Dissapointing first cruise!

[Steveystar]

Just back from a cruise and stay holiday on the Thomson Dream. We found it dissapointing due to plumbing problems, bad smells, out of order toilets etc :eek: There were wet carpets due to leaks from ceilings and the ship was old even though we believed it to be a new one. It looked fantastic in the brochure and for the money we paid it was not up to standard.

[BINGONED]

Just back from a cruise and stay holiday on the Thomson Dream. We found it dissapointing due to plumbing problems, bad smells, out of order toilets etc :eek: There were wet carpets due to leaks from ceilings and the ship was old even though we believed it to be a new one. It looked fantastic in the brochure and for the money we paid it was not up to standard.

agree with you steve i was on 25th may for a week, so i dont know you!! so we cant be exaggerating storys:D

people are trying to kid themselves but those toilets are terrible,ive been on two thomsons cruises before and really had a ball and was well worth the money as for the flagship it was a disappointment for a lot of dosh:(

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Can someone tell me why people keep saying they thought it was a NEW ship, as it does not say that anywhere in the brochure:confused::confused:

 

Linda

[davecttr]

Probably because the travel agents sold it as Thomsons new ship. They would not know the difference and some might say could not care less as long as they got a sale.

 

I don't have the original documents but IIRC it said something along the lines of 'Thomsons new ship' which is correct but the uninformed might believe this means it is a 'new' ship.

 

We live in rip off britain, buyer beware etc. These advertising campaigns sail as close to the legal limits as they can.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Probably because the travel agents sold it as Thomsons new ship. They would not know the difference and some might say could not care less as long as they got a sale.

 

I don't have the original documents but IIRC it said something along the lines of 'Thomsons new ship' which is correct but the uninformed might believe this means it is a 'new' ship.

 

We live in rip off britain, buyer beware etc. These advertising campaigns sail as close to the legal limits as they can.

 

In my brochure on the contents page it says Thomson Dream (new),but it also says above it Turkey (new) so obviously that means new to Thomson!

 

On our 2nd week in the hotel, someone told me that the TA said it was a brand new ship, then when they found out it wasn't, the TA told them it had been refurbished,so obviously they were very disappointed.

 

Pays to do research before booking a holiday:rolleyes:

 

Linda:)

[Davebhoy]

Our TA did explain that the ship had been owned by Costa, and gave us the details so we could have a look at it on the web.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Our TA did explain that the ship had been owned by Costa, and gave us the details so we could have a look at it on the web.

 

Blimey! An honest travel agent:eek::eek:

 

Linda

[cityfan]

Hi

 

Was your cruise all disappointing? How was the food, entertainment, excursions, cabin, staff......

[Value_Seeker]

Not been on the Dream yet and am looking forward to it, but until the crash I thought it was New. The TA said it What, the New One, when I enquired about The Dream, the brochure said New for 2010 and I couldn't find any reference to Thomson Dream in any reviews etc and therefore this seemed to confirm to me that it was New.

 

This is my first cruise, I did my homework and the result was that I thought for a long time it was New.

[vwgolf]

I must say that I am also surprised at the number of people who through the Dream was a brand new ship. Obviously if travel agents were selling it as such then there is perhaps a bit of misselling going on but anybody who booked via the website or read the brochure would have appreciated that the ship was merely new to Thomson's (and who books a cruise without doing a bit of research?)

 

Of course, none of this excuses the leaky plumbing or smelly toilets and I do wonder how much of this was due to the accident in Egypt where two of the crew sadly lost their lives?

[BINGONED]

Probably because the travel agents sold it as Thomsons new ship. They would not know the difference and some might say could not care less as long as they got a sale.

 

I don't have the original documents but IIRC it said something along the lines of 'Thomsons new ship' which is correct but the uninformed might believe this means it is a 'new' ship.

 

We live in rip off britain, buyer beware etc. These advertising campaigns sail as close to the legal limits as they can.

well said davey!! cut a long story short i was due on the celebration in april but due to the ash it was cancelled then the AGENT phoned and asked why not try out the NEW DREAM as the celebration had finished egypt we thought why not NEW ship and all that,but now that i have tried to contact her about it she has blanked me about the ship being "NEW"

and as dave says its "RIP OFF BRITAIN"

if i knew it was a second hand ship i wouldve gone for another ship at a lesser price "SIMPLES"

[ladybank]

Hi Steveystar. I think you've just made my mind up, I'm going to cancel my cruise on the Dream, not taking any chances! Thanks:)

[cruiseanywhere2]

I have been reading these reviews about the Dream as we are going on it on Tuesday. i was not aware of any incident in Greece please can someone tell me what happened?

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I have been reading these reviews about the Dream as we are going on it on Tuesday. i was not aware of any incident in Greece please can someone tell me what happened?

The accident was in Sharm el Sheikh on 26th February 2010, when the ship hit the dock, leaving a 2 metre hole in the side of the ship and 3 crew were killed.

[davecttr]

The accident was in Sharm el Sheikh on 26th February 2010, when the ship hit the dock, leaving a 2 metre hole in the side of the ship and 3 crew were killed.

After a temporary repair the ship sailed to Palermo in Sicily where it was drydocked for permanent repairs.

What is surprising that during the repair period Thomsons appear to have had no access to the ship. The plumbing also deteriorated badly in this period which apparently is not unknown for ships in drydock.

[cruiseanywhere2]

Thanks for the reply. People losing their lives puts a few stained carpets in perspective.

I am determined to embark on Tuesday in a positive frame of mind and enjoy myself.:)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Thanks for the reply. People losing their lives puts a few stained carpets in perspective.

I am determined to embark on Tuesday in a positive frame of mind and enjoy myself.:)

 

Have a great time, we went on the third cruise before "the smell" and it wasn't too bad, albeit a bit tatty! The staff are great, the entertainment is first class and the trips very good value for money.

 

Bon Voyage

[fruitfly]

Hi Steveystar. I think you've just made my mind up, I'm going to cancel my cruise on the Dream, not taking any chances! Thanks:)

 

Hi Ladybank

 

We were worried about the bad reviews, but was not going to let someonelses reports put me off going, I wanted to see it for myself. We had a fantastic time, staff and entertainment brilliant. Not once during our stay did we have any problems in our cabin, toilet flushed and had running hot water. public loos sometimes out of order, but not for to long. Yes it is an old ship and has it's problems, but they are soon fixed.

:)

[Huddersfieldtourist]

In Thomson printed literature it does not say the ship is brand new - in the launch of its sale of cruises it says " new for Summer 2010" in red on the cover - I still have the Thomson paperwork from this which is before it went in to the main brochures.

[Garyorient]

Blimey! An honest travel agent:eek::eek:

 

Linda

 

Cheek ;)

 

Linda, you will see on the thread "British Attitudes" my thoughts on the agents in this industry that gets us all tarred with the same brush and labelled as dishonest charletains.

 

I know your comments are somewhat tongue in cheek, but fundamentally your cynicism is well founded.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Cheek ;)

 

Linda, you will see on the thread "British Attitudes" my thoughts on the agents in this industry that gets us all tarred with the same brush and labelled as dishonest charletains.

 

I know your comments are somewhat tongue in cheek, but fundamentally your cynicism is well founded.

 

I am getting very cynical as I get older - Victor Meldrew look out:D

 

Our travel agents are very nice, but a bit out of touch with what is going on. When I went in, in March, to ask if our cruise would be affected by the accident in Sharm, they had apparently known nothing about it until that morning when they had been told about it by a customer. They had rung Head Ofice, only to be told there had been "an incident" When I told her that 3 crew members had been killed she was quite shocked. If I worked in the industry, I would try to keep up with what was going on, but then again I am quite nosey:)

 

About 3 weeks before we went on the Dream, I called in on the off-chance and found my tickets had arrived, so brought them home, only to find they had the wrong luggage allowance, so back I went and they checked with HO and confirmed it should be 23kg for a cruise, followed by a confirmation letter. THEN a week later they rang to say my tickets were in :eek: These had the correct allowance, so I collected and used them and still have the originals here and am keeping them as reference as I am still awaiting a letter from Thomson re. my complaints about the dream:(

 

I'm sure most TAs are doing their best, but there are rogues in all trades!

[Garyorient]

I think one of the things that differentiates Thompsons from the RCCL, Cunard, P&O, Princess cruising is that Thompsons have sort of gone into the crusing market half cocked, so to speak. So whereas the aforementioned companies are Cruise companies, Thompsons are a general package holiday company who dabble in cruises.

 

What I am trying to say, no doubt badly, is that they will tend to buy old cruise ships and attempt to refurbish them to give them the cosmetic appearance of being newer than they actually are.

 

In general all the RCI, Celeb, P&O, Cunard, Princess ships are part of a fleet that they have commissioned themselves, paid huge sume of money to get the ship designed to their own specifications with their own unique style. The ships are far newer technologically, and equipment wise.

 

To use the Dream as an example. It is, fundamentally a 20+year old ship. Now this is supposed to be the flag ship of the fleet. Well I do not think there is one ship in the entire Princess, Celebrity, RCI, Cunard, P&O fleet that is that old.

[davecttr]

I think one of the things that differentiates Thompsons from the RCCL, Cunard, P&O, Princess cruising is that Thompsons have sort of gone into the crusing market half cocked, so to speak. So whereas the aforementioned companies are Cruise companies, Thompsons are a general package holiday company who dabble in cruises.

 

What I am trying to say, no doubt badly, is that they will tend to buy old cruise ships and attempt to refurbish them to give them the cosmetic appearance of being newer than they actually are.

 

In general all the RCI, Celeb, P&O, Cunard, Princess ships are part of a fleet that they have commissioned themselves, paid huge sume of money to get the ship designed to their own specifications with their own unique style. The ships are far newer technologically, and equipment wise.

 

To use the Dream as an example. It is, fundamentally a 20+year old ship. Now this is supposed to be the flag ship of the fleet. Well I do not think there is one ship in the entire Princess, Celebrity, RCI, Cunard, P&O fleet that is that old.

 

If you include all the well known cruise lines and exclude the utterly exclusive plus Thomsons and Fred Olsen you will find there are at least 10 ships which are over 20 years old and over 50 which are between 10 and 20 years old. Fred Olsen has some ships which were originally built in the 70's in contrast to Thomsons in the 80's.

 

Thomsons business model of chartering ships seems to work for them and obviously needs a lot less capital than building their own.

[Garyorient]

.

 

Thomsons business model of chartering ships seems to work for them and obviously needs a lot less capital than building their own.

 

No arguement from me whatsoever Dave that the Thomson model works for them.

 

The question is, when I look at the various forum of all the other operators, I see many more "issues" and complaints as a percentage of axtual posts made on Thompsons than I do with the other companies, so the question is, whilst the model works for them.............does it work for you and I as the consumer?

[davecttr]

No arguement from me whatsoever Dave that the Thomson model works for them.

 

The question is, when I look at the various forum of all the other operators, I see many more "issues" and complaints as a percentage of axtual posts made on Thompsons than I do with the other companies, so the question is, whilst the model works for them.............does it work for you and I as the consumer?

Well I am certainly not going to spend a considerable time analysing the content of various forums to calculate the ratio of complaints to other posts. Even if I did I suspect I might be comparing oranges to apples!