Just Fancied a Change

We are giving Thomson a miss this coming year - and we have got a great deal with Celebrity, a little up market from Thomson we are told, AI together with 300 dollars on board spend, all for less than we paid this year with Thomson. It is only 11 nights sailing out of Rome - but a great itinerary never the less.

Just hope we have made the right choice.

You have made a good choice, Ormy.

We were on Celebrity this year and were very impressed with the overall package.

The food in the MDR was fantastic as was the service. The buffet was very good too.

The entertainment isn't up to Thomson standards but the band were the best we've seen anywhere.

We had the AI too and upgraded for £7 each per night for a better choice of wines and premium drinks. It was well worth it. The Martini Bar was great fun.

I am currently looking at a cruise with them for next year too.

I've had 2 great cruises on Celebrity - it's different, but different in a good way, so enjoy it for what it is. When I had my next Thomson cruise I enjoyed that all the more for the things I think they do really well.

We are giving Thomson a miss this coming year - and we have got a great deal with Celebrity, a little up market from Thomson we are told, AI together with 300 dollars on board spend, all for less than we paid this year with Thomson. It is only 11 nights sailing out of Rome - but a great itinerary never the less.

Just hope we have made the right choice.

It's good to have change - we won't be cruising with Thomson next year either. We are looking forward to cruising with another line having done 2 superb mini cruises already with them & actually found them to be very good & certainly the food was of a higher standard than Thomson.

I think Celebrity like to think they are upmarket, but IMHO they are not. ;);) We have been on the Eclipse. The ship is lovely and we thought the entertainment was very good, less showteam shows, but more guest artists which we liked. We weren't over-impressed with the food, it was very repetitive, but we had lovely table companions and that made up for it. It is good that you have the drinks package as the drinks are very expensive. We paid $42 for a bottle of wine on formal night :eek: After that we stuck to glasses of wine, but they were $6.50 for about one third of a glass!

Beware of them trying to sell you stuff - coffee cards, wine tasting, paintings etc (Mind you Thomson are going that way now!)

I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise ormy and we will all be interested to hear all about it :D

I agree the drinks are expensive but we got a very good deal so didn't find the overall cost much different from the average price we usually pay on Thomson. If you can get the free AI deals then that's all the better.

We weren't overly impressed with the entertainment but thought the food in a different league than Thomson. Perhaps we were lucky on the Infinity but found an excellent and much more comprehensive choice of food of far superior quality and presentation. I think it just edges Cunard and is better than our experience of P&O too.

So I hope you will find it equally good ormy - I'm sure we'll all be very interested to hear what you think when you get back. ;)

Hi ormy, I hope I didn't sound too negative with my views yesterday on Celebrity :o:o Still trying to get rid of this cold, and feeling a bit tetchy :o:D

We did enjoy our cruise on the Eclipse, but just didn't find it as friendly as Thomson and Fred, but maybe that is just because it was bigger ship.

Which Celebrity are you going on?

This year we are also going with another cruise line having has a really nice taster cruise on them. Food was superior to Thoms and entertainment very good as well.

Also addicted to the P & O mini cruises - to get my cruise fix in :)

Thanks everyone, your comments are a great help. We are on the Reflection, we believe it's their latest ship. Nothing wrong with Thomson - we just fancied a change. Will report back in due course.

Celebrity better in every way.

Celebrity better in every way.

Although not for entertainment imo. Doesn't come close.

We also cruised with another line this year. Much as we have enjoyed many Thomson cruises in the past, we have to admit the food was much better on the cruise with the new line. The entertainment was just as good as Thomson and the crew and passengers were just as friendly.

Now looking forward to cruising with a few different cruise lines in the future as we feel Thomson, in spite of all the latest improvements to the ships, have lost something along the way.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and many enjoyable cruises in 2015.

Celebrity entertainment was superior and has wonderful theatres.

Well, I'm nearly about to jump ship. Just cannot quite make up my mind. :confused:

Celebrity entertainment was superior and has wonderful theatres.

I do agree that the theatres are excellent and far superior to the best on Thomson (Dream imo) but still feel the shows (as opposed to guest acts) aren't in the same league for staging, costumes or choreography. Thomson are so much better than any other cruise line we've been on - they just seem so much more creative, varied and edgy - to say nothing of the number of shows (6 per week) plus cabarets most nights from the show team members which rates highly for me - although I realise not everyone likes the same type of entertainment.

I would welcome finding a cruise line with shows of the calibre of such as Africa - and delivering more than three or four shows in a fortnight if anyone can recommend one. (Magicians, mentalists, comedy violinists, naff tribute acts need not apply! ) :D

Celebrity outshines Thomson in every way including shows.

How on earth can you say that Celebrity shows are not as good as Thomson is beyond belief.

There again each to his own.

With regards to the food especially being hot and cabins plus no charge for a safe there is absolutely no comparison Celebrity wins hands down.

Just look at the star ratings there are also more people willing to jump Thomson ships especially with clothes getting some sort of soot on them from the chimneys.

They really do need to get there act back together.

Celebrity outshines Thomson in every way including shows.

 

How on earth can you say that Celebrity shows are not as good as Thomson is beyond belief.

 

There again each to his own.

 

With regards to the food especially being hot and cabins plus no charge for a safe there is absolutely no comparison Celebrity wins hands down.

 

Just look at the star ratings there are also more people willing to jump Thomson ships especially with clothes getting some sort of soot on them from the chimneys.

 

They really do need to get there act back together.

I'm just commenting here on the entertainment. Have you seen any of the Thomson shows? Or travelled with them?

I must admit P&O sausages are much better than Thomson, but then Thomsons are better than Premier Inns tasteless paste filled tubes ;)

Among other things I got bored with Thomson. Now I am getting bored with P&O, who, IMO, seem rather complaicent in their entertainment, endless quizzes and too loud music.

Trying Princess this summer and looking to try other lines in 2016

 

How on earth can you say that Celebrity shows are not as good as Thomson is beyond belief.

 

If you read what Kruzseeka said, she was talking about how good the production shows are. On the Eclipse, the show team did TWO shows in a fortnight, as opposed to TWELVE on Thomson. They certainly work very hard, learning all those different shows. I don't know what the Celebrity showteams do for the other 10 days :rolleyes:

Regarding food, we found the food in the MDR on the Eclipse, very repetitive. My OH was thrilled to have onion soup on the first night, but got a bit fed up with it being on the menu EVERY night, especially as it had a very thick layer of chesse on top, which needed a drill to get through it :rolleyes: I have read many reviews, including Bertlitz, which remark on the sameness of the food on Celebrity.

IMHO Fred.Olsen have the best food, by far :)

Rather rude don't you think!

 

If you read what Kruzseeka said, she was talking about how good the production shows are. On the Eclipse, the show team did TWO shows in a fortnight, as opposed to TWELVE on Thomson. They certainly work very hard, learning all those different shows. I don't know what the Celebrity showteams do for the other 10 days :rolleyes:

 

:)

Hmmmmmm............ you could say so Linda but I'm still waiting to hear whether the poster has actually ever experienced Thomson entertainment, or indeed Celebrity! If not I think that would beggar belief having opinions about both. I'll reserve judgement until then but historical posts from him don't indicate any first hand knowledge of either! At least I'm speaking from the perspective of having experienced both, whether or not anyone agrees with my view!

Hmmmmmm............ you could say so Linda but I'm still waiting to hear whether the poster has actually ever experienced Thomson entertainment, or indeed Celebrity! If not I think that would beggar belief having opinions about both. I'll reserve judgement until then but historical posts from him don't indicate any first hand knowledge of either! At least I'm speaking from the perspective of having experienced both, whether or not anyone agrees with my view!

Me too Kruzseeka :rolleyes::D

Linda, the onion soup on the menu was on the standing menu which contained favourites. The right hand side was the normal menu which was very different every night.

I know because I had the onion soup a few times, minus the cheese :D

Well me and my wife love thomson, at least everyone is British , not that I don't get on with other nationalities , but I like the feel of a good British cruise with good British banter, maybe one day we will try another cruise line, but up until now I've never had a prob with thomson , and like someone said the price of the booze is extortionate , and some of their A/I packages are a joke, pay for an upgrade and get as much beer , wine and soda as you want , still got to pay for spirits, which I like a lot of at night lol, and I've never had a bad meal yet on any thomson ship, even the good ole Island Escape. Anyway only 7 more. Sleeps till the Dream.

Muffinman :cool:

Linda, the onion soup on the menu was on the standing menu which contained favourites. The right hand side was the normal menu which was very different every night.

 

I know because I had the onion soup a few times, minus the cheese :D

I know Eleanor, but I would have thought they could have varied the soup on the standing menu.:rolleyes:

After battling with the cheese a few times, Ray took the cheese off and put it on the side plate, so he could get at the soup, lol :D

Sailed with them both. Three times on each. Sailing on Majesty in Feb. Apprehensive to say the least. Glad we have the drinks package - may make everything seems fine.

Only real let down with Thomson is

1: The small ancient ships. Though on our last Celeb cruise that ship was poor.

2: Way too many British people on board.... People moan about "foreigners" when their on holiday. I would rather spend a holiday/cruise with hotel/ship full of Germans or Americans than one full of British.

Booked this for the price only. Not expecting much at all, so maybe be pleasantly surprised. Again, the drinks package may come in handy on that score.