Spanish Sunsets information

[Eglesbrech]

Just back from what was overall an enjoyable holiday on the Spirit. Hope some of this information is helpful if anyone is going on this itinery next year.

 

Great weather for late October and very calm seas, we only got rocked about on one night and as I was in bed it did not bother me.

 

The cabin was ideal, we were on deck 9 with a balcony, the cabin was fairly spacious with lots of storage and a resonanble size bathroom with shower over bath (Elemis toiletries which was nice). There were a few perks with the cabin, quick checkin, quick delivery of luggage, free safe key, breakfast and pressing service. Cabin staff kept is clean and topped up the ice, there was room in the fridge for your own drinks as well ( got a bottle of gin in the duty free at the port in Malaga and Tonic from the shop next door so only a short step back to the ship with supplies). They also did nice towel sculptures every night. The balcony was spacious with chairs and a table, the partitions between cabins kept the wind at bay when the ship was moving.

 

Overall the food was fine, nothing special but perfectly acceptable. They did some different events, a BBQ for lunch one day and a "pub" lunch with a quiz and music which was fun. Service was hit and miss with some staff very efficient and others down right slow and miserable - the first time we have been on a Thomson ship and had grumpy waiters, several passengers commented on this as it is so unusual.

 

We ate in the main restaurant for the majority of meals as, in my opinion, the lido was a bit grubby, too many people using it and not enough staff to clean the tables in between.

 

We bought the wine package at £99 for 7 bottles, reasonable selection though they kept trying to push the cheaper ones on the list but if you just re stated what you wanted it was fine. Good value for money as some of the bottles were 19.95 if bought individually. Had the odd beer, San Micheal which was fresh.

 

Entertainment was fine, we went to a couple of the shows and enjoyed the easy listening music in the Horizens bar. Some good films on the cabin channels as well.

 

We were a bit annoyed with the berths the Spirit was in as for the majority of the week we were at the back of beyond and too far for most folks to walk.

 

Malaga - new port area further out so shuttle required (£5 pp)

 

Palma- very, very noisy industrial port with a cement factory ship on site and lorries being filled with cement every 10 minutes, beyond the navy base 1 hour and 45 minute walk from Palma (all the other ships including the Majesty were in the normal Palma dock across the bay). Shuttle required £6pp

 

Barecelona- shuttle provided by the port at 3 euros each way pp or 4 euros return (a 30 minute walk away)

 

Ibiza - shuttle provided by Thomson at £5 pp (a 40 minute walk away). There is a local boat service which takes you across the bay as well if you prefer.

 

Not only did the shuttles cost extra there was the inconvenience of queuing for timed tickets and then waiting for the bus etc. The only one you usually need a shuttle for is Barcelona and that is only if you get the outer port. Lot of complaints on the ship about this as there were lots of families on for the school holiday week in England, one chap had his wife and 4 children so it added an unexpected cost to of his holiday.

 

Almeria and Ceuta were walk off ports which was nice.

 

I was not keen on Malaga as an airport, on the way out our luggage took over an hour to come onto the carousel for some passengers (others got theirs in just a few minutes) and way back they changed the gate 3 times and we were an hour late departing (then the plane ran out of all food after the first few rows of people so a lot of unhappy campers - hunger does that).

 

The Spirit is showing her age but we still had a fun cruise, Spanish Sunsets is a nice selection of ports for that time of year.

[Andy W]

I was on the same cruise, I had booked an outside cabin on the 3rd deck, on arrival we were given "premier status" what ever that means, a cabin on the 7th deck which was ok, no fridge, separate beds, window with the view of an hoist, no towel sculptures, we had to pay for a safe, bathroom showing age, underneath the beds were filthy and dusty obviously not been moved for a long time (dont usually check this but was checking if we had left anything on the day of departure)

 

Food in the Compass Rose was average, over 19 years of cruising with Thomsons they have really cut costs to the bone, I have had much better food on other ships, one night my wife had a sirloin steak which was without a word of a lie at least 75% fat, the head waiter of the restaurant came to check and agreed that that piece of meat should of never of left the kitchen and we were fully refunded.

 

The Lido buffet breakfast started off good and hot and sort of cooled as the week went on with some foods not cooked enough.

 

Entertainment in the Broadway show lounge was excellent once again and most of the same performers we saw on the Spirit 3 months ago, day time entertainment seemed rushed and pointless, they could do more in the daytime, really does need looking at particularly on the day at sea, the cinema had some of the same films from 3 months ago, years ago we had decent fairly new movies, now we have old one such as Devil wears Prada, Walk the line .... one day there was not even a list outside the cinema what the films were for that day and they no longer print in the cruise news what the in room movies are, we couldnt watch the TV anyway as the reception was so bad on all channels including the in room movie.

 

Thomson only charter this ship so dont know if standards have dropped on this ship but will be better on the other ships, we have had a better drinks package and food on The Dream a couple of years ago.

 

The all inclusive drinks package was hit and miss, one night I had undrinkable whisky when requesting a decent brand, same as the Vodka, in the casino bar we were served Smirnoff, in the Broadway bar we were served cheap weak booze, I even heard people who were paying for their drinks complain how weak they were, some of the cocktails were horrible and too sweet and sickly, the bloody marys varied from bar to bar from so hot and spicy they were undrinkable to far too much tomato juice and not enough vodka.

 

The photography staff were not as pushy this time which was nice.

 

I agree about the ports, some were too far away but we took advantage of the shuttle buses after walking back from Palma on the first port.

 

Thomsons are stopping using this ship probably next year and according to some of the ships staff another cruise line could take it over complete with the staff as all the staff are not employed by Thomson but an agency (thats what we were told)

 

Malaga airport was ok for us, luggage arrival was slow but not too bad.

 

Not sure if I will use Thomson again now, quite a few people did say that things have changed, quality and standards have dropped and Celebrity Cruise Line was mentioned by many people as been better for the money.

 

I am not usually a moaner but think that Thomson could and should do so much better.