Pre booked cabins

[rolythecat]

We have just reurned from 2 weeks on the Celebration which on the whole was very enjoyable. This was our fourth cruise with Thomson and second on the Celebration. Because we like to have a midship cabin we always pay to pre book as Thomson say this is the way to get the cabin of choice. When we arrived at Gatwick and checked in we were given our luggage labels and it was immediately obvious we had not been given the cabin of our choice despite having the paper work to show what it should have been. Once we had been through security and while waiting for the flight to be called we called Thomson to explain the situation and they assured us all would be well once we got to the ship and we would have our pre booked cabin. Well, as you can guess once we arrived this was not the case and we were taken to the newly allocated cabin not the one we had pre booked. Off we went to reception only to find at least 6 other parties all with the same problem. The reception staff were very patient and professional in trying to help everyone but there was nothing they could do. The problem lies with Thomson and their booking system not with the ship. It was very annoying for us but not the end of the world, there were people there who had pre booked because they needed twin beds or particularly wanted a double but there was nothing that could be done. Some people were getting very angry with lots of raised voices which we felt was uncalled for as it wasn't the poor receptionists fault! What was interesting was that we noticed when passing reception on change over day for the next week and just before leaving the ship on the last day was that exactly the same thing was happening again so it wasn't a one off. Also unbelievably this was the 2nd time in only 4 cruises that this has happened to us, the previous time being on the Majesty. Have we just been unlucky or do other people have the same problem?

[Pensioncruiser]

Sorry to hear about your problems, which fortunately we have never experienced in all our cruises with Thomson. As we are on her again in Feb, last on in Sep, WD are obviously concerned, could you possibly remember when you booked and if there was any differences from when you have booked in the past. I do hope they returned your costs and you received some sort of compensation & of course you had a good holiday.

[rolythecat]

We booked in August just before the new booking system went live. I double checked all paper work that it showed the correct cabin number. It was a repeat of what happened the previous time which was our first cruise in 2013. The first time they refunded our pre booking fee and gave us £50 compensation. This time we were just offered the refund of booking fee but when we said this wasn't good enough they additionally gave us a meal in one of the speciality restaurants which we accepted. As I said it seems wrong that the staff on reception seem to have to sort this out when it should be Thomson themselves. We did enjoy the cruise but I think we are unlikely to book with Thomson again.

[Pensioncruiser]

Thanks for the info rolythecat I will obviously be getting onto our TA for extra confirmation, realise that will not help, to put Mrs PCs mind at rest. We have only ever had a couple of problems with Thomson's in fifty cruises now, the main one being that we had been booked in premium with seats together this was Mrs PCs first long haul and ended up in court, which we won, but as you we still had a great holiday and the main problem was with the UK office so this did not put us off traveling with them. Hanks again😀

[rolythecat]

Well I wish you the best of luck with that Pensioncruiser! As I said Thomson assured us all would be well and we had the paperwork to prove it! Well done on winning your issue regarding the seats. We were asked to sign to say it was the end of the matter when accepting the refund and meal! Hope you enjoy your holiday in Feb. You've certainly done a lot of cruises! A bit unlucky for us then that we got the wrong cabin 50% of the times!

[Pensioncruiser]

Fingers crossed & I will review on our return, perhaps other cruisers will report if they have similar experiences. Its always useful to be aware of just what can happen.

[suron]

Fingers crossed & I will review on our return, perhaps other cruisers will report if they have similar experiences. Its always useful to be aware of just what can happen.

 

Have just booked for Easter sailing on Majesty and whilst in the planning stages I did a mock on-line booking and at the choosing cabin section there was a little message at the bottom saying something to the effect that cabins can be changed so that is their 'get out' I guess.

 

Hopefully all with go well with our two Inside Plus cabins!

 

Suron

[davecttr]

Thomson head quarters Q is not renowned for a smooth, error free operation:rolleyes:

 

when I flew to the caribbean on check in at Gatwick they had no record at all of my pre booked cabin number :rolleyes: after hurried phone calls they issued me with blank luggage tags and assured me it would be sorted out when we landed.

 

Maybe i was lucky but tags with the correct cabin were waiting at the other end :)

[Chaffesbird]

Did the New Year cruise on the Majesty. For the first time ever, we did not prebook our cabin. I am glad we didn't. Reception was full of people complaining that they had not got the cabin they had booked. Also, in the embarkation line up, the cabin number allocated didn't always match the luggage labels inside the envelope. Methinks Thomson must have employed some of the dreaded trolls!