Crimean Discovery Review ( June '13 )

[mrsloopylou]

Firstly, sorry for the delay in writing this, I did type all out once and laptop had funny 5 mins and I lost everything ! so here goes for a 2nd time :)

 

We was on the first Crimean Discovery back in June, we booked the last year early to take advantage of getting free AI and thought it would get booked quickly as Thomson hadn't run the this cruise for some time, I shall try and break the review down into sections, overall we didn't have a great time as the cruise was full of problems/issues, im sure for anyone going in the future some of these issues will be sorted out, this is the first holiday we have ever had to make a complaint regarding, not normally a moaner but after paying a lot of money a lot of us on board felt a little disheartened, we are still waiting a reply from Thomson regarding the issues we had on board.

 

Airport - Gatwick, no problems checking in apart from trying to say we couldn't have 7kg hand baggage, we showed them small print and they let us go with it, but they were challenging most people and saying you could only take 5 ! flight on time and very good , flew into Dalaman, after getting off plain we was ushered through a separate visa que as we was on a cruise n stay, took 5 mins :), bags came through very quickly, straight out to coach and we would of been straight away but a lady lost her husband so we had to wait until they found him ( 1/2 hour ) coach driver offered cold water at 1 euro, easy transfer to Marmaris took about 1.5 hours with no stops, arrived at port, put cabin numbers on suit cases which were taken to the ship whist we checked in , had photo id taken and cc swiped etc, got shown to our cabin, we had upgraded to Deck 7 to deluxe outside as this was guaranteed to be double rather than singles, wrong ! 4 cabins cant be turned into doubles and we had one, tried to complain and change but ship was full ( not ships fault, mis sold cabin by travel agents ) another upsetting thing was we didn't have time to get back off the boat and see marmaris before we sailed as we only had just over an hour before sailing :(

 

Ship - Celebration..... ok but old, and feels old ( vibration ) ! this is only the 4th cruise we have done but would come 4th in everything in our opinion, cabins have flat screen tv and a kettle, new bathrooms, but nothing screams platinum in any way shape or form, we had been warned not to expect too much, but feel the platinum is a little mis leading to be honest, all they have done is a general refurb to bring it up to better standards, drinks were ok, but were very diff depending on where you got them, a lot of flat coke /lemonade, very hit and miss that you got what you ordered, maybe due to new crew ??

 

Entertainment - Great, loved the shows, killer queen worth a watch ! finding a seat was an issue most nights unless you got there early.

 

Captain - No idea who he was , didn't see him, even on captain/gala night, very poor indeed.

 

Food - Again ok but def the worse we have had on a cruise, not bad food but would def score the least favourite, lido was good, nice selection but we found ordering and getting drinks a long wait, also your drink and food would disappear if you turned your head, so guard your food until you have finished it ! main dinning room we found to be boring selection and nothing better than 2/3 star AI hotel, big let down, one evening we visited minstrals as a treat, food much much better, what I would of expected in main dinning room ! but service not so good, we had 5 courses with wine, and coffee and was out in an hour ! as soon as you had finished one course it was replaced instantly with another, no time to relax between courses, not what you would expect from a better class restaurant.

 

Drinks - We had AI, and made good use of it, wines ok, massive range of cocktails and good selection of other drinks, very annoying that you still have to pay for a bottle of water if you want it in the bottle but can have as much of it in a glass as you wish, the same with coke etc !

 

Sea Day - Try and get a sunbed, good luck with that one !

 

First day at sea we broke down, an hour before we broke down I felt the ship was vibrating more than normal, sat up and spoke to hubby about it and then saw black smoke, commented that I didn't think that looked good, laid back down and woke up to soot all over me ! sat up and this time there was lots of black smoke and bits falling over people sunbathing, and eating outside in lido ! in the end the ship stopped, captain said small problem and not to panic should be fixed in about 20 mins ! nearly 4 hours later with no air con, toilets not working, limited lightening and not able to move around the ship easily due to lifts not working and certain areas blocked off we was under way ..... yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah problem sorted ! then the captain can on and made an announcement that due to expected trouble in Istanbul he was changing course and we was going there the next day and that this in no way had anything to do with the fact we had broken down yeah right ! you need to get the ship looked at and Istanbul is nearest large port, and when we got there divers were down with welding equipment, we was told it was a routine drugs inspection ! anyway when then found out only after a new intinery had been posted through our cabin that he had also dropped a port ( Cesme ) due to time and speed restraints we couldn't get there, a lot of disappointed passengers, we was told by a member of staff that they had been dreading this cruise as they knew they had to go a full speed to just get to every port, so once we broke down there was no chance of us getting everywhere, I believe from the 2nd cruise passengers that they arrived late at ports, so I think this shows that maybe Thomson hadn't thought this cruise and the timings out very well.

 

Ports

 

Cesme - no idea we didn't get there !

 

Istanbul - Amazing !! very easy to do diy, get tram and look around, we started at blue mosque and then walked back via bazaar and then spice market, def go back, hopefully when its not raining so hard !

 

Sevastopol - Lovely place, we did the war tour, death valley, panorama, balakarva well worth money as they seemed to let tours in first in panorama, back down near the port it takes 5 mins to get off ship and your right in the town, very clean and pretty, again we couldn't look around much due to it raining, thunder and lightening ! :mad:

 

Constantia - 4th largest shipyard in the world, horrid port ! Also grossly mis sold as brochure stated about going to visit Bucurest which you cant as its 300 km away !! they have since changed the brochure details, raining and overcast here again do you see the pattern ! had a free coach with a beautiful smashed windscreen take us into their tourist beach Mamaia as there really isn't much to do here ! and that wasn't open as their season hadn't started, gorgeous beach, but empty, im sure on a nice sunny day its packed and a great place for a bit of sunbathing and swimming, cable car worth a go as its cheap and something to do, other than that its just one strip with restaurants one side and shops and the beach the other, our least favourite place and felt it was a waste going there.

 

Nessebar - Beautiful, if you can get off the ship ! pouring hard again here,this is a tender and you don't have long there anyway, if you manage to get a tender ticket its worth a walk around, tours get off first so if you really want to get off then maybe book a tour, otherwise its madness, we had the additional problem of a tender getting caught in rope, which held everything up, lots of people couldn't get off the ship, we did but only had just under 2 hours there, long way to go for 2 hours ! total chaos this day with very unhappy people, but a one off im sure

 

Marmaris - No idea as not enough time to see it on day we arrived or on departure day they wouldn't give us back our passports until 10am and we had to be at the coach by 11.15 with luggage to go to hotel, so again another port missed :(

 

All in all we have had better cruises than this one, we have been on OV, IE and RC and this would come last in our opinion, did we have a nice time , yes, would we go again, no, we had the misfortune of having several problems/issues on this first week, so much so that there was a constant que at reception with people complaining, so much so that they ran out of complaint forms , says it all really ! we are still waiting to hear from Thomson regarding this, but id like to think a lot of the problems we had and the complaints we made we help them get it right for others.

 

Sorry this couldn't of been a more positive review, as ive said it was a one off bad week, but we saw some beautiful places and made some good friends, nobody died or staved or went thirsty ! it just wasn't the right ship for us, friendly and small, but a big room for improvement in lots of areas, come on Thomson pull your socks up ! stop with the cut backs, we heard they had a massive cut back of staff on Celebration and this can only have one effect, poor service for us, and more work for the staff who already do too much for too many hours and Thomson seems to want more and more resulting in a stressed crew and more unhappy customers !

 

We only go to see 4 of the 6 ports , and not very long at any of them to be honest, so for us a long was to go for a few hours, we then went onto a fabulous hotel in Turkey Club Belcekiz Beach which we cannot recommend highly enough

 

Helen & Mark

[geomagot]

many thanks for this review

 

interesting to hear you also didn’t see the captain on gala night....has he turned up at all on gala night? anyone actually seen him?

 

I did see him breifly on the telly (cruise dvd captains corner) when, interestingly one of the questions put to him was 'why does the celebration wobble?'

 

captains answer: 'when the ship was being built they were intending to build two tanker vessels, but, for some reason? half way through after they had built the hull they decided to put a cruise ship superstructure on the tanker hull and build a cruise ship instead'.....so there you have it, spirit and celebration are tankers with a cruise ship superstructure....would explain the unusually long/pointy bow

 

sorry to hear of breakdowns (a/c, toilets, power, drifting) i do hope celebration is not starting to suffer/putter along due to its age? however, I must say we had no problems that I noticed last week on ancient wonders

 

agree on the timings.....late sailins and early sailouts does mean you have to keep an eye on the time while ashore and sunbed wars on deck most afternoons

[Julessmiles]

Thanks for your review from me too - after reading another on here about Nessebar & issues with getting off due to tendering, we have now booked the shortest trip; the 1 hour walking tour - at least that way after travelling that far, we should actually get some time onshore after out tour - we were going to DIY but don't want to risk it!

 

Wish it was Captain John onboard - he was great & very 'visible' !!! We did see the other Captain at Gala Dinner last year in our 2nd week when Captain Jihn had gone home.

[geomagot]

i always thought that sociability was a prerequisite for cruise ship captains

 

ok so they are sea captains and have a ship to command......but this lack of visibility does give the impression that they are deliberately avoiding us?

 

the best captains we ever met were on the island escape: capt guy lockwood & capt david bathgate, they were always to be seen around the ship mingling with the passengers and even entertained us on gala night.....I remember the (not so full monty) captains dance....all ancient history now

[dingadong]

Yes - on our second week, the captain was not available at the "Captain's Gala Evening"! Although, I believe second in command was, and was very personable. The Captain came over tannoy and said if he was there, who would drive the ship ...... :D

 

Agree with the poor planning with regards the Crimean trip. Full throttle all the way for very little time in each place. Disappointing. We were not able to get off at Nessebar.

[Scarey Mary]

We were on for the week before the Crimean as well.

 

The first week we had the Captains Gala with the Captains reception and also one afternoon an 'audience with' the Captain in Broadway.

 

Apart from hearing his voice the second week it was as if he had disappeared.

[kruzseeka]

How disappointing mrsloopylou. I'm sorry your cruise wasn't up to the standard you hoped for - and I can appreciate from what you report why you aren't enamoured of the ship - or the cruise. But you certainly seemed to make the most of things.

 

Didn't sailaway write something recently about more work being done on the Celebration - is that investment indicating she is staying with Thomson for the foreseeable future? I suppose so at least for some period after the spending on the 'Platinum' up-grade. As I think everyone has reported this was a let-down as it was hyped up to raise expectations which weren't met. It was simply a much needed refurb; carpets, soft-furnishings, cabin and bathroom improvements which in all honesty were well overdue! I do think they are an improvement though - if rather low-key - and definitely not super-duper Platinum (inferring top of the range!)

 

But, I'm not sure what else they can do - certainly not create an atrium, glass lifts, cinema under the stars etc., etc., so any amount of spending is hardly going to propel the ship into a different category. So I wonder whether they will ever really take that step to really improve their hardware or are they looking for the cheapest way forward. If so, I think that's a mistake and others like mrsloopylou will not be returning. :rolleyes:

[Julessmiles]

many thanks for this review

 

sorry to hear of breakdowns (a/c, toilets, power, drifting) i do hope celebration is not starting to suffer/putter along due to its age? however, I must say we had no problems that I noticed last week on ancient wonders

 

We had the same problem last August Geo on the Celebration - the engines/air con etc all stopped; fortunately for us it was at 3am so most people were asleep - I woke as I noticed the air con had gone off......this happened for several hours but normal service was resumed by breakfast :)

[Jakanne1]

How disappointing mrsloopylou. I'm sorry your cruise wasn't up to the standard you hoped for - and I can appreciate from what you report why you aren't enamoured of the ship - or the cruise. But you certainly seemed to make the most of things.

 

Didn't sailaway write something recently about more work being done on the Celebration - is that investment indicating she is staying with Thomson for the foreseeable future? I suppose so at least for some period after the spending on the 'Platinum' up-grade. As I think everyone has reported this was a let-down as it was hyped up to raise expectations which weren't met. It was simply a much needed refurb; carpets, soft-furnishings, cabin and bathroom improvements which in all honesty were well overdue! I do think they are an improvement though - if rather low-key - and definitely not super-duper Platinum (inferring top of the range!)

 

But, I'm not sure what else they can do - certainly not create an atrium, glass lifts, cinema under the stars etc., etc., so any amount of spending is hardly going to propel the ship into a different category. So I wonder whether they will ever really take that step to really improve their hardware or are they looking for the cheapest way forward. If so, I think that's a mistake and others like mrsloopylou will not be returning. :rolleyes:

 

Wasn't some investment made to the Destiny in regards to the Lido Deck Restaurant....putting some screens around, new chairs, etc. Wasn't that in 2012 just weeks before Louis took Destiny back and swopped it for Majesty? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[joeholiday2]

An interesting review Mrsloopylou, thank you.

It sounds like you may have been on one of the "off "weeks that have been talked about on here.

 

There is talk of balcony cabins being added during the dry dock. I think they need to sort the engineering problems out first.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Belcekiz Beach, I have not hear a bad report about that place, it's on our list....

[Little Nell]

Thank you for your excellent review :)

 

It is most unfortunate that these things happened on your cruise and I can fully understand why you would be reluctant to go on the Celebration again. When I saw this itinerary, I thought it was an exciting one. Perhaps Thomson need to do a "Brindisi" and drop Constanza. It might ease some of the problems of distance too. If the day at sea was after Nessebar it would be possible to make better use of the time in port. The distances are huge to cover in a week but so long as the itineraries are determined by the cruise and stay market, the cruises will face these sorts of problems. There are enough wonderful places to go between Istanbul and around Sevastopol to make a fabulous trip. Perhaps they need to look at other "stay" options eg a few nights in Istanbul or Bulgaria for a 10 day holiday.

 

Yet again the issue of drinks has arisen. This is something that is upsetting lots of people, including me. I really think Thomson need to restore some of the goodwill that has been lost by reversing this ludicrous decision. This is the sort of thing that happens in 2 star AI hotels that none of us would holiday in and quite frankly we are offended to be treated like that!

 

I am glad that you were able to enjoy certain aspects of your holiday and that you could make the most of things.

[kruzseeka]

Wasn't some investment made to the Destiny in regards to the Lido Deck Restaurant....putting some screens around, new chairs, etc. Wasn't that in 2012 just weeks before Louis took Destiny back and swopped it for Majesty? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

Yes you are right Jakanne - but the Destiny was owned by Louis and has now been reclaimed by them and is sailing in the Aegean. I think they must have put the investment into the Destiny with the intention of reaping the benefits and not for Thomson's passengers. I believe the 'Platinum' upgrades have been financed by Thomson though (and both Celebration and Dream are on different leases - not from louis and with a 'to buy' option at the end of that period) so I would think they are intending to keep both these ships for a while yet. I'm sure sailaway and others who keep an eye on this kind of thing will know a lot more than me about this though.

[geomagot]

This is the sort of thing that happens in 2 star AI hotels that none of us would holiday in and quite frankly we are offended to be treated like that!

 

very well put nell.....hope thoms are reading

[Julessmiles]

Thank you for your excellent review :)

 

Yet again the issue of drinks has arisen. This is something that is upsetting lots of people, including me. I really think Thomson need to restore some of the goodwill that has been lost by reversing this ludicrous decision. This is the sort of thing that happens in 2 star AI hotels that none of us would holiday in and quite frankly we are offended to be treated like that!

 

I am glad that you were able to enjoy certain aspects of your holiday and that you could make the most of things.

 

I agree Little Nell - must be false economies; people will be visiting the bar more often if they are only getting 1/2 can of drink instead of a full can so surely it's more work for the bar staff. Same goes for water; bring back the water dispensers as again Thomson are making more work for the bar staff....!?!:rolleyes:

[Jakanne1]

Yes you are right Jakanne - but the Destiny was owned by Louis and has now been reclaimed by them and is sailing in the Aegean. I think they must have put the investment into the Destiny with the intention of reaping the benefits and not for Thomson's passengers. I believe the 'Platinum' upgrades have been financed by Thomson though (and both Celebration and Dream are on different leases - not from louis and with a 'to buy' option at the end of that period) so I would think they are intending to keep both these ships for a while yet. I'm sure sailaway and others who keep an eye on this kind of thing will know a lot more than me about this though.

 

Sorry, Kruzseeka, posted that without thinking it through properly.

[Little Nell]

I agree Little Nell - must be false economies; people will be visiting the bar more often if they are only getting 1/2 can of drink instead of a full can so surely it's more work for the bar staff. Same goes for water; bring back the water dispensers as again Thomson are making more work for the bar staff....!?!:rolleyes:

 

I know, Jules, I can't see how it is of a benefit to them :confused:

[kruzseeka]

I know, Jules, I can't see how it is of a benefit to them :confused:

 

Well from a PR point of view it certainly seems to be something of an own goal! Surely they can see that it's counter-productive! :rolleyes:

[Little Nell]

Well from a PR point of view it certainly seems to be something of an own goal! Surely they can see that it's counter-productive! :rolleyes:

 

I agree, Kruzseeka. I know they monitor this site and must be aware that people are condemning this daily. It would be good to hear from one of the team.

[maxymaxy1]

Thank you for your excellent review :)

 

It is most unfortunate that these things happened on your cruise and I can fully understand why you would be reluctant to go on the Celebration again. When I saw this itinerary, I thought it was an exciting one. Perhaps Thomson need to do a "Brindisi" and drop Constanza. It might ease some of the problems of distance too. If the day at sea was after Nessebar it would be possible to make better use of the time in port. The distances are huge to cover in a week but so long as the itineraries are determined by the cruise and stay market, the cruises will face these sorts of problems. There are enough wonderful places to go between Istanbul and around Sevastopol to make a fabulous trip. Perhaps they need to look at other "stay" options eg a few nights in Istanbul or Bulgaria for a 10 day holiday.

 

Yet again the issue of drinks has arisen. This is something that is upsetting lots of people, including me. I really think Thomson need to restore some of the goodwill that has been lost by reversing this ludicrous decision. This is the sort of thing that happens in 2 star AI hotels that none of us would holiday in and quite frankly we are offended to be treated like that!

 

I am glad that you were able to enjoy certain aspects of your holiday and that you could make the most of things.

 

 

We did the Atlantic Crossing from Caribbean in April and the AI cost us nearly £1000. We did feel we got our moneys worth but this having to pay 95p if you fancied a glass of coke is ridiculous. Also we feel it is a messing about to get a drink - one card one drink. We had been ashore one day and came back really thirsty and we both got a pint of shandy each. We both drank them but I had about an inch left in the bottom and it had gone flat anyway. The waitress came over for a drinks order and my husband gave her 2 cards and asked for 2 brandy and lemonades and the waitress rudely pushed my card back at me and said 'no madam, you can't order another drink you still have some in your glass', my husband was furious and quickly put the glass with an inch of flat shandy on her tray and politely said 'my wife hasn't got a drink now you can take it away and bring her another drink', if looks could have killed.

 

Must agree if you go for drink with a mixer it is usually flat and been left in the can for ages. On the water subject, even 2 star hotels glady give you bottles of water to take to your room so why Thomsons can't do it I don't know.:cool:

[gillhalfpint]

We did the Atlantic Crossing from Caribbean in April and the AI cost us nearly £1000. We did feel we got our moneys worth but this having to pay 95p if you fancied a glass of coke is ridiculous. Also we feel it is a messing about to get a drink - one card one drink. We had been ashore one day and came back really thirsty and we both got a pint of shandy each. We both drank them but I had about an inch left in the bottom and it had gone flat anyway. The waitress came over for a drinks order and my husband gave her 2 cards and asked for 2 brandy and lemonades and the waitress rudely pushed my card back at me and said 'no madam, you can't order another drink you still have some in your glass', my husband was furious and quickly put the glass with an inch of flat shandy on her tray and politely said 'my wife hasn't got a drink now you can take it away and bring her another drink', if looks could have killed.

 

Must agree if you go for drink with a mixer it is usually flat and been left in the can for ages. On the water subject, even 2 star hotels glady give you bottles of water to take to your room so why Thomsons can't do it I don't know.:cool:

 

Useful information. Think my drop in a glass would be popped onto an empty table. Daft system, and there was me thinking if my cocktail tasted short of alcohol as has been reported, I could ask for a glass of the relevant spirit to put in myself.