrangements and can now look forward to researching some port of calls.

[Rebel Rouser]

Got out letter today...dated 2/11/10 :eek:

[its,only,me]

:D The waiting is over, we got our Thomson letter today. Cabin all sorted and looking forward to a trip to warmer climates in January.

 

Our departure date is Jan. 14. The date on the letter was November 11 and postmarked on the 12th. Hopefully this may help those who are still waiting for their letters.

 

Very happy with the arrangements and can now look forward to researching some port of calls.

 

 

So tina what deck did you end up on ????

So glad that it is sorted

 

mrs.c

[Tina1uk]

So tina what deck did you end up on ????

So glad that it is sorted

 

mrs.c

 

The letter said deck 3/4 outside which would have been ok with me. It's our 25th wedding anniversary so hubby asked about an upgrade. For an extra small contribution we will now find ourselves on deck 7, a delux cabin I am told. Feeling very excited. :D

 

My hubby said that he could hear another thomson operator in the background who was having a rough time trying to help someone. You have to feel for them don't you? I am guessing that everyone is going to be happier once the logistics have been sorted.

 

Thanks for asking. :)

[its,only,me]

So glad for you tina , thats the deck we are on as well so will let you know what they are like but should be good :)

 

mrs.c

[Tina1uk]

So glad for you tina , thats the deck we are on as well so will let you know what they are like but should be good :)

 

mrs.c

 

 

That would be great, when did you say you are going? I will look forward to that. Be sure to drop me a personal email when you do return.

[its,only,me]

That would be great, when did you say you are going? I will look forward to that. Be sure to drop me a personal email when you do return.

 

 

We are going on the 31st dec :D cannot wait

 

mrs.c

[Rebel Rouser]

Eagle deck here on the Island Spirit ;)

[Willo60]

Got letter today from travel agent confirming phone conversation . On Spirit Jan 22nd .

Allocated deck 3 or 4 inside . Looks like bed configuration is mainly L-shaped , not sure if they can be put together .

The letter states there is 1 formal night , so think its sticking to the Spirit format on dining .

There are 3 couples in our party going for a good time on the All incl package . Dont think we'll be doing the formal , that was reason for booking I.E. , but we'll make sure we enjoy everything .

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice as the mystery unfolded about I.E.

[Stevio]

Well have just returned from my 19th Nov replacement Destiny cruise. Will do a review later but I had no need to worry as the holiday was a good one.:) The ship seemed to have a good number of last minute cruisers that got very good deals and knew nothing of the Island Escape. As for some of the original I.E. bookers their stories ranged

from ….

A couple of ladies who had recently spent two weeks on the Destiny (did not like it at all) was looking forward to a week on the IE & when it was cancelled was forced back on to the Destiny with a take it or lose your money offer.

… Through…

A couple who were very pleased to be offered a good cabin on the Destiny & thought it to be a great deal who were contacted a couple of weeks after they had accepted and given £200 “compensation” (cash not onboard credit).

… Up to …

A couple who had booked a stay & cruise on the IE back in June heard absolutely nothing about dry-docks until 3 days before they left and ended up in a deck 9 suite. They were unsure what room they had booked on the I.E. but their updated paperwork was for £1,100 more than they paid. (More than some had paid for the week cruise.) They were well pleased though a little embarrassed when they were taken past all the queues on their priority embarkation.

There were a lot of people with different stories but without all the details & circumstances is unfortunately no good for giving advice for those in negotiations with Thomsons on future cancellations…… However, just to add to the rumour mill, one of the couple of ladies mentioned above that did not like the Destiny said she sat next to an engineer on the plane who told her the I.E. £4 million refit had ballooned to £12 million with new engines needed and the ship would not be seen again before April or May.:eek:

[chrisda4]

Tickets arrived yesterday, roll on New Years Day. With all his white stuff lying around and it's freezing cold as well it wont come quick enough.

[geezer466]

We too were part of this almighty balls up.

 

Booked a 7 night cruise on the IE back in July (early enough to get the free AI deals). No flights as we made our own arrangements from our very local airport.

Paid the extra to choose our cabin and selected 6458 on diamond deck (we are a family 2ad 2 ch). All was good and we were happy. I do recall reading that the IE was due a refit in November when looking at the reviews for it but thought that's before we are due to go 17th Dec sailing.

 

First we heard about any problems was when we got a letter on 12th November (dated the 1st) saying our holiday had been cancelled and that we should claim on our insurance?

Naturally my partner was on the phone PDQ where they told us it wasn't cancelled but we would be allocated a cabin on deck 1/2. Told this wasn't good enough as we had paid extra to choose our own cabin and didn't want to be so low down in the ship. They wouldn't assist us simply saying we had to choose a cabin and gave us a choice of 4 (all on deck 1).

 

Told them we were not happy and would be cancelling, they stipulated we had to pay a cancellation charge. Refused this charge and pointed out we had a letter from them saying they had cancelled our holiday and that we would use it to pursue full refund + compensation for the messing about at this late stage.

 

Was given a number to ring at Thomson head office. These people were full of apologies but said as it was late in the day they could not offer us anything above deck1/2 as there was nil availability. Pointed out to them that if they had contacted us earlier we could have chosen a replacement cabin as per what we had already paid for.

After some coming and going they said they offered to move us up to deck 2 and give us 2 cabins adjoining outside cabins (1 double 1 Twin for the kids) which we accepted.

 

A fair resolution? That I don't know yet but am certainly not impressed with the way Thompson have handled this particularly as it took 4 hours on the phone to sort out.

[its,only,me]

Tickets arrived yesterday, roll on New Years Day. With all his white stuff lying around and it's freezing cold as well it wont come quick enough.

 

Yes we also got ours :D cannot wait now roll 31st dec.

Yes and it,s white here as well

 

mrs.c

[davecttr]

........sat next to an engineer on the plane who told her the I.E. £4 million refit had ballooned to £12 million with new engines needed and the ship would not be seen again before April or May.:eek:

 

I would have thought it would cost more than 8 million for a pair of engines plus how the heck do you get them into the ship?

 

Thomsons appear to have really screwed this up. They are taking bookings for next year and once the summer season starts there will be no spare ship to cover for Escapes absence. I was thinking of Escape for next year but now I might just cut the risks and go with P&O Ventura or Oceana.

[Rebel Rouser]

plus how the heck do you get them into the ship?

 

.

 

 

Cut the side out ;)

[tgw1980]

So, mid feb is a little optimistic then is it?

[Gilly_mc]

thought I was ok for 9th April but maybe not - damn, wonder what will happen, if they can't do the "easter run" as I tried to add daughter to our booking in Sept and they couldn't accommodate her as there was only 2 x 2 berth cabins left on whole ship - so there would be a lot of disappointed passengers if it doesn't go ahead.

[rosiemaisy]

we also cruise that week 8th april how long before you sail are thomsons contacting people and why are they still selling cruises when they have cancalled some/changed to other ships

[Stevio]

The April or May I.E. return dates were only a rumour from one lady on my cruise. Hopefully the Escape will be back with us by Feb 11th. Most people on my Destiny replacement cruise were very happy with the deal they got, whether they were moved or were last minute bookers. The moving between cruise ships seemed to create better deals for most of those I spoke to on my ship.

[Gilly_mc]

Thanks for trying to reassure us Stevio. I think my problem is that for once I managed to get a 2 week hol fitted into the school easter break as we are hoping to do 1 week stay then 1 week cruise and need to get on the ship on 16th to be back at school on time.

 

There is no flexibility re dates due to the nature of my job - but here's hoping we will see posts in Feb saying the IE is back on track!!

 

Pointless to worry about this now - the snow here is another thing!!! My school was one of the 3 secondary schools open whilst 46 others closed.

[mancmatt26]

Thanks for trying to reassure us Stevio. I think my problem is that for once I managed to get a 2 week hol fitted into the school easter break as we are hoping to do 1 week stay then 1 week cruise and need to get on the ship on 16th to be back at school on time.

 

There is no flexibility re dates due to the nature of my job - but here's hoping we will see posts in Feb saying the IE is back on track!!

 

Pointless to worry about this now - the snow here is another thing!!! My school was one of the 3 secondary schools open whilst 46 others closed.

 

Gilly-mc I have been thinking along similar lines I embark in Madeira on 25 April (Easter Monday) if it is cancelled the chances of getting a good holiday last minute over Easter are going to be slim.

 

Also as the Atlantic Sunrise is a repositioning Cruise it will just be cancelled as there will be no other ships available as they will have to start there Summer Programme start of May.

 

It's my birthday 27 April and was hoping to be away last year we should have done Pharaohs & Promised Land for my birthday on the Spirit and that was cancelled due to volcanic ash (not Thomson fault I know) but surely I cant be that unlucky 2 years in a row :rolleyes:

 

anyway get Christmas over with and worry about it in Feb when we will see if she sails again

[Belfastfemale]

This was a post I posted somewhere else last Friday/Saturday -

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Just am a little bit mad at the moment at the way Thomson has treated my parents. They flew out today to Tenerife to catch the IE - when they arrived they were told the IE was in dry dock and were put on another ship (I assume this is the spirit). The thing that has annoyed me is that not only did Thomson not inform them of this - they also paid for a cabin with a balcony (which is always a premium) which they were not given on this ship..:mad:

 

Surely Thomson knew that this ship was not ready. They did not even have the courtesy to inform my parents of this.:mad: I know people are saying they got letters, but my parents didnt, they would not of minded, but it was a shock to them.

 

I feel for my parents as they had originally booked to go when the ash cloud hit - so they postponed to this date and were really looking forward to it - they are also both pensioners and have saved really hard for their week of luxury!!!!!!:mad:

 

So good luck to those that have already booked - but according to other posts - this ship will not be ready until at least Feb 2011..:eek:

 

Any advice on how do deal with the travel agents would be greatly appreciated, as at the moment I am ready for some fighting!!!!:mad:

 

'Rant over and shoulders now feel much lighter' :cool:

 

Sorry for all the frownies, but they make me feel better.

 

Michele