Thomson Celebration

[nw_man]

Well you do known if you go on a Thomson excursion you will not miss the boat. If you have been to an area before & are familiar with it you should be OK but be aware the boat will go without you if you are late and you may not feel it worthwhile just to save a few dollars, we have witnessed cruisers who have missed the boat and its not pleasant but nw_man is correct it is cheaper to go independently and we will be doing that on our next cruise. Good luck.

 

 

The topic of missing the boat on an independent excursion was raised in the captains Q&A onboard Celebration last week and I found the answer to be genuinely interesting and also very refreshing.

 

The captain said they do their best to wait and will always try to when possible and in all his years as a captain he has only left 2 passengers behind and they had been involved in a road accident.

 

Very refreshing as the American cruiselines never wait.. we were on a cruise around the med on NCL a few years ago and we left 300 behind at Rome. 300 !

[Pensioncruiser]

The first time we witnessed it we were on Destiny @ Calvi, Captain waited about thirty mins just has he pulled away they arrived but he could not re dock unfortunately the remainder of the family were on board the second was on Spirit @ Civitavecchia when someone was late back from Rome but he only waited twenty mins I think some first time cruisers just don't realise how busy Rome gets:rolleyes:

[WeeCountyMan]

I wouldn't worry overmuch about any risk of missing the boat.

 

We took all locally offered trips when we did the Caribbean with no problems - the minibus and people carrier drivers explained that in the event of a drama (ie mechanical breakdown) they could call in an emergency and another vehicle would be sent.

 

It is not in their interests to leave customers stranded - it's their livelihood.

[baz383]

Hi.

Going on celebration on Sunday . Cabin 19 on deck 9 . Are the deluxe balcony cabins ok and do they have fridges big enough for bottles of wine and a few beers ?

Thanks

[Pensioncruiser]

Can't help with the balcony only ever been in deluxe where the fridge is a mini which is OK for bottle's. We may see you we go the following week😀

[baz383]

Ok great. Thanks for your help.

[gillhalfpint]

The first time we witnessed it we were on Destiny @ Calvi, Captain waited about thirty mins just has he pulled away they arrived but he could not re dock unfortunately the remainder of the family were on board the second was on Spirit @ Civitavecchia when someone was late back from Rome but he only waited twenty mins I think some first time cruisers just don't realise how busy Rome gets:rolleyes:

 

Do they pack the cases and emptying the safe etc to leave ashore for passengers being left behind, or presume the passengers will arrange flights to rejoin at the next port. Just curious, as our passports are usually locked in the safe unless we are told we have to take them ashore.

[Pensioncruiser]

No, any passengers missing have to contact the Ships local agent whos number is printed in the 'Cruise News' for each port, then they arrange transport for you to catch the ship at the next possible port, well that's what happened when we witnessed it but the agent was actually waiting on the dock for them. I presume you have to pay for the privilege.:rolleyes:

[gillhalfpint]

No, any passengers missing have to contact the Ships local agent whos number is printed in the 'Cruise News' for each port, then they arrange transport for you to catch the ship at the next possible port, well that's what happened when we witnessed it but the agent was actually waiting on the dock for them. I presume you have to pay for the privilege.:rolleyes:

 

When doing Discovery in October then, we had better make sure we are on board as there will be 6 sea days to Antigua if we miss it!! Thanks, we usually leave ourselves over an hour to the passenger boarding time when around the port on our own, or about 3 if with a taxi somewhere.

[Pensioncruiser]

Won't be an issue if you go with Thomson. For just this one!!!

[Vitalsign]

Having been on a large number of Thomson cruises and 5 with Ocean Village (P&O) never have any passengers been left behind. You know if passengers are missing as the are requested to contact reception by tannoy usually a quarter of an hour before departure. In a number of cases this was because they had been missed when getting back on the boat and sail away was on time. However on one occasion on Celebration in Alexandria a couple who were deaf and were on the boat didn't answer the tannoy and were happily eating in the restaurant. The boat waited 20mins before the waiter realised who they were when they ordered drinks and informed reception they were on board. On another occasion about 20 passengers were rowdily celebrating in a port bar and could been heard from the ship. They were cheered as they merrily weaved their way back to the ship 10 minutes after sail time accompanied by some crew who had been despatched to fetch them. And only w/c 26th January this year four passengers on the Dream were 3/4 of an hour late back and the ship sailed an hour late from Costa Maya. The pier there is a dog leg and quite a walk and so they were transported in golf carts to the ship from the port. It was thought they had contacted the ships agents to explain their delay.

These stories are not to be taken as proof that the ship will wait as Pensioncruiser has shown above but a good idea would be to take the daily cruise news with you so that in an emergency you have the ships agents tel no

[Pensioncruiser]

Thanks vitalsign but I was only passing on my experience with 50+ Cruises with Thomson but everyone has an opinion

[Cruise 4ever]

Hi, the delux cabins are lovely loads of room and big window. Love the Celebration you will have a fantastic time.

[Vitalsign]

Pensioncruiser sorry if I have offended you this was not my intention as expressed in my final sentence I was also just writing about my experiences. I actually didn't mention my own experience when in Naples on the Spirit in 2005 My friend and I had taken the ferry to Capri at lunchtime after visiting Pompeii in the morning and we had bought what we thought was a return ticket. On arriving for the return ferry we were told we needed another ticket as ours were only singles and I had to race to the ticket office (wouldn't be able to do it now) to get two new tickets only to see the ferry leaving on my return to the pier. We got the next ferry but docking was delayed by a large US ship leaving port and we were stuck on the ferry. The Spirit was docked in the industrial port almost a mile away and so being late we got a taxi whose driver drove like Schumacher in rush hour to get us to the port - terrifying. We shot straight thro security ignoring the guards who were shouting at us to come back and had to run another 1/4 mile to get to the ship arriving 5 mins before departure time absolutely exhausted. This was my first cruise and all I could think of was how on earth were we going to get to Sicily the next port of call. Our names had been called out 3 times over the tannoy, passengers told us when we got to the bar for a very necessary beer.

[Jim The Scot]

A year or so ago on the Dream a couple were left behind in Cartagena.It was a short stay port,back on board for 2-00 in the afternoon I think.

 

Thomson staff out looking for them in and around the port bars and restaurants,captain delayed departure by an hour or so but they still never returned.Sailed without them

 

Police and customs turned up and passengers luggage and the likes packed up by Thomson staff and handed over to the customs officers

 

Never found out what happened to the couple