Cruising on the Thomson Dream

[choc22]

Hi all

 

We are a young couple (aged 22 and 26) and going on our first cruise on the Thomson Dream. We have a few questions we would like to ask, however we do know that it hasn't yet sailed as Thomson Dream, so we know that most answers may be based on the previous ships and Thomson service received there.

 

We haven't paid for the upgrade to all inclusive (it was an extra £149pp at the time), however we would like to know if this is an option when on board? We did think about this for a while however we figured we wouldn't be drinking massively and we wouldn't be on board during the day to take advantage of this (very much looking forward to the daytrips). We would like to be able to pay upfront for out drinks though instead of having the worry of a tab at the end.

 

We would also like to know (and we don't mean any offence by this) whether there will be younger people on board similar to our age?

 

Another question is, we have not yet prebooked a cabin (we're inside decks 4/5) and wondered whether it is worth the £35 to prebook? Although we wouldn't like to prebook if there is a chance to upgrade though (i think that's the case for most people!)

 

We are really looking forward to our first cruise and hope it is what we expect it to be... we're just looking for a stress free holiday whereby we can visit a few sites and basically be looked after!

 

Thanks for your time in reading this :):)

[capasamari]

Our recent Christmas cruise on P&O (similar prices) saw us with a drinks bill of £540 for two of us for two weeks. We like a drink but not to excess and were off the ship during the day. It's surprising how it mounts up, and it's not all alcoholic! We have paid £99pp for a week on Destiny next New Year and think it's well worth it. If nothing else once you've paid it we found it more relaxing on board as we weren't always thinking, "If I have another drink that's another £3.50". It also encouraged us to try drinks, especially cocktails, we probably wouldn't have bothered with otherwise and I discovered I really like strawberry daiquiries!

 

If you have an inside cabin I probably wouldn't bother pre-booking, it's more of an issue if you have an outside cabin and want to avoid a restricted view.

 

When and where are you sailing?

 

Carol x

[Cymro1953]

HI,

You have to buy the A.I. before you go.

We calculated that if it's over £100 it's not worth paying for, but our sons who are your age sailed with us this last time and they more than had their money's worth.

As Carol says, at least if it's paid for in advance you don't have to worry about bills at the end.

It's surprising how many drinks you get through if the weather is warm. And the cocktails were lovely, we got through loads.

 

Berwyn

[vwgolf]

Hi all

 

 

We would also like to know (and we don't mean any offence by this) whether there will be younger people on board similar to our age?

 

Another question is, we have not yet prebooked a cabin (we're inside decks 4/5) and wondered whether it is worth the £35 to prebook? Although we wouldn't like to prebook if there is a chance to upgrade though (i think that's the case for most people!)

 

We are really looking forward to our first cruise and hope it is what we expect it to be... we're just looking for a stress free holiday whereby we can visit a few sites and basically be looked after!

 

Thanks for your time in reading this :):)

 

Other have answered your quert re AI so I won't add anything to that.

 

As far as people your age are concerned, I have to say that from my experience there are few people in the 20-30 bracket on cruises. In general they tend to be older people and familes so you will get lots of people up to about 18 and lots more in the 35+ group. Don't let that worry you, though, as there's plenty to do and even older people have interesting things to say!

 

I've never prebooked a cabin and won't be this year (we are also on the Dream). I telephoned to make sure that there wouldn't be a lifeboat outside our window and when told that this isn't a problem on Deck 5, I decided to leave it to chance. Personally I can sleep though anything but you'll have to assess how important choice is to you.

 

You will certainly get a stress free holiday on a Thomson's cruise so my advice is to just sit back and enjoy it!

[tenpin]

Just to add to most of the above, the AI is only worth it if you like wine and a few cocktails, before & after dinner /shows. We are moderate drinkers but always have exceeded the price of the AI on a weeks cruise.

 

The Europa (Dream) is a lovely ship and I personally would expect more of your age group on board than normal. The facilities on board are far better than the other Thomson ships so appealling to a younger set.

Stay with your cabin but don't bank on any up-grade, this ship is selling out fast, or if you would like an outside do it now. There is very little difference in cabin sizes, just take a small nightlite with you as insides are dark whatever the time.

Again as said, cruisers in general like to stop and chat, so you will have no trouble there.

[choc22]

Hi all

 

Thank you very much for your advice.

 

Carol - We are on the 1st sailing, 22nd April for only 5 nights, hoping the weather will be nice enough to top up the tan!!

 

We did enquire today with Thomson's how much an all inclusive upgrade would be, and it is £119pp working out at around £24pp per day. Think we have decided not to go ahead with this as we're not huge drinkers and as previously mentioned we will be coming off the ship to go on sight seeing - think this will be 3 days out of the 5.

 

We're really looking forward to this and hopefully will be our first cruise of many to come!

[perthorchid]

hi choc 22. i am also on the 1st 5 night cruise. you are the 1st folks i have found to be on it. I tried to start a roll call (on the other cruiseline section) but no takers.

I have been on thomsons before and although i did think they had an older age braket that dosnt matter as everyone is so friendly. My late husband and i were on celebration this time last year. Sadly he passed away in Nov so its just me in april on the dream

I picked thomson because of the friendlyness.

I havnt booked the AI I was quoted £169 and thought that was £34 roughly per night for 5 ngts. If i remember drinks were not too dear about £3.50 so thats 10 drinks a night (if my arithmetic is right) As i am on my own i dont suppose i'll drink that much

[cumberlander]

We went on the Destiny last year, when we went there was no available cabins to upgrade to as the ship was full. We were glad we had pre-booked our cabin. We also didn't do all inclusive and our final drinks bill worked out MUCH cheaper than all inclusive. We aren't big drinkers either. We worked it out the AI price was £25 per person per day, way too much for us! We are going on the Dream this year. The whole Thomson Cruise experience is fantastic, as first timers you will LOVE it. Have a great time.