decided to cancel

After all the dilly dallying and backwards and forwards we have cancelled.

I was becoming more and more uneasy with what I was reading weighing up about what we have had before and for what cost. We decided not to go with Thompson and it was worth losing the deposit.

I have felt uneasy since booking it. We had an all in drinks package but could not find out what the red wine was. to just say red wine was not good enough. Paying for safety deposit boxes ? never heard the like before.

Anyway done now now to look for a good deal on a decent cruise line

After all the dilly dallying and backwards and forwards we have cancelled.

I was becoming more and more uneasy with what I was reading weighing up about what we have had before and for what cost. We decided not to go with Thompson and it was worth losing the deposit.

I have felt uneasy since booking it. We had an all in drinks package but could not find out what the red wine was. to just say red wine was not good enough. Paying for safety deposit boxes ? never heard the like before.

Anyway done now now to look for a good deal on a decent cruise line

Ironically we have done something similar. We had put a deposit down for a land holiday in Cyprus with Thomson. We asked if we could change to a cruise on the Spirit and were tempted. Then we saw a cruise on P&O's Oceana and, even if we lost our deposit we were better off going with them in a balcony cabin with over £200 on board credit.

I have been reading the threads over here for a while and think that Thomson would benefit from investing in one newer ship to entice some of us. I genuinely would love to try Thomson as their itineraries are great ... its just the ships that I am concerned about. Sorry.

Good decision I think. Having done four thomson cruises, I will not be going with them again. Most other lines are better value with more modern ships and balconies. Thomson need to enter the 21st century.

Out of interest, are P&O usually more expensive than Thomson cruises?

I was looking at a two week Caribbean cruise for next February with P&O and it was from £2100 which is a lot more expensive than Thomson at the same time? Is this a normal difference in price?

Andy

Good decision I think. Having done four thomson cruises, I will not be going with them again. Most other lines are better value with more modern ships and balconies. Thomson need to enter the 21st century.

I couldn't agree more and whilst the staff and entertainment used to be where Thomsons won hands down - not so any more , the cuise previous to my one with Thomsons in January was with P&O , the staff were as good , the entertainment better and the ship light years ahead of the Dream and probably any other ship they have in the fleet for much less money that i paid them for the fiasco that was the Pride of Panama in Janaury .......

We paid just about the same this year (booking in September for January cruise) for a two week fly/cruise for standard inside cabin. There were some excellent price reductions before Christmas - but there were on other cruise lines too. They have many more balcony cabins of course! Drinks and excursion prices are very similar although there are gratuities to pay (though some people do have them removed! :rolleyes: )

Out of interest, are P&O usually more expensive than Thomson cruises?

 

I was looking at a two week Caribbean cruise for next February with P&O and it was from £2100 which is a lot more expensive than Thomson at the same time? Is this a normal difference in price?

 

Andy

Yes course they are. Thomson are not even worth considering in my opinion. P&O are a four star cruise line. Best prices for drinks at sea, best entertainment and great cruises.

Yes course they are. Thomson are not even worth considering in my opinion. P&O are a four star cruise line. Best prices for drinks at sea, best entertainment and great cruises.

Whilst there is much on P&O which is superior - it's not true to say that the entertainment is better imo. We have just returned from the Azura and whilst we thought the entertainment very good, the Thomson show team provide far more entertainment and excellent shows which we think are superior to P&O in terms of variety, creativity, edginess and choreography. They deliver 6 shows per week twice nightly (and with smaller ships everyone who wants to go can generally find a seat) also sing live at deck parties and provide cabarets late at night after doing their shows. There's no comparison in their workload and the quality has been much better than that of those P&O ships we've travelled on - although we were pleasantly surprised on Azura recently - that was good and better than we'd seen on P&O before - but not better than Thomson.

Also, I think Thomson itineraries are better than P&O in general - usually only one sea day per week (if you prefer port days) and drinks prices on P&O are about the same as Thomson. Have you travelled with Thomson? I'm not banging the drum for Thomson we do travel with other cruiselines too but I feel your comments don't match my experiences and are only valid if you have first hand experience of both.

We paid just about the same this year (booking in September for January cruise) for a two week fly/cruise for standard inside cabin. There were some excellent price reductions before Christmas - but there were on other cruise lines too. They have many more balcony cabins of course! Drinks and excursion prices are very similar although there are gratuities to pay (though some people do have them removed! :rolleyes: )

our recent, and first, cruise with P&O also included:-

)cabin selection when when booking.

)free safe in cabin.

)free shuttle bus in some ports to "resort" centre

)ability to remove tips if we felt poor service had been received (they were brilliant)

)free steak in evening in MDR. we could order steak every night if we wanted to. no supplement.

)no charge for seats in theaters for shows.

:(no towel animals as our cabin steward did not do them.)chocolates on pillow every night:) Mrs Len nightwear ironed :D (steady!!!) (he left mine well alone!!!!)

)2 free small bottles of water in fridge.

)2 free packets of biscuits every day to have with tea and coffee in cabin.

)boiled sweets

)free car parking at Southampton or OBC or coach.

)free slippers & gowns.

)pamper pack, not a bottle on the wall!

:Dfree upgrade from outside cabin to outside deluxe. We felt really special and was worth hundreds of pounds. We had initial booking issues but P&O did something about it.

)no telephone calls prior to departure with staff flogging upgrades, currency etc. We just had the odd e-mail suggesting services available on board.

)Cruise Personaliser was accessible after a few days.

We are gong on The Dream in 2016 for Mexico & Cuba but after that we've got an open mind.

:cool:

our recent, and first, cruise with P&O also included:-

)cabin selection when when booking.

)free safe in cabin.

)free shuttle bus in some ports to "resort" centre

)ability to remove tips if we felt poor service had been received (they were brilliant)

)free steak in evening in MDR. we could order steak every night if we wanted to. no supplement.

)no charge for seats in theaters for shows.

:(no towel animals as our cabin steward did not do them.)chocolates on pillow every night:) Mrs Len nightwear ironed (steady!!!) (he left mine well alone!!!!)

)2 free small bottles of water in fridge.

)2 free packets of biscuits every day to have with tea and coffee in cabin.

)boiled sweets

)free car parking at Southampton or OBC or coach.

)free slippers & gowns.

)pamper pack, not a bottle on the wall!

:Dfree upgrade from outside cabin to outside deluxe. We felt really special and was worth hundreds of pounds. We had initial booking issues but P&O did something about it.

)no telephone calls prior to departure with staff flogging upgrades, currency etc. We just had the odd e-mail suggesting services available on board.

)Cruise Personaliser was accessible after a few days.

 

We are gong on The Dream in 2016 for Mexico & Cuba but after that we've got an open mind.

yes... p&o certainly do know how to spread the free extras, we noticed all this on our ventura cruise in caribbean last christmas ...we luvved all that stuff :cool: and couldnt help but take notice of thoms failings in this department:(

however we had 2 sea days each week on ventura, which thoms didint on their almost identical itinerary, drinks on ventura were dearer and the service charges added up over the fortnight, the crew were pretty ambivalent on ventura imo.... efficient enough but detached, the entertainment was 'memorable' for all the wrong reasons... but then i am no expert on singing

ventura cost us more per head but we had a balcony and a free upgrade (we luvved that balcony) where we usually have an o/s+ on dream which are actually more spacious than the one we had on ventura

its swings and roundabouts between them imo

Len I have no argument with all the points you raise - there are clearly some aspects of the P&O product which are superior. My issue was with the poster who, according to the list of previous cruises hasn't experienced Thomson entertainment, but is drawing comparisons between Thomson and P&O entertainment. I think that's misleading if other readers think they have experience of both. And the opinions expressed definitely don't coincide with my experiences of Thomson and P&O. As I said Azura was much better than we had expected after previous P&O trips when the entertainment looked very amateurish at the side of Thoms.

And geo.......... the extra sea days are a very big consideration - at least to me and I too found the service on P&O impersonal. I would put that down to the bigger ship - but it was true on the Aurora too. So important issues to take into account. (btw We got a 5% discount on all our on-board spends including our duty free ;) and found drink prices comparable - at least for bottles of wine which is what we drink mostly - not all at once you understand!!)

As you say - it's all a compromise. All I think we can do is read others' reviews, assess what is most important to us and judge which cruise line ticks the most boxes for us for a given itinerary at a given time.

We are not long back from the Cuban Fusion / Mayan Treasures cruise which was fantastic

We were on the week after Iain and he is not alone with his experience of the Panama leg. On our first week, many people had been on the Panama leg and would certainly agree with Iain.

That said, we had a great time. I am not sticking up for Thomson's and we are not cruise line loyal, but Thomson does offer some cracking itineries, so much so we have already booked for the Cuban Revolution cruise next January.

Everything is down to a personal perspective.

Many good points have been made, Yes they are older ships, Yes they have smaller entertainment venues, Yes, balconies are severely limited and if available, ridiculously expensive, but.

We have done 4 cruises with Thomson over the last 5 years and compared to other lines, we have found that Thomson consistently has friendlier fellow passengers and in those 4 cruises we have never had a single concern over any member of staff at any level.

We have had issues with the flights but that has not distracted from the enjoyment of the cruise part.

Each to their own.

All the best

Mike

Interestingly on FB today, a chap who was booked on the Dream Cruise managed to swap & change to the Celebration .....

We are not long back from the Cuban Fusion / Mayan Treasures cruise which was fantastic

We were on the week after Iain and he is not alone with his experience of the Panama leg. On our first week, many people had been on the Panama leg and would certainly agree with Iain.

That said, we had a great time. I am not sticking up for Thomson's and we are not cruise line loyal, but Thomson does offer some cracking itineries, so much so we have already booked for the Cuban Revolution cruise next January.

Everything is down to a personal perspective.

Many good points have been made, Yes they are older ships, Yes they have smaller entertainment venues, Yes, balconies are severely limited and if available, ridiculously expensive, but.

We have done 4 cruises with Thomson over the last 5 years and compared to other lines, we have found that Thomson consistently has friendlier fellow passengers and in those 4 cruises we have never had a single concern over any member of staff at any level.

We have had issues with the flights but that has not distracted from the enjoyment of the cruise part.

Each to their own.

All the best

Mike

Completely agree with you.Just back from a week on Majesty and compared with my last experience on P&O(Azura),for the money we paid,Thomson wins hands down. For me,the friendly crew,fantastic entertainment(standing ovation on last night,never seen that on a cruise ship before)and excellent itineraries,are the best point. I must have chatted to at least a dozen other passengers and level of satisfaction was very high.

I think the Celebration & Majesty have mainly been fine this winter - it's the Drram that has been getting all the awful feedback.

Everyone is different. We didn't like P&O (although the ship and itinery was good) and felt that Thomson definately offered a better overall product for the price.

Yes paying for a safe is daft, but we would rather pay for a safe then be lumbered with fixed dining times. I know other people love the formality of P&O, but it's not for everyone.

We were on the Majesty this winter and loved it. It might not have been as "good" at the Epic, but we haven't ever been on a holiday that we felt as welcomed by the staff or other passangers.

I don't know if Thomson need a newer/fancier ship - after all there are plenty of lines that offer that service. Maybe they just need something with more balconies, or maybe polish up the existing offerings.

Everyone is different. We didn't like P&O (although the ship and itinery was good) and felt that Thomson definately offered a better overall product for the price.

 

Yes paying for a safe is daft, but we would rather pay for a safe then be lumbered with fixed dining times. I know other people love the formality of P&O, but it's not for everyone.

 

We were on the Majesty this winter and loved it. It might not have been as "good" at the Epic, but we haven't ever been on a holiday that we felt as welcomed by the staff or other passangers.

 

I don't know if Thomson need a newer/fancier ship - after all there are plenty of lines that offer that service. Maybe they just need something with more balconies, or maybe polish up the existing offerings.

Hi Cloudyrain, as you can see we are going on P&O in 5 weeks. Can I just ask what it was you didn't like about P&O? :eek:

Agree about the Majesty though - love her:)

 

Yes paying for a safe is daft, but we would rather pay for a safe then be lumbered with fixed dining times. I know other people love the formality of P&O, but it's not for everyone.

 

.

Have been on Oceana twice and due to go on Britannia - they do Freedom dining so that we can eat when we want and with any number of people. Not all of the ships stick with fixed dining and, you'll find that an increasing number are now switching to the option of freedom dining.

 

I don't know if Thomson need a newer/fancier ship - after all there are plenty of lines that offer that service. Maybe they just need something with more balconies, or maybe polish up the existing offerings.

Our view exactly - as prospective Thomson customers we would jump at the chance of a Thomson cruise if there was a relatively new ship with balconies. If I remember rightly the last time that TUI purchased a former Celebrity ship it went to the German market.

Have been on Oceana twice and due to go on Britannia - they do Freedom dining so that we can eat when we want and with any number of people. Not all of the ships stick with fixed dining and, you'll find that an increasing number are now switching to the option of freedom dining.

Yes I understand Azura, after it's imminent refurb, instead of having two mdr with fixed dining and one with freedom dining will be changing to 2 x freedom and 1 x fixed so it seems that's becoming more popular with passengers as presumably P&O are responding to demand.

We have booked to go on the Thomson Spirit in September. We have been on Celebration 3 times and Royal Caribbean Grandeur, Mariner and Independence of the seas twice. We have enjoyed them all. Although the RCI ships are bigger and more modern, Thomson service, staff and entertainment are so much better. The drinks package with Thomson is costing us £140 for both of us for a week It's around £450 a week on RCI. Gratuities already in with price. Another advantage of the smaller ships is the Itineries. They can get in Ports the big ships can,t. We quite like the traditional Cruising that you get with Thomson with fewer passengers than the 4000 you get on the big ships. People seem a lot more friendly and you never struggle to find a seat anywhere on board. They even have a band of Crew members playing on the dockside welcoming you back on ship on Port days. A little bit nervous about docking in Isreal, otherwise can,t wait.

We have booked to go on the Thomson Spirit in September. We have been on Celebration 3 times and Royal Caribbean Grandeur, Mariner and Independence of the seas twice. We have enjoyed them all. Although the RCI ships are bigger and more modern, Thomson service, staff and entertainment are so much better. The drinks package with Thomson is costing us £140 for both of us for a week It's around £450 a week on RCI. Gratuities already in with price. Another advantage of the smaller ships is the Itineries. They can get in Ports the big ships can,t. We quite like the traditional Cruising that you get with Thomson with fewer passengers than the 4000 you get on the big ships. People seem a lot more friendly and you never struggle to find a seat anywhere on board. They even have a band of Crew members playing on the dockside welcoming you back on ship on Port days. A little bit nervous about docking in Isreal, otherwise can,t wait.

We have never had a band playing us back to the ship on dockside on all the Thomson cruises we have been on - I thought they only did that on the Red Sea Cruises but I may be wrong. Still great ships & great crew though.

Two of our Thomson Cruises were the Red Sea, the band also played when we departed from Palma ,perhaps it,s just the Celebration then ? That said, their Crew show is fantastic :)

I think I have only seen the band when we first board one of the ships.

After all the dilly dallying and backwards and forwards we have cancelled.

I was becoming more and more uneasy with what I was reading weighing up about what we have had before and for what cost. We decided not to go with Thompson and it was worth losing the deposit.

I have felt uneasy since booking it. We had an all in drinks package but could not find out what the red wine was. to just say red wine was not good enough. Paying for safety deposit boxes ? never heard the like before.

Anyway done now now to look for a good deal on a decent cruise line

Looking at Facebook reviews and comments over the past month you have really done the right thing.. It is a dam shame on those who have lost thousands of pounds for Thomson's incompetence. A good solicitor who will take on a group complaint from these people is needed.:mad: