Thomson dream - Christmas and new year

Hello, we are a family of three (two adults and one 16 year old) who are going on the Thomson Dream- Christmas at sea / Cuban Fusion cruise.

This is our first time on a cruise so any general tips would be great. We also have some specific question for people who have been on the same cruise:

What is New Year's Eve like (food, entertainment etc.)?

Are there any onshore trips which you reccomend?

What are the best restaurants onboard the ship?

What happens on the captain night?

What were your views on the holiday?

And any other information would be greatly appreciated!

Thankyou in advance!

all the crew make a special effort for christmas eve, christmas day is formal, the ship will be nicely decorated, people like to wear santa hats & antlers (including the crew) and quite a few kids (and adults) dressed as elfs, there will be a midnight carol service on chrstmas eve

christmas day is spent at sea, evening meal will include a full christmas dinner, there will be a visit from santa with gifts for the kids sometime during the day and an afternoon family panto in the theatre

new years eve will be a party on deck complete with party hats/streamers etc and a free glass of fizz at midnight ....its always very well attended (the crew love it too)... last year it ended with a bit of a pool party in the small hours

they usually put on something? in the medusa as well.... maybe a showing of the london fireworks??... i cant remember? i have always been up on deck at midnight on n/y;)

all the crew make a special effort for christmas eve, christmas day is formal, the ship will be nicely decorated, people like to wear santa hats & antlers (including the crew) and quite a few kids (and adults) dressed as elfs, there will be a midnight carol service on chrstmas eve

 

christmas day is spent at sea, evening meal will include a full christmas dinner, there will be a visit from santa with gifts for the kids sometime during the day and an afternoon family panto in the theatre

 

new years eve will be a party on deck complete with party hats/streamers etc and a free glass of fizz at midnight ....its always very well attended (the crew love it too)... last year it ended with a bit of a pool party in the small hours

 

they usually put on something? in the medusa as well.... maybe a showing of the london fireworks??... i cant remember? i have always been up on deck at midnight on n/y;)

Thank you for your response! What are the arrangements for New Year's Eve regarding the meal?

it normal open seating in orion on new years eve... fixed sittings (6.30 or 8.30pm) only on formal night (usually the sea day)

they decorate the tables on new years eve (balloons/streamers etc) there is a party atmosphere all over the ship

its unlikely to be a formal night on new years day as (i believe) you will be in havana overnight and the ship will be deserted as people like to go out into havana the evening

 

What happens on the captain night?

 

the captains reception

you queue up at the entrance to the theatre to have your photo taken with the captain…. after the captain has been photographed with 100’s of fellow guests, the captain and the cruise director will introduce officers and heads of department on stage

then you will all troop down to the orion for gala dinner (most people attending will be in formal attire)

you will receive an invite for the captains reception either 5.00pm or 7.00pm with dinner at 6.30 or 8.30 respectively, you can change this at reception if you would prefer the other sitting to the one they have allocated (if you have kids they will allocate the early sitting by default)

you can skip the reception and just go down for dinner at your allocated time or you can skip the whole thing and eat at one of the buffet restaurants

 

Are there any onshore trips which you reccomend?

 

imo i wouldnt recomend any of the shore trips

its v easy and cheap to jump in a taxi on the dock the beach strip is about a 10 minute drive in mobay

in havana the ship docks right in the center of old havana, its easy to walk around (grid pattern) or jump into a classic car taxi for a tour there is also a hop on hop off tourist bus the stop is opposite the cruise terminal

you will need cuban peso's there is a currency exchange in the terminal they give a better rate for sterling/euros (than they do for us dollars)

hope this helps

Did you got to Montego Bay? I'm abit skeptical about getting off of the cruise here because I've read reviews which say the locals can be very aggressive and offer drugs etc. We thought about going to Doctors cave beach but I'm unsure now.

Did you got to Montego Bay? I'm abit skeptical about getting off of the cruise here because I've read reviews which say the locals can be very aggressive and offer drugs etc. We thought about going to Doctors cave beach but I'm unsure now.

yes we did go into mobay... we took the bus from the port ($5pp) we were dropped off near the entrance for drs cave beach (about $10pp to get onto the beach...which was packed btw) we decided to walk to the end of the strip... about 30 minutes walk where there is another beach (free) and a quiet bar (dead end bar at the end of the runway)

yes there are lots of vendors all over the strip in mobay (including drugs)... its v common in the caribbean for some vendors to be a little overly keen to sell you something? but imo never aggressive, you will find this happening on other islands too and (even more so) in mexico its just the way of life over there, you soon get used to it and learn strategies for dealing with it ....we have teens ....we have never felt uncomfortable anywhere in the caribbean... most jamaicans are v friendly and helpful:cool:

Okay thank you for all of your help!