Thomson confiscating your Duty Free

[gillhalfpint]

Are the little pots fresh milk or long life ? I don't like the long life.

 

Can't really remember as we drink both. Think it was long life type.

[Little Nell]

Thanks :)

[kruzseeka]

Are the little pots fresh milk or long life ? I don't like the long life.

 

When we were on the Dream early this year it was little pots of creamer- not milk - which I don't like at all in tea although find it ok in coffee. Supplied in the cabin are Earl Grey sachets which I used without milk which I found acceptable. However it could have been a temporary supply issue or perhaps after compaints they are now providing milk cartons as well as creamers.

 

However there is a fridge in the cabin and skimmed and full fat milk available at tea/coffee stations in the self-service restaurants (but they are long-life!!) so you could take some to your cabin and keep in the fridge to use as you need. But buying fresh milk on shore sounds like a good idea if possible - how feasible that would be would depend on the port I think.

[Little Nell]

When we were on the Dream early this year it was little pots of creamer- not milk - which I don't like at all in tea although find it ok in coffee. Supplied in the cabin are Earl Grey sachets which I used without milk which I found acceptable. However it could have been a temporary supply issue or perhaps after compaints they are now providing milk cartons as well as creamers.

 

However there is a fridge in the cabin and skimmed and full fat milk available at tea/coffee stations in the self-service restaurants (but they are long-life!!) so you could take some to your cabin and keep in the fridge to use as you need. But buying fresh milk on shore sounds like a good idea if possible - how feasible that would be would depend on the port I think.

 

I like the creamers in coffee but would be more likely to drink coffee in one of the bars. I would probably drink tea in the morning in the cabin, so buying milk ashore would be the best option I think. I am very pleased about the kettles in the room :)

 

Thanks, Kruzseeka :)

[Jim The Scot]

Well this is going to affect the sales of duty free booze on the plane and in the shop on board isn't it. It personally won't bother us too much even though we don't have the drinks package and will settle the bill at the end of the cruise but sadly I am really excited about being able to have a hot drink in my cabin. Wonder if you buy fresh milk ashore they will take it off you. Do you think they will provide tea,coffee etc as well as the kettle.hello Jim how was the hotel and the weather?

 

Hello info,

 

Lovely hotel,defo go back..Food a bit disappointing for the first few days but very good after that.The sweets/puddings were yummy and probably the best we`ve had.Comfiest beds we`ve slept in also....Only downside to the hotel was the big large steel gates at the walkway to reception were locked on a few occassions when we returned after being out on the town....Might had something to do with it being 3-15 am and 2-30ish am respectively :D Once I pressed the buzzer and mumbled my name and room number gates were duly opened

 

Weather was lovely also,20-24 degrees

[CRUISIN LINDA]

sadly I am really excited about being able to have a hot drink in my cabin.

 

And me :D:D:D:D

[jaceyar]

About to board plane - have had a fab cruise. If I ever see melon for breakfast again, I will scream!

Full report when compus mentus.

 

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk.

[Vitalsign]

We cruised on Dream 24th Feb for 2 weeks and did not take up the A1 package as we considered it too expensive. Having cruised the Caribbean a number of times on Ocean Village and Thomson we have always gone on shore every day and bought drinks in the local bars and only bought drinks in the evening (except sea days) on the ship. This worked out a lot cheaper than buying the A1 package. On Ocean Village you were not allowed to have alcohol in your cabin (some managed to sneak it on tho') but the measures bought on board were doubles and good quality spirit and not over priced. Considering you are being served duty free alcohol, Thomsons prices have increased considerably over the last few years. We were A1 at a reasonable price April 2012 on Celebration and were served good measures, however, paying on the Dream this year we were very disappointed and the difference was marked. So for the first time we bought alcohol to top up our drinks up!!!

I was disappointed with the so called up-grade of the ship, the food in the buffet is not up to OV standard - the cold desserts are disgusting and the ice cream was sorbet!! As smokers on Deck 10 we were constantly covered in black greasy ash from the funnel which regularly covered the new white canopy over the lido deck. We have decided that now the only advantage of Thomson cruises over most other lines is that there is only one sea day each week as many friends who have been on other cruise lines say they have had brilliant food, entertainment, plenty of sunbeds not squashed together like they were on Deck 12, and the ships are friendly so we are going to give it a go.

 

Thomson Spirit Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh Oct 2005

Thomson Celebration Red Sea Magic Jan 2007

Ocean Village Caribbean & Central America Feb 2008

Ocean Village Eastern Med August 2008

Ocean Village 2 Caribbean Feb 2009

Ocean Village Caribbean Mar 2010

Thomson Dream Cuba & Caribbean Feb 2011

Thomson Celebration Eastern Med August 2011

Thomson Celebration Red Sea Magic April 2012

Thomson Celebration Repo Red Sea to Med April/May 2012

Thomson Dream Caribbean Feb 2013

[sodafountain]

We cruised on Dream 24th Feb for 2 weeks and did not take up the A1 package as we considered it too expensive. Having cruised the Caribbean a number of times on Ocean Village and Thomson we have always gone on shore every day and bought drinks in the local bars and only bought drinks in the evening (except sea days) on the ship. This worked out a lot cheaper than buying the A1 package. On Ocean Village you were not allowed to have alcohol in your cabin (some managed to sneak it on tho') but the measures bought on board were doubles and good quality spirit and not over priced. Considering you are being served duty free alcohol, Thomsons prices have increased considerably over the last few years. We were A1 at a reasonable price April 2012 on Celebration and were served good measures, however, paying on the Dream this year we were very disappointed and the difference was marked. So for the first time we bought alcohol to top up our drinks up!!!

I was disappointed with the so called up-grade of the ship, the food in the buffet is not up to OV standard - the cold desserts are disgusting and the ice cream was sorbet!! As smokers on Deck 10 we were constantly covered in black greasy ash from the funnel which regularly covered the new white canopy over the lido deck. We have decided that now the only advantage of Thomson cruises over most other lines is that there is only one sea day each week as many friends who have been on other cruise lines say they have had brilliant food, entertainment, plenty of sunbeds not squashed together like they were on Deck 12, and the ships are friendly so we are going to give it a go.

 

Thomson Spirit Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh Oct 2005

Thomson Celebration Red Sea Magic Jan 2007

Ocean Village Caribbean & Central America Feb 2008

Ocean Village Eastern Med August 2008

Ocean Village 2 Caribbean Feb 2009

Ocean Village Caribbean Mar 2010

Thomson Dream Cuba & Caribbean Feb 2011

Thomson Celebration Eastern Med August 2011

Thomson Celebration Red Sea Magic April 2012

Thomson Celebration Repo Red Sea to Med April/May 2012

Thomson Dream Caribbean Feb 2013

 

Do you know this statement to be fact?

 

As far as i was aware, the law states that any duty free alcohol bought had to be for your own consumption, not fo resale, and you are only allowed so much per person.

 

I presume, as a company, they have to buy it properly, and pay the relevant taxes, etc, depending on where it is from.

[Grez]

Do you know this statement to be fact?

 

As far as i was aware, the law states that any duty free alcohol bought had to be for your own consumption, not fo resale, and you are only allowed so much per person.

 

I presume, as a company, they have to buy it properly, and pay the relevant taxes, etc, depending on where it is from.

 

I think Vitalsign means that Thomson are not paying UK Duty on the alcohol.

[sodafountain]

I think Vitalsign means that Thomson are not paying UK Duty on the alcohol.

 

Maybe they did, but it's now what they said, they will obviosuly be paying taxes and duty to someone, not sure who, and i don't feel their prices are too high either, their supplements for AI might be, but for a basic PAYG price, thay are not to bad, especially compared to other cruise lines.

[whistlerbc]

Boarded dream on 24 March and that very evening went to duty free for a look around. Signs up to say alcohol purchased would be delivered to cabin the night before departure. I queried this to be told it was a new policy put into place from that day and would be trialed for 4 weeks. It was announced over the tannoy system the day before departure that alcohol purchased must be packed in your suitcase for the return journey!

 

Cigarettes can still be purchased and taken away for use straight away, it is only alcohol that is affected.

 

Bags scanned everyday except St Maarten!!!! :confused:

 

I didn't purchase the AI package as most of you will know due to the changes of the package and the fact it would not offer value for my party with these changes. We also like to try local produce and no locally produced beers or spirits are offered onboard the ship so we just sampled a local beer in port before boarding at the end of the day. Thomson are seriously damaging local producers and businesses by this practice as well as their own duty free sales and into the bargain ending up with a lot of disgruntled customers. Rules in place to allow taking a few locally produced beers or a small bottle of local spirit onboard would have been welcomed by us.

 

I actually felt like I was being held to ransom! I object to being told what my choice of alcoholic drink must be limited to, thats the price and get over it!! Mai tai was my favourite cocktail on Destiny so I sampled this and what a disappointment. Quality was lacking to say the least :(

 

Soft drinks are not a problem, take onboard what you want.

 

I will add that the rules on people having way too many especially when on the drinks package need to be sorted out. Don't get me wrong only it is the odd one or two but thats enough to make a nuisance for lots of other passengers :mad:

[happy v]

I hope they realise after the trial that they didn't save that much money and it led to very unhappy customers so return to normal.

[geomagot]

We also like to try local produce and no locally produced beers or spirits are offered onboard the ship

 

welcome back whistle....hopes you had a good time (despite this new policy) I didnt realize that this new policy was a trial....will have to wait (with baited breath) for the outcome

 

I have also just returned last week....they were offering banks beer (produced in barbados) would have liked to see carib & red stripe available too

[jaceyar]

Very good report Whistlerbc especially as you must have been cream crackered when you posted it. It was great to meet you and your lovely husband and daughter.

I agree with everything you've said. The Mai Tai I found quite undrinkable.

All those rum-tasting excursions are now rather marred by the fact that everything you buy is snatched away until the end of your cruise.

Hubby and I were well fed up by the cheap nasty tonic that ruined our G+Ts -Royal something or other. The annoying thing was that on Sunday before we left, one of our favourite bar girls showed us a pallet of Schweppes tonic behind the Medusa bar curtain which I assume had just been loaded.

One thing that I didn't notice last year was that our water glasses were topped up constantly in the Orion which was great - although I'm not sure generating so many empty plastic bottles correlates so well with Thomson's Green credentials. Also, you mostly have to ask for an ice bucket for white wine - I think this used to be automatically provided but perhaps it's dependant on which wine waiter you have.

[jaceyar]

Just seen the poll on here "What will you do?" - the title could have been more informative - we vote re the new alcohol policy. It closes today so please take part.

[stevedeccaman]

Just seen the poll on here "What will you do?" - the title could have been more informative - we vote re the new alcohol policy. It closes today so please take part.

 

 

Sorry but what planet are you on :rolleyes:

 

this post was from Kalos who is a kind person and been on this forum for as long as I can remember:cool:

 

Stevie:)

[joeholiday2]

Thomsons will pay next to nothing for the booze they serve.

It was only a tenner for a Litre of Bombay Sapphire in St Kitts, so what must they pay when they buy in bulk and at trade prices?

24 shots in a Litre bottle.

Those big American lines must be coining it in.

 

One barman on the Celebration was stocktaking one day and told me he had to make a list so they knew what to get out of the stores as soon as they were out of port and away from the exclusion zone for paying duty.

Otherwise they will pay the tax on it. it probably varies from Country to Country.

[Little Nell]

Good news that this is a trial and judging by the reaction will not be permanent.

[geomagot]

Does this mean I have to cancel my ebay order for a dozen invisible booze smuggling containers?:D:D:D

 

honestly...the seller really did say they were completly totally invisible....maybe I have already received them????:D

[kalos]

Just seen the poll on here "What will you do?" - the title could have been more informative - we vote re the new alcohol policy. It closes today so please take part.

 

Hi Jaceyar, Thanks for the Vote on the "what will you do" Poll :).

 

May call my next poll " Oy you vote now !:D

 

Reading through your posts ,glad to see you had a great holiday and I bet your looking forward to

your next cruise now .Going up market a bit ;)

 

I bet you will still get Mellons for breakfast :rolleyes::D

[whistlerbc]

welcome back whistle....hopes you had a good time (despite this new policy) I didnt realize that this new policy was a trial....will have to wait (with baited breath) for the outcome

 

I have also just returned last week....they were offering banks beer (produced in barbados) would have liked to see carib & red stripe available too

 

Thanks geomagot I did indeed have a fabulous time and will try to do a review as soon as I catch up with everything else. It was one of the staff in the duty free shop that told me it was a 4 week trial but we shall wait and see!! Really angry to hear that Banks was available, no information given to suggest this was the case.

 

Does this mean I have to cancel my ebay order for a dozen invisible booze smuggling containers?:D:D:D

 

honestly...the seller really did say they were completly totally invisible....maybe I have already received them????:D

 

Ha ha nice one :D

[whistlerbc]

Very good report Whistlerbc especially as you must have been cream crackered when you posted it. It was great to meet you and your lovely husband and daughter.

I agree with everything you've said. The Mai Tai I found quite undrinkable.

All those rum-tasting excursions are now rather marred by the fact that everything you buy is snatched away until the end of your cruise.

Hubby and I were well fed up by the cheap nasty tonic that ruined our G+Ts -Royal something or other. The annoying thing was that on Sunday before we left, one of our favourite bar girls showed us a pallet of Schweppes tonic behind the Medusa bar curtain which I assume had just been loaded.

One thing that I didn't notice last year was that our water glasses were topped up constantly in the Orion which was great - although I'm not sure generating so many empty plastic bottles correlates so well with Thomson's Green credentials. Also, you mostly have to ask for an ice bucket for white wine - I think this used to be automatically provided but perhaps it's dependant on which wine waiter you have.

 

It was lovely to meet you jaceyar :)

 

Not surprised about the tonic, I'm shocked on return to hear they had Banks beer as well grrrrr :mad:

 

Its a bit ironic that Thomson offer excursions to rum distilleries then ban you from sampling the products isn't it!! I suppose you can still purchase the rum and down it on the dockside :rolleyes:

 

Dreadful! I don't see how allowing the likes of a quarter bottle per person per day would make any difference to Thomson but it would make a big difference to the local economy.

 

Thomson - I find this policy unethical! Fat cat gets fatter.......

[sodafountain]

Good news that this is a trial and judging by the reaction will not be permanent.

 

Sorry, but as we have seen in the past, Thomson won't give a jot about the reaction here, it will be whether it is making them extra money on board that will swing it.

 

I expect, as more people might have AI in the European cruises, they would rather you bring your own onboard, probably why it is only the Caribbean, where they don't offer free or reduced AI, so maybe less have it, so more people are paying for drinks on board.

 

Just a thought.

[geomagot]

I hope they realise after the trial that they didn't save that much money and it led to very unhappy customers so return to normal.

 

tbo it makes sense that they would trail it....I'm guessing that thoms will want to see what the repercussions are? most notably for their onboard shops (which are concessions)....lets face it, if i owned that concession and my customers were effectively being diverted away....i wouldn’t be best pleased?

 

lets say if only 10% of pax routinely buy a bottle from the duty free shop to drink in their cabin...per week, over 4 ships....that is a significant sum!....that, I would guess thoms are hoping will simply be diverted to the onboard bars instead?

 

will people buy more drinks from the bars? or maybe be more inclined to take up the ai?...not me! I will enjoy a nice cup of tea in my cabin instead (that thoms kindly provide)

 

would be very interested to see the data at the end of this trial??

 

and I suspect so would carnival/princess/other lines etc be very interested to see the data...I have always thought they were missing a trick by not allowing boooze purchased in their onboard shops in cabins