Not for me

[Keith Jackson]

We were on Thomson Dream for two weeks ending 20/6.This was primarily my wife's gig for our 4oth WA.Considering the amount we paid I thought the thing was a bit tacky and cheap.

 

The whole experience was very dated and boring, discovered that cruising for 14 days is not for me.

 

Food : the problem is catering for a mass of people, how do you keep things warm and stopped from drying out.The Orion was ok - most people you were coralled with were fine, the food ranged from pretentious to over imagined .The buffets were awful places which reminded me of my works canteen over 40 years ago.Of the three restaurants where you paid we liked Mistral most,the others were ok.

 

Entertainment: Awful.The piped music was repititious and stuck in a time warp which ended around 1980.It relied on patently cheap Filipino labour, the trio on particular couldnt reach notes and sounded as if they were singing after using a language cassette.The pianist was too loud and the "comedian" had seen better days.

 

If Ruth Madoc had come on the intercom saying "Good morning cruisers, today there's a spaghetti eating contest" I wouldnt have been surprised.

 

Excursions: We had three cancelled, some of the guides spoke too much,or had their own agenda, some excursions gave you too much free time others not enough.

 

Staff : Very hard working...we left our cleaner a tip, she showed no appreciation and didnt say goodbye, wheras previously she was very friendly, maybe we didnt give enough, we werent obliged to.

 

one sad conclusion. these things are mainly for the over 60's and thats how patronising Thomson treat you,with constant "tributes" to the 50's and 60's,[ and the UK, sorry,but it really is the Fat Man of Europe and what else should you expect when food - not just snacks - are available all day long, with drink packages seemingly designed for some people with a serious drink problem.But then theres not really a lot to do except wander around trying to look young and finding a bar for yet another cocktail of the day,crass, unimaginative and boring. Hopefully my wife will have been cruised out BY now

[campolady]

We were on Thomson Dream for two weeks ending 20/6.This was primarily my wife's gig for our 4oth WA.Considering the amount we paid I thought the thing was a bit tacky and cheap.

 

The whole experience was very dated and boring, discovered that cruising for 14 days is not for me.

 

Food : the problem is catering for a mass of people, how do you keep things warm and stopped from drying out.The Orion was ok - most people you were coralled with were fine, the food ranged from pretentious to over imagined .The buffets were awful places which reminded me of my works canteen over 40 years ago.Of the three restaurants where you paid we liked Mistral most,the others were ok.

 

Entertainment: Awful.The piped music was repititious and stuck in a time warp which ended around 1980.It relied on patently cheap Filipino labour, the trio on particular couldnt reach notes and sounded as if they were singing after using a language cassette.The pianist was too loud and the "comedian" had seen better days.

 

If Ruth Madoc had come on the intercom saying "Good morning cruisers, today there's a spaghetti eating contest" I wouldnt have been surprised.

 

Excursions: We had three cancelled, some of the guides spoke too much,or had their own agenda, some excursions gave you too much free time others not enough.

 

Staff : Very hard working...we left our cleaner a tip, she showed no appreciation and didnt say goodbye, wheras previously she was very friendly, maybe we didnt give enough, we werent obliged to.

 

one sad conclusion. these things are mainly for the over 60's and thats how patronising Thomson treat you,with constant "tributes" to the 50's and 60's,[ and the UK, sorry,but it really is the Fat Man of Europe and what else should you expect when food - not just snacks - are available all day long, with drink packages seemingly designed for some people with a serious drink problem.But then theres not really a lot to do except wander around trying to look young and finding a bar for yet another cocktail of the day,crass, unimaginative and boring. Hopefully my wife will have been cruised out BY now

 

So sorry that you had such a miserable time - Thomson cruises (and cruising in general) are not for everyone. However, having read your previous review of Majesty you must have known what food and entertainment to expect. Hope you have a much better holiday next time you go away. Perhaps if your wife isn't 'cruised out' she could go with a friend in future.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip Keith, but surely no need to be patronizing about over 60's. I guess if you are celebrating your 40th wedding anniversary, you must be in that category yourselves.

 

As people on here know, I am not a fan of the Dream, but I concede it has some redeeming features.

[WeeCountyMan]

one sad conclusion. these things are mainly for the over 60's and thats how patronising Thomson treat you

With respect and excuse me for appearing dumb - but if you've been married for 40 years then you must be over 60, or very close ?

 

Apologies Linda - I didn't clock your near simultaneous posting.

Edited June 22, 2015 by WeeCountyMan

[Host Hattie]

Maybe the OP meant 4th, he did post 4oth not 40th !

Although the comparison to a canteen 40 years ago suggests that you may be right.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Host Hattie

[Sheila49]

We were on the first week of Keith's cruise and we had a lovely time. I do have to agree about the trio, Sound Room, the drummer was so loud we couldn't listen for more than about 5 minutes (and I do normally like music with a strong drumbeat!). Overall I found the entertainment in the Medusa poor whereas normally we spend time there before dinner and after the show. The shows in the theatre were very good as were 2intense (Tom and Maris) in Tides.

 

We are in our 60s and there were lots of people younger than us including quite a few young families.

 

We did two Thomson excursions, Monaco from San Remo which we had pre-booked and The Thau Lagoon from Sete which we won at the port showcase! Both were very good especially the Lagoon trip.

 

We had no problems with the food and it was better than our hotel the following week.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Sheila49

[Pensioncruiser]

I think its just your luck we were fortunate a couple of weeks before you when Strum Jam played in Madusa they are very good and like you I think 2 Intense are one of the best duos but I think they are leaving soon to go on Celebration.

We also always meet some nice young and older passengers we now fit into the latter category but did start off cruising when a lot younger and still enjoy it but its not for everyone.

I would recommend for new cruisers they start off with a cruise and stay then if they are not happy with the cruising they still have a holiday that's how we started but found that even though we booked our favourite hotel we longed for the atmosphere etc on the cruise.:):)

[Sheila49]

Yes, we've always had Strum Jam before and they are excellent.

[okavango]

Yes, we've always had Strum Jam before and they are excellent.

 

can you please tell me who are the current members of Strum Jam, not met up with them again since the first year they worked with thomson's, which i reckon would be 2009

[Pensioncruiser]

Check it out on YouTube can't remember names but the original singer was back they left the ship on 23rd May☺

[Sheila49]

Sorry okavango, they left just before we went on Dream this year. I didn't actually know their names but in photos I've seen on FB the female singer was the same as I remember from 2010.

[Keith Jackson]

yes I'm over 60 it doesnt mean that music of the last 30 years doesn't interest me, it doesn't mean I like twisting, rock and roll or skiffle, thats where we >60's were patronised... by assumption, or that I would want to play bingo, there is music of the 60's I like but there's no way it's going to be catered for on something like this which, by necessity, has to think it must appeal to what is perceived to be the widest interest or LCD.As for the canteen, well it was a bit chucked up wasn't it? with congealed pasta and cardboard dry fish, it was convenience food on a mass scale with no finesse at all.

It wasn't a miserable time and the wife enjoyed it...mainly for the excursions...and if it made her , happy thats great, but for £5000 I couldve stayed in a top class greek hotel and had the option of getting out and about as well....roll on Kefalonia

[Pensioncruiser]

Oh dear

[campolady]

yes I'm over 60 it doesnt mean that music of the last 30 years doesn't interest me, it doesn't mean I like twisting, rock and roll or skiffle, thats where we >60's were patronised... by assumption, or that I would want to play bingo, there is music of the 60's I like but there's no way it's going to be catered for on something like this which, by necessity, has to think it must appeal to what is perceived to be the widest interest or LCD.As for the canteen, well it was a bit chucked up wasn't it? with congealed pasta and cardboard dry fish, it was convenience food on a mass scale with no finesse at all.

It wasn't a miserable time and the wife enjoyed it...mainly for the excursions...and if it made her , happy thats great, but for £5000 I couldve stayed in a top class greek hotel and had the option of getting out and about as well....roll on Kefalonia

 

Glad it wasn't as bad as you original post suggested. I personally love 60s music and, although my husband was a teenager in the 60s, I certainly wasn't; as for wanting more recent music/different genre, we have always found the artists at the various venues around the ship cater for all tastes. I have never played Bingo/Game Shows on any of our cruises - its just not my thing but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be available for anyone who does like it- there are always other places to go aboard if you don't want to join in. As for the food, I can't speak for the buffets as we have never used them but the food in the Orion MDR has always pleased us and the restaurant is far from a canteen.

 

Anyway, I wish you many happy Bingo free holidays in Greece.

Edited June 22, 2015 by campolady

[k8ti]

It just shows that no one holiday is going to please everyone. It also shows us that his other half should get a long service medal for living with Victor Meldrew.

[Little Nell]

Hi Keith.

 

It is a long time since I've seen you on the forum. I think you were on the Majesty in 2012 when we were on, although our paths didn't cross.

 

I hope you and your family are well.

[790294]

Hi Keith.

 

It is a long time since I've seen you on the forum. I think you were on the Majesty in 2012 when we were on, although our paths didn't cross.

 

I hope you and your family are well.

 

Little Nell, this is off topic but I see you are on the Eclipse soon, we did that itinerary at start of this month on the Eclipse you will not be disappointed by the ship or the cruise. It hasn't put us off Thomson as we have other cruises lined up on the Dream. Edy in the Martini bar likes us Scots!:D

[Julessmiles]

I think its just your luck we were fortunate a couple of weeks before you when Strum Jam played in Madusa they are very good and like you I think 2 Intense are one of the best duos but I think they are leaving soon to go on Celebration.

We also always meet some nice young and older passengers we now fit into the latter category but did start off cruising when a lot younger and still enjoy it but its not for everyone.

I would recommend for new cruisers they start off with a cruise and stay then if they are not happy with the cruising they still have a holiday that's how we started but found that even though we booked our favourite hotel we longed for the atmosphere etc on the cruise.:):)

 

2Intense are leaving to go back the the Philipines for a while as it's Maris' daughter's 18th birthday very soon. I am sure they will return to a Thomson ship in the future!

[WeeCountyMan]

but for £5000 I couldve stayed in a top class greek hotel

 

Soon you might be able to own such an establishment for five grand !!! :eek:

[Keith Jackson]

Oh dear

 

well you cant win them all, "oh dear"?

[Keith Jackson]

It just shows that no one holiday is going to please everyone. It also shows us that his other half should get a long service medal for living with Victor Meldrew.

 

Agree first sentence.I think if we'd stayed in Majorca for first week then cruised 2nd week it would have been more bearable,I could have tolerated 7 days [ I have before ] but we all have different tastes, the point being that there were some aspects that didn't appeal to me [important aspects to me]and some that, yeah ok , were bearable,can't understand why my opinion should provoke your reaction except that maybe it's pointed out a flaw in your reality,or do you really think we should all be the same?

....VM

Edited June 23, 2015 by Keith Jackson

[Little Nell]

Little Nell, this is off topic but I see you are on the Eclipse soon, we did that itinerary at start of this month on the Eclipse you will not be disappointed by the ship or the cruise. It hasn't put us off Thomson as we have other cruises lined up on the Dream. Edy in the Martini bar likes us Scots!:D

 

Our favourite bar! I am sure we will get on just fine with Edy then :) Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Pensioncruiser]

Hi Julessmiles they did say they hope to be back on Celebration late this year but definitely for the Caribbean next fingers crossed we will see them on both☺

[WeeCountyMan]

Keith, is it cruising in general and/or Thomsons in particular that's not to your taste ?

 

Incidentally, we've done 4 cruises with Princess and each time there has been bingo on offer - always well attended.

 

Does that mean Princess patronise their clientele as well ?

Edited June 23, 2015 by WeeCountyMan

[Keith Jackson]

Keith, is it cruising in general and/or Thomsons in particular that's not to your taste ?

 

Incidentally, we've done 4 cruises with Princess and each time there has been bingo on offer - always well attended.

 

Does that mean Princess patronise their clientele as well ?

 

Ive done 3 cruises all with thomson, because thats what I could afford.So it's not like Ive dismissed it out of hand it's had a chance, it was primarily the wifes wish hopefully she's now over it :) Any brand that makes assumptions of it's customers and acts on that assumption is acting in a presumptive and patronising way, but thats just my opinion , I dont like social clubs either...it's so old hat, the impression I got is that my parents could have been well used to this - they cruised 30 years ago and it seems to have not changed....incidentally my mother died last year she was 90 and my father's hanging on at 93