Destiny Summer 2009

[sobral]

Just back from a 14 day Med cruise on the Destiny and I have to say, unusually for me, since I am an ardent Thomson cruise fan, it was a bit of a mixed bag.
I have sailed several times on Spirit and the Celebration and was expecting the same type of product on the Destiny. I read the reviews/posts on here about the Destiny and they were all positive so I was looking forward to my first time sailing on her. I know some posters on here were on the same cruise as me so it would be interesting to get their take on the cruise since I find myself a bit baffled and keep thinking 'it must be me'.
Not all negative I have to say- first class service, food, ambience in the Severn Seas restaurant, ship was generally clean and had better public areas, plenty of space on deck etc
But.... service was appauling- had to wait on average 15-20 mins for bar service- ended up sending my husband to the bar since it was quicker. On other ships, bar staff got to know your tipple etc after a few days, but on Destiny was none of that. After 14 days they still got my drink wrong despite explaining several times. I found the eastern European staff to have a poor command of English and were not as friendly and efficient as the Asian and Phillipino staff. The Lido Cafe reminded me of a staff canteen- hopelessly inadequate to cope with the number of passengers on the ship at peak times, unlike the Lido restaurants on the Spirit and Celebration. The outside decks of the ship on a night time were almost closed down as every kind of entertainment was inside the ship. The lovely mast bar closed at 9 so a number of lovely Med nights were missed, no deck parties, apart from the sailaways, no effort to make this huge open area nice for evening drinkers. The entertainment was geared to a certain type of clientele- no classical musicans- though talented pianist and saxaphonist in some bars and...for the first time in my Thomson cruising experience, a show was substitued for a game show in the Can Can Lounge. The shows were also a mixed bag- wonderful Andrew Lloyd Webber night, In Concerto, etc but some of the shows were Thomsons own and fell well below the mark of the usual standards. I was so disappointed! Dare I say it, alot of the time it was like 'Butlins at Sea' around the Pool deck and I have always defended Thomson cruises about this.
In all I came away thinking...are standards slipping? Are Thomsons changing the product to fill the gap since Ocean Village are going? Has the Destiny always been like this?
So glad I have booked the Spirit for next year- only hope the same is not true on the Spirit.
Would be happy to hear from other cruisers, (especially those who have sailed on Spirit and Celebration)about this since I came away feeling a bit disappointed and would like to have an open mind on this.
Thanks

[kruzseeka]

Just back from a 14 day Med cruise on the Destiny and I have to say, unusually for me, since I am an ardent Thomson cruise fan, it was a bit of a mixed bag.
I have sailed several times on Spirit and the Celebration and was expecting the same type of product on the Destiny. I read the reviews/posts on here about the Destiny and they were all positive so I was looking forward to my first time sailing on her. I know some posters on here were on the same cruise as me so it would be interesting to get their take on the cruise since I find myself a bit baffled and keep thinking 'it must be me'.
Not all negative I have to say- first class service, food, ambience in the Severn Seas restaurant, ship was generally clean and had better public areas, plenty of space on deck etc
But.... service was appauling- had to wait on average 15-20 mins for bar service- ended up sending my husband to the bar since it was quicker. On other ships, bar staff got to know your tipple etc after a few days, but on Destiny was none of that. After 14 days they still got my drink wrong despite explaining several times. I found the eastern European staff to have a poor command of English and were not as friendly and efficient as the Asian and Phillipino staff. The Lido Cafe reminded me of a staff canteen- hopelessly inadequate to cope with the number of passengers on the ship at peak times, unlike the Lido restaurants on the Spirit and Celebration. The outside decks of the ship on a night time were almost closed down as every kind of entertainment was inside the ship. The lovely mast bar closed at 9 so a number of lovely Med nights were missed, no deck parties, apart from the sailaways, no effort to make this huge open area nice for evening drinkers. The entertainment was geared to a certain type of clientele- no classical musicans- though talented pianist and saxaphonist in some bars and...for the first time in my Thomson cruising experience, a show was substitued for a game show in the Can Can Lounge. The shows were also a mixed bag- wonderful Andrew Lloyd Webber night, In Concerto, etc but some of the shows were Thomsons own and fell well below the mark of the usual standards. I was so disappointed! Dare I say it, alot of the time it was like 'Butlins at Sea' around the Pool deck and I have always defended Thomson cruises about this.
In all I came away thinking...are standards slipping? Are Thomsons changing the product to fill the gap since Ocean Village are going? Has the Destiny always been like this?
So glad I have booked the Spirit for next year- only hope the same is not true on the Spirit.
Would be happy to hear from other cruisers, (especially those who have sailed on Spirit and Celebration)about this since I came away feeling a bit disappointed and would like to have an open mind on this.
Thanks


Hi Sobral, I share your sentiments about the Lido restaurant on Destiny - it's always been a weak point in my opinion. Since we generally eat in the Seven Seas it didn't bother us too much but anyone who prefers to eat most meals in the Lido self-service on Spirit and Celebration I think would be disappointed. I did feel the Destiny was better suited to the Caribbean than the Med though and we did enjoy the al fresco dining especially at lunchtimes on the pool deck.

I can relate to your views about the entertainment too. I expressed my reservations on here after a trip on Celebration in May when a game show and two relatively poor 'tribute acts' we felt were a poor substitute for the shows we expect in the showlounge in the evenings. These were also of a generally poorer standard than we'd seen before (although much better than that we'd seen on another cruise line). One musician (I won't say who) was nothing like the standard we've come to expect.

In February though, I must say the showteam on Destiny were amongst the best we've ever seen but like you, we missed having a classical duo/trio on board. I do detect some 'economies' in the show department which seasoned Thomson passengers may agree with - fewer shows i.e. less rehearsal time, costumes, staging, session musician time etc., etc. Having said all that, the standard on Spirit last month was excellent! Seems there needs to be more consistency.

Like you, we're booked on Spirit next year :D so I'm hoping this is just a blip and is not indicative of standards slipping. It would be a great pity if so. Thomson are taking a pride in their reputation for the standard of their entertainment but they can't afford to be complacent - slipping standards, if widespread, will soon be picked up by their regular customers!

Like you, Sobral, I'll be interested to hear others' views on this.

[sobral]

Hi Sobral, I share your sentiments about the Lido restaurant on Destiny - it's always been a weak point in my opinion. Since we generally eat in the Seven Seas it didn't bother us too much but anyone who prefers to eat most meals in the Lido self-service on Spirit and Celebration I think would be disappointed. I did feel the Destiny was better suited to the Caribbean than the Med though and we did enjoy the al fresco dining especially at lunchtimes on the pool deck.

I can relate to your views about the entertainment too. I expressed my reservations on here after a trip on Celebration in May when a game show and two relatively poor 'tribute acts' we felt were a poor substitute for the shows we expect in the showlounge in the evenings. These were also of a generally poorer standard than we'd seen before (although much better than that we'd seen on another cruise line). One musician (I won't say who) was nothing like the standard we've come to expect.

In February though, I must say the showteam on Destiny were amongst the best we've ever seen but like you, we missed having a classical duo/trio on board. I do detect some 'economies' in the show department which seasoned Thomson passengers may agree with - fewer shows i.e. less rehearsal time, costumes, staging, session musician time etc., etc. Having said all that, the standard on Spirit last month was excellent! Seems there needs to be more consistency.

Like you, we're booked on Spirit next year :D so I'm hoping this is just a blip and is not indicative of standards slipping. It would be a great pity if so. Thomson are taking a pride in their reputation for the standard of their entertainment but they can't afford to be complacent - slipping standards, if widespread, will soon be picked up by their regular customers!

Like you, Sobral, I'll be interested to hear others' views on this.

Thanks for your comments- I thought it was just us! Lets hope the Spirit maintains the standards then. Do you think Thomson are taking up the gap in the informal cruises on the Med for Brits with the Destiny?(In the absence of OV) Next year they will have 3 ships in the western Med.

[kruzseeka]

Thanks for your comments- I thought it was just us! Lets hope the Spirit maintains the standards then. Do you think Thomson are taking up the gap in the informal cruises on the Med for Brits with the Destiny?(In the absence of OV) Next year they will have 3 ships in the western Med.

I would think they would be looking to the Island Escape which is marketed as a more informal ship and particularly family orientated to attract the OV cruisers. Perhaps the Dream (especially with its June and September adults only sailings) will be geared more to a little more formality and the 'traditional' cruising product. I do hope so - instead of trying to be all things to all people, I would say it's better to have slightly different flavours to the ships and promote them as such - 'more formal/more family friendly' etc then at least people are aware before they book if there is likely to be a greater proportion of families/informal/traditional passengers - whatever. To be fair, in the current brochure, they are pointing out which ships retain a little more formality and those (particularly the IE) which is more casual.

I can't understand why they have three ships sailing out of Palma unless it's a temporary solution having just taken the Dream into the fleet. Let's hope the following year sees one of the ships sailing out of the UK again. A lot of passengers on our last trip were very unhappy with Thomson's decision not to sail from the UK in 2010.

When are you on Spirit next year? We go in May.:)

[WoolyBully]

Have just come back from sailing with the Spirit aand cruised on the Celebration in April and didn't feel that the standards of the shows have gone down at all! Am sailing on the Destinty for the first time in May! got me a bit worried now tho!!

[sobral]

I would think they would be looking to the Island Escape which is marketed as a more informal ship and particularly family orientated to attract the OV cruisers. Perhaps the Dream (especially with its June and September adults only sailings) will be geared more to a little more formality and the 'traditional' cruising product. I do hope so - instead of trying to be all things to all people, I would say it's better to have slightly different flavours to the ships and promote them as such - 'more formal/more family friendly' etc then at least people are aware before they book if there is likely to be a greater proportion of families/informal/traditional passengers - whatever. To be fair, in the current brochure, they are pointing out which ships retain a little more formality and those (particularly the IE) which is more casual.

I can't understand why they have three ships sailing out of Palma unless it's a temporary solution having just taken the Dream into the fleet. Let's hope the following year sees one of the ships sailing out of the UK again. A lot of passengers on our last trip were very unhappy with Thomson's decision not to sail from the UK in 2010.

When are you on Spirit next year? We go in May.:)

Hi again Kruzseeker, I agree with you on having different ships with different products-will get increasingly difficult to meet needs of all types of cruisers with more and more people realising that cruising is such a good holiday. We prefer the more traditional- not too formal though- maybe its our age!!! We are sailing in August next year on Spirit so it means you can be kind enough to post on here how you found the Spirit next year!
Other post does say standards of entertainment on Spirit were good though so here's hoping:)

[sobral]

Have just come back from sailing with the Spirit aand cruised on the Celebration in April and didn't feel that the standards of the shows have gone down at all! Am sailing on the Destinty for the first time in May! got me a bit worried now tho!!

As I mentioned, I think its a matter of personal preference. Lots of people seemed to be having a wonderful time on the cruise, maybe I just hit a 'ROWDY' week and maybe they changed the entertainment programme to suit the passengers on the ship. I did voice my opinion in the questionnaire thing at the end of the cruise though. Hope you have a nice time:)

[budgie1]

Sobral,

You probably spent the same 14 days as I did on the Destiny. I will agree that the standards have certainly slipped from last year. One of the regular bar staff told me that a quarter of the waiting staff's contract were not renewed, Hence the long waits for a waiter. Plus they replace around 20 staff on the second week with new people. Thomson's trying to save money. They have also reduced the staff wages putting the onnis on the staff to work harder to gain more tips. Thomson's put the drinks up 25pence on the second week. Even in the Seven Seas, the service was very slow. The staff had extra tables to serve, compared to last year. The entertainment was very HidiHi. Bad enough doing childish quizes by the pool during the day, but to endure more quizes in the Oklahoma Lounge, in the evening sent me bonkers. The group "The Top Men" were very good but they should have had them playing more often. Instead that Goergie lass liked the sound of her own voice, so she probably organised those silly quiz shows. Everyone I spoke to, was appalled by what was happeing in the Oklahoma Lounge. Destination Services was a joke. and very expensive. Overall the ship was clean and tidy but very tired looking. Im sure she would have rusted away if it were not for the engineering staff constantly painting. I was told that the Destiny is being sold at the end of season 2010. They apparently have bought the Costa Romantica along with the Dream. All in all, It was a nice 2 weeks. I dont think I will be on the Destiny again, given the fact that she is being sold, unless a good deal comes up. But looking forward to the Celebration next year.
Dont let this put you off. She is a nice friendly ship, but very Hidihi.
Regards
Budgie:D

[kruzseeka]

Sobral,

You probably spent the same 14 days as I did on the Destiny. I will agree that the standards have certainly slipped from last year. One of the regular bar staff told me that a quarter of the waiting staff's contract were not renewed, Hence the long waits for a waiter. Plus they replace around 20 staff on the second week with new people. Thomson's trying to save money. They have also reduced the staff wages putting the onnis on the staff to work harder to gain more tips. Thomson's put the drinks up 25pence on the second week. Even in the Seven Seas, the service was very slow. The staff had extra tables to serve, compared to last year. The entertainment was very HidiHi. Bad enough doing childish quizes by the pool during the day, but to endure more quizes in the Oklahoma Lounge, in the evening sent me bonkers. The group "The Top Men" were very good but they should have had them playing more often. Instead that Goergie lass liked the sound of her own voice, so she probably organised those silly quiz shows. Everyone I spoke to, was appalled by what was happeing in the Oklahoma Lounge. Destination Services was a joke. and very expensive. Overall the ship was clean and tidy but very tired looking. Im sure she would have rusted away if it were not for the engineering staff constantly painting. I was told that the Destiny is being sold at the end of season 2010. They apparently have bought the Costa Romantica along with the Dream. All in all, It was a nice 2 weeks. I dont think I will be on the Destiny again, given the fact that she is being sold, unless a good deal comes up. But looking forward to the Celebration next year.
Dont let this put you off. She is a nice friendly ship, but very Hidihi.
Regards
Budgie:D

Hi Budgie,

Well, you've got some news there I don't think I've seen reported elsewhere. Where did you hear it? It would certainly be another positive move if Thomson are up-grading their fleet - and we can all start speculating as to where they will be deployed!!;)
I don't think they own Destiny though - it's leased from Louis Lines so perhaps they will just let the lease lapse. I've a feeling Celebration was taken on a 5-year lease at the start of the 2005 season (though not from Louid Lines) so perhaps that term comes to an end too in 2010 although I did also read that they were looking at a re-fit in 2011. Possibly, they have an option to buy at the end of the lease like they have with the Europa/Dream.

It all makes for an interesting time!!! Thanks for the info! :)

[budgie1]

Yep the Dream looks well. Know a few people who got a free transfer to her for Summer 2010. Wouldnt mind transferring myself but the dream is in the Med. Done all those stops so doing Celebration in Turkey 2010.
I do like the Destiny but as I said she is looking very very tired now so to keep the standards up they will need to think about spending a lot of money on Refit's or leasing other ships. It was one of the English Thomson Crew who told me the Destiny is being replaced end of season 2010.
Watch this space.

Budgie:D

[sobral]

Hi Budgie1
I thought you were on the same cruise and was waiting for your comments. We seem to have had the same experience and judging from the comments in response to my review on the other site, many people like us felt the same. We were also chatting to a few seasoned Thomson cruisers on the ship and they were of the same opinion. I only hope Thomson get it sorted- on Spirit next year so here's hoping!:)