Thomson open to future Asian cruises

Thanks for the link Colbrit

Wonderful news I've only cruised east as far as the Red Sea so would love some Indian Ocean cruises or the China/Japan ones that RCI Legend of the Seas is doing now. Fingers crossed.

I'm looking forward to it too- let's hope the number crunchers approve it at Thomson. A link to the new Vietnamese destination & Phukhet flights to have the hotel add on pre-post cruise?

So exciting - worth the long haul flight for totally new destinations.

Thanks for the link

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Well we've been asking for it for long enough.

I wonder if the 'making it easier to book online' comment was tongue in cheek?;) Thomsons must have the worst website ever.

Ha ha HappyV - the old website was more user friendly although a little old fashioned to look at Any new cruiser trying to find how to book excursions for instance must take ages to find the icon and although I could complete the returning cruiser form for April next year I'm still unable to complete it for January!!!

Thanks for posting this, I would certainly be interested in trying a new area of the world when this comes on stream.

Agree with the comments re the web, I have not as yet managed to get logged in as there seems to be almost constant "technical difficulties". We even had to try a couple of times before we could print off boarding passes.

Thanks for posting the link. This looks interesting. Lets hope when and if it happens that we can all book online with confidence.

Helen Carron.

" Part of the industry challenge is to encourage more people to book online. We must make it easier "

Ms. Carron your online booking system is a nightmare.

Even the staff in the Thomson's shops are struggling with the " New " system.

Well we've been asking for it for long enough.

 

I wonder if the 'making it easier to book online' comment was tongue in cheek?;) Thomsons must have the worst website ever.

We certainly have, Vera. Hope it happens in my (cruising) lifetime.

And as for booking on-line, the Celebration repositioning cruises next May and September appeared on-line for 4 days and then disappeared again, so still need to book at the Travel Agents. Is it the synic in me that wonders why......?

We certainly have, Vera. Hope it happens in my (cruising) lifetime.

 

And as for booking on-line, the Celebration repositioning cruises next May and September appeared on-line for 4 days and then disappeared again, so still need to book at the Travel Agents. Is it the synic in me that wonders why......?

I thought it was just me unable to find the repo again. Mind when I priced it I could only fly back to Cardiff for some reason. :confused:.

I'd forgotten about it really, and booked holidays in July and August so I'm not sure if I'll bother now. Maybe if there's a late deal. ;)

I'll save myself for Asia, but not my money, I might not live that long!! :)

I thought it was just me unable to find the repo again. Mind when I priced it I could only fly back to Cardiff for some reason. :confused:.

 

I'd forgotten about it really, and booked holidays in July and August so I'm not sure if I'll bother now. Maybe if there's a late deal. ;)

 

I'll save myself for Asia, but not my money, I might not live that long!! :)

It was really difficult to find how to change the flights. FB friends helped me. I'd already booked at the TA and was not happy to find the on-line prices much cheaper. Still, we were happy to get it booked as it is a good itinerary for us.

We have just returned from the stunning TUI Discovery. In his welcome speech on the 'dress to impress' night the captain mentioned that Thomson were looking to increase their cruises to be more worldwide wef 2018.

When he was doing a deck walkabout I asked him the significance of his statement. He said that, while he couldn't talk about specific itineraries, a recent positive meeting in the UK had talked of Phuket, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur being ports and destinations.

We have just returned from the stunning TUI Discovery. In his welcome speech on the 'dress to impress' night the captain mentioned that Thomson were looking to increase their cruises to be more worldwide wef 2018.

 

When he was doing a deck walkabout I asked him the significance of his statement. He said that, while he couldn't talk about specific itineraries, a recent positive meeting in the UK had talked of Phuket, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur being ports and destinations.

Presumably that would mean chartered flights with other carriers to meet the logistical requirements of flying that number of passengers from the UK to and from South East Asia ?

Presumably that would mean chartered flights with other carriers to meet the logistical requirements of flying that number of passengers from the UK to and from South East Asia ?

Me thinks it would tie in with the announcement made in the summer of Thomson selling city breaks with third party flying which was meant to go on sale very soon.

They already use other carriers especially from Scotland. We've been on flights with Monarch, JetAirFly, EuropeAirPost, BA, Titan and others whose names I've forgotten! All on Thomson cruises. They also use Germania and others which we've not been on.......yet!

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Presumably that would mean chartered flights with other carriers to meet the logistical requirements of flying that number of passengers from the UK to and from South East Asia ?

In 1999 we had a cruise and stay holiday with Thomson in Phuket and sailing on the Star Cruises of Asia ship Superstar Gemini. The cruise covered the Straits of Malacca from Phuket to Singapore and calling at KL,Langkawi, Penang and Malacca.

Thomson flew quite a few flights to Phuket because of the hotel complexes there, and I should imagine that is still so.

There was quite a diverse range of nationalities on board including a lot of Aussies who joined and departed in Singapore.

I think Thomson could easily do that using one of their own ships and combining it with the Thai hotels, and using existing charter flights. As before though it would be a mix of nationalities. The British take up would be limited because of the 13 hour flight time.

I must say it was a fantastic holiday.

As a postscript to my last comment I note that Legend of the Seas is currently, or recently has been operating in Far East and is apparently very popular.

Legend is of course (or will be) TUI Discovery 2, the sister ship of the current TUI Discovery.

They already use other carriers especially from Scotland. We've been on flights with Monarch, JetAirFly, EuropeAirPost, BA, Titan and others whose names I've forgotten! All on Thomson cruises. They also use Germania and others which we've not been on.......yet!

 

 

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These flights have all been charter flights - where Thomson charters the whole aircraft - the 3rd party flying they recently announced was with scheduled airlines where they would purchase the seats as and when a customer books a holiday with them / they announced that city breaks to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok etc which may tie in with the Asian planned cruises or they could set up their own charters like with the Dubai cruises this winter. Lots to look forward to when the brochure launches next month.

Sorry, I was replying to WeeCountyMan who mentioned charter flights. I should have quoted his post!

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In 1999 we had a cruise and stay holiday with Thomson in Phuket and sailing on the Star Cruises of Asia ship Superstar Gemini. The cruise covered the Straits of Malacca from Phuket to Singapore and calling at KL,Langkawi, Penang and Malacca.

Thomson flew quite a few flights to Phuket because of the hotel complexes there, and I should imagine that is still so.

There was quite a diverse range of nationalities on board including a lot of Aussies who joined and departed in Singapore.

I think Thomson could easily do that using one of their own ships and combining it with the Thai hotels, and using existing charter flights. As before though it would be a mix of nationalities. The British take up would be limited because of the 13 hour flight time.

I must say it was a fantastic holiday.

We did that cruise/stay in 1999 too. It was our first sea cruise and we loved it so much that we've never looked back.

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We did that cruise/stay in 1999 too. It was our first sea cruise and we loved it so much that we've never looked back.

 

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It certainly was something special.

I had a fortuitous but embarrassing moment on board. It was the night before arriving in Singapore. We were walking past one of the lounges when we were badgered by a couple of the pretty stewardesses to buy bingo tickets as it was the jackpot night and 1000 Singapore dollars had to be won. We don't normally play bingo but we succumbed and bought one ticket each. Mine won and horrifyingly they made a big thing of it, pulling me onto the stage with a fanfare and champagne.

It was fine until they asked me how many times I'd played. Unfortunately I didn't lie and said this was the first time. The boos, hisses, and catcalls I received from the ladies contingent was quite alarming, so I managed a quick exit to the Pursers desk to collect my winnings of around £450 which was very nice, but I did keep a low profile on the way back to Phuket!