TUI Discovery

I thought I'd better drop in and give my honest review on TUI Discovery. We booked this cruise after having a few pleasant experiences on other ships in the Thomsons fleet and as the itinerary suited (Magic of Spain followed by Highlights of Med 16th-30th July). Flights were fine, Palma to ship good and embarkation organised and quick. We were in outside cabin deck 3 and it was spacious and clean. First impressions of ship were really good and found our way around with few problems. Week one:- All went very smoothly ports were all done by ourselves and ambiance on the ship was good. We preferred getting a sunbed on deck 4 as it was very quiet with none of the madness of higher pool decks to wake us up from our afternoon siesta. The shows were good at night but the musical entertainment in various bars was repetitive and not as good as past Thomson cruises. The food in the main restaurant was good and the Italian upstairs very good but a repetitive night on night off menu was a little limiting. The buffet was disappointing and a lot of the food lukewarm, the glasshouse was lovely and the place to go for late night snacks. We were all inclusive and most drinks, cocktails and prosseco are covered. So all in all week one was decent. Week 2:- Where to start :( Our loo broke no less than 7 times in 4 days and this is an ongoing issue in in discussion with Thomson about so I won't elaborate at this stage. The atmosphere in week 2 changed dramatically with what seemed like a thousand kids running around the ship, they were swearing, stealing pints from empty tables, jumping around bars, going up and down in lifts and generally misbehaving which happens when your parents are not bothering and getting bladderd in the bars (I seen 5 year olds running about open decks at midnight unsupervised and was genuinely scared they would fall through the rails) . Lots of chavs on this date who cared not a jot about language or general tidiness of appearance (especially apparent in restaurants). So the ship is a step up for Thomsons but the clientele is a step down... Way down! I'm no snob I have a joinery business but I know how to behave on holiday and my kids when they were small also knew. Iam 47 years old and love cruising but if this is where Thomsons are going .....Then I'm out!

Exactly as we found it. I'm out too, for the same reasons!

Thanks for the report guys just hope they sort it out before we go on her in Sep 2017 which might, fingers crossed, not be so bad being out of school hols.

But on the up side just checked in for our child free cruise on Celebration;)

One way for Thomsons to alienate the majority of their core returning customers in double quick time is to allow badly behaving kids to ruin a cruise, likewise with loutish adults conduct.

Avoiding cruises in schools holidays is a luxury for those of us who enjoy that flexibility, but that doesn't address the problem, let alone solve it.

Princess Cruises have dedicated Youth Security staff (what a classic euphemism that is !!!) to deter the little beggars from misbehaving.

On one cruise we had to complain about a gang of kids messing around on the lifts (sending them empty to various decks) until these minders intervened.

You may recall WCM, many years ago Thomson had a dedicated security team who dealt with this and adult problem's and you wouldn't mess with them they looked like ex Gurkhas 😁

It is so sad that a good cruise can be spoilt by many children who have never known discipline and have no respect for others. Parents who take children on ships must some way be held responsible for there behaviour.

It is so sad that a good cruise can be spoilt by many children who have never known discipline and have no respect for others. Parents who take children on ships must some way be held responsible for there behaviour.

What about keel hauling, they did in my day,s :eek:

The parents I think???

Regarding kids; they certainly ruined our cruise and as I said in my review elsewhere on here, Thomson are targeting families now, the reception staff actually told us that. I think it is unfair of them to not warn us of this in advance in their brochures. Like the OP, we experienced them running around, picking up drinks, calling lifts etc etc. There was NO control by either parents or Thomson staff. We will not be returning to Thomson. 4.5k, which is what we paid, buys any cruise these days. Regarding 'chavs'; there were many females who seemed to think it was one long hen party!

They should have a kiddy pen (gaol!!) to take unattached kids, call out their parents to take charge of them from the show bar or wherever. Think the kids would be brought into line ...or maybe not ---- depends on the parents. Ho hum.

Thomson will have to address this issue urgently, but do notice it has been a problem with other lines more so this year. Parents or Guardians need to be made aware of there responsibilities before they board. Take it or leave it this lack of responsibility cannot be aloud to continue.

And apart from ruining others' holidays there's the burning issue of Safety! A ship is no place to have unsupervised children running around or running riot. How long before there is a dreadful accident? (And then the parents will probably want to blame anyone and everyone else!)

I've spent many an hour on holiday getting really worried and anxious about the safety of children who have nothing to do with me but in the absence of parental attention, I've ended up being the one on tenterhooks! I am left in disbelief at how irresponsible some parents can be. Are they really so stupid or arrogant that they think their offspring should be allowed to do as they please and assume they won't come to any harm? I sound like a grumpy old woman but the level of abdication of responsibility of some parents is truly frightening.

Well said!

Here here. Couldn't agree more. Most shall I say more mature people would agree and would be ashamed if there children or grandchildren caused a problem for other passengers. It's not all families, but it does seem to be the majority now who just let there little horrors do as they please.

Well said kruzseeka!

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Exactly as we found it. I'm out too, for the same reasons!

You must have been on same time as me s2b, Iam now actively seeking advice from everyone on good adult only ships. I'm itching to get booked up as I've none booked atm 😱.

You must have been on same time as me s2b, Iam now actively seeking advice from everyone on good adult only ships. I'm itching to get booked up as I've none booked atm [emoji33].

23rd July to 6th August. The experience has put me off cruising for now, certainly Thomson won't get me back, and we are actively looking for a land based holiday for next year. 4 or 5 star, adults only!!!

Imhotep the Celebration is adults only at the moment we like her and go in a couple of weeks.

Imhotep the Celebration is adults only at the moment we like her and go in a couple of weeks.

Hi Pensioncruiser was on her last year (Taste of Adriaric) and loved it. The only thing is its sailing from Newcastle next summer to the Fjords and i don't want to be cold on my holidays. I think the Spirit is adult only next year but never been on so it could be a maybe. 😀

Don't forget Spirit is the sister ship of Celebration we have been on both and they are basically identical. We also did the Adriatic last year.

Hi Pensioncruiser was on her last year (Taste of Adriaric) and loved it. The only thing is its sailing from Newcastle next summer to the Fjords and i don't want to be cold on my holidays. I think the Spirit is adult only next year but never been on so it could be a maybe.

We did Fjordland Splendour in July 2014 on Thomsons from Newcastle - shorts, t-shirts, sandals and headwear was the required order of dress in Norway, not forgetting sunglasses and suncream !!!

You may recall WCM, many years ago Thomson had a dedicated security team who dealt with this and adult problem's and you wouldn't mess with them they looked like ex Gurkhas 😁

I've clocked security staff on Thomsons ships wearing embroidered crossed Kukri knives on their shirt epaulette sleeves.

Former Ghurkas, as you point out, presumably.

Ideal personnel to "introduce" to misbehaving kids I would suggest !!! :D

You must have been on same time as me s2b, Iam now actively seeking advice from everyone on good adult only ships. I'm itching to get booked up as I've none booked atm 😱.

Give Fred Olsen a try - we love their ships & they have some great itineraries. The staff are lovely, the food is excellent (far superior to Thomson) & a very friendly feel. They are not all adult only (just a few are) but even when we went in the school holidays last year, there weren't many children onboard and those that were, were very well behaved - nothing like has been mentioned in this thread.

We started off with them by doing a mini cruise - I have enjoyed every cruise I have been on with them.

You must have been on same time as me s2b, Iam now actively seeking advice from everyone on good adult only

P&O have adult only ships, Oriana, which we have booked for next year, and also Arcadia.

As you can see we have booked Discovery for September this year. I have to say, in all honesty, after 11 Thomson cruises, if it is anything like the reports I am hearing, it will be the last one with Thomson.

I do think the people on a ship can affect your view of the cruise quite a lot!

A few years ago on the Dream in the Caribbean, the first week was wonderful, with friendly chatty people, the second week, completely different, loud noisy groups and a different atmosphere :rolleyes:

Also after two good trips on the Majesty, the third was spoilt, again by large noisy groups who seemed incapable of speaking at a normal volume!