Are Thomson cruises any good

[Vitalsign]

You're just quoting Campolady then? Lol

[campolady]

Womaninamansworld - you've also just posted that you went on the inaugural cruise with Discovery - that's 11

🚢😎⏸

 

Womaninamansworld seems to have just copied my post and added nothing herself!

[Vitalsign]

Yes I think so Campolady but I think she's done 2 on Celebration and 1 on Discovery

[shot2bits]

We have done four Thomson cruises, two on celebrity, and one on pando, with another coming up. We have been on Majesty, Celebration and Discovery with Thomson. It's all been said about the friendly crew etc, but in my experience, they are no more friendly than on the other lines. Food wise, celebrity win hands down, P and O a close second. The advantage Thomson have, if any, is the itineraries, less sea days as someone else said. Also, gratuities included in the headline price. Talking of prices though, Thomson used to have the advantage here, but not any longer, in fact they are rather expensive now IMO and for a similar price you can sail with a much more modern fleet. But as for the original question, 'are Thomson any good?' Well, they are now going AI and trying to attract more families and a younger demographic. Whether this is good or bad is subjective and depends what you want. On a personal level, following our cruise on Discovery, we won't be sailing with them again, but again, that's our subjective decision.

 

 

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[Vitalsign]

But did you sail during the school holidays? Which we avoid at all costs on any ship

[shot2bits]

Yes, hold my hands up. Entire ship(discovery) over run by kids, but in fairness, it was the parents control, or lack of it that was the problem.

Look, nice ship, similar if older than modern Celebrity ships, but the Thomson philosophy is now to attract families. That's fine, but not for us. I would just say book with an open mind. I wouldn't deliberately knock Thomson, but their new deliberate ploy of AI and family friendly is just not what I personally want to spend my pension on! Good itineraries but not competitively priced anymore.

 

 

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[Vitalsign]

My sister was on Spirit last August (she's retired but wanted the itinerary) and was aghast at the behaviour of parents not supervising their children - some on the deck above the pool smoking and drinking and their children were just running wild around the pool

There have been problems on P & O ships too particularly at Christmas and it seems all cruise lines are attracting families with the activities on board they offer so sorry but the only way to avoid this is too cruise out if school holidays or adult only cruises

 

Thomson Spirit ​Oct 2005 Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh

Thomson Celebration ​Jan 2007 Red Sea Magic

Ocean Village ​Feb 2008 Western Caribbean & Central America

Ocean Village ​Aug 2008 Eastern Med

Ocean Village 2 ​Feb 2009 Eastern Caribbean

Ocean Village ​Mar 2010 Eastern Caribbean

Thomson Dream ​Feb 2011 Eastern Caribbean & Cuba

Thomson Celebration ​Aug 2011 Eastern Med

Thomson Celebration ​Apr 2012 Red Sea Magic

Thomson Celebration ​Apr/May 2012 Repo Sharm el Sheikh to Marmaris

Thomson Dream ​Feb 2013 Eastern Caribbean

Thomson Majesty​ ​Nov/Dec 2014 Colourful Coasts Canaries

Thomson Dream ​Jan/Feb 2015 Western Caribbean Panama & Cuba

Thomson Dream ​Apr 2015 Transatlantic Sunset

Thomson Majesty​​June 2015 Hellenic Classics

Thomson Celebration ​Sept 2015 Adriatic Affair

Thomson Dream​​Jan 2016 Mayan Treasures/Cuban Revolution

Thomson Dream​​April 2016 Atlantic Adventure

Thomson Dream​​June 2016 Iconic Islands/Adriatic Explorer

Thomson Celebration​​Jan 2017 Cities of Gold

Thomson Dream​​April2017 Atlantic Daydream

Thomson Spirit ​June 2017 Classical Greece

Thomson Majesty​​Sept2017 Med Medley/Treasures of Med

[womaninamansworld]

WOW there are some really sarcastic people on here, i am new to this and wasn't sure how to reply, so i am sorry if i have offended anyone.

[campolady]

WOW there are some really sarcastic people on here, i am new to this and wasn't sure how to reply, so i am sorry if i have offended anyone.

 

I am sure that no-one is at all offended, or meaning to sound sarcastic, womaninamansworld. We have all been novices - I still find many questions to ask - and are actually a very helpful bunch. Please ask any questions and I am sure that you will get some very useful replies.

:)

[davecttr]

I see the court ruling today might cut down on the number of kids cruising during term time.

[Deeside dave]

Just off Spirit yesterday April 5th.Had great time as usual with Thomson.It was only second week since winter lay up but going well .The show team working really hard doing full rehearsals every day and were excellent .The "Musicals" show was amazing.Embarkation was a breeze and cabin on deck 6 well worth the extra .In a quiet spot and excellent size with two lovely cabin stewards.(Cabin 216 has interconnecting door and we had neighbours but never heard them ,(could be a problem possibly).Staff were so friendly(a couple of Eastern Europeans apart )..Thomsons take care not to replace too many Phillipinos they are so good).My advice is avoid school holidays and don't look too closely at the windows which are showing their age and you will have a brilliant time.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I think "glorified ferries" is a bit misleading as both Spirit and Celebration were built as cruise ships for Holland America Line. It was actually the Island Escape that was built as ferry.

 

As others have said, it is only in school holidays that there are a lot of children on board. We went in September on Discovery and hardly any at all. As you can see we have been on several different lines and all have good points, Thomson - excellent entertainment, Fred.Olsen - wonderful food, P&O good food and entertainment and as shot2bits says the crew are friendly on all lines.

 

Your first cruise will be wonderful I am sure, whoever you choose to cruise with, but I can thoroughly recommend Thomson

[Vitalsign]

Womaninamansworld - so very sorry if you took my northern sense of humour badly it was certainly not intentional as I was just having fun. Please don't give up on these boards you will get lots of very good info from some lovely people. Sorry again

[travel to]

just off spirit yesterday april 5th.had great time as usual with thomson.it was only second week since winter lay up but going well .the show team working really hard doing full rehearsals every day and were excellent .the "musicals" show was amazing.embarkation was a breeze and cabin on deck 6 well worth the extra .in a quiet spot and excellent size with two lovely cabin stewards.(cabin 216 has interconnecting door and we had neighbours but never heard them ,(could be a problem possibly).staff were so friendly(a couple of eastern europeans apart )..thomsons take care not to replace too many phillipinos they are so good).my advice is avoid school holidays and don't look too closely at the windows which are showing their age and you will have a brilliant time.

thanks very much for the info,we are going 4th may.can you tell me what plugs i need to take.also are you able to take drinks on board to drink in the cabin.

[campolady]

thanks very much for the info,we are going 4th may.can you tell me what plugs i need to take.also are you able to take drinks on board to drink in the cabin.

 

You can take drink for cabin consumption.

[Deeside dave]

thanks very much for the info,we are going 4th may.can you tell me what plugs i need to take.also are you able to take drinks on board to drink in the cabin.

Continental 2 pin adaptor.There is one socket on the dressing table and if you need another go into the cupboard with the mini bar and it's below the the TVs socket

[travel to]

Thanks very much for your reply.

[okavango]

Just off Spirit yesterday April 5th.Had great time as usual with Thomson.It was only second week since winter lay up but going well .The show team working really hard doing full rehearsals every day and were excellent .The "Musicals" show was amazing.Embarkation was a breeze and cabin on deck 6 well worth the extra .In a quiet spot and excellent size with two lovely cabin stewards.(Cabin 216 has interconnecting door and we had neighbours but never heard them ,(could be a problem possibly).Staff were so friendly(a couple of Eastern Europeans apart )..Thomsons take care not to replace too many Phillipinos they are so good).My advice is avoid school holidays and don't look too closely at the windows which are showing their age and you will have a brilliant time.

 

staff nationality is nothing to do with thomsons, they dont work for them

[Deeside dave]

True enough but " he who pays the piper plays the tune "

[Vitalsign]

Staff on Spirit and Majesty taken on by Louis lines Dream Celebration and Discovery staff taken on by Thomson or so I thought There are more Eastern Europeans on Spirit and Majesty than the other ships and I must say I have found some of them surly on occasions - can't beat Philipinios for being friendly upbeat hardworking and funny - in the main great people

[Pensioncruiser]

I will second that😁

 

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[JimmyTheSaint]

To answer the original question...NO!!!

 

I've just finished my first cruise with Thomson on the Celebration and it was rubbish. We chose the cruise because of a couple of the ports were new to us but everything about the ship was awful. The quality of food, facilities, cabin and entertainment was terrible compared to modern ships we've been on.

If this had been our first cruise we'd never cruise again; we will certainly never cruise with Thomson again. Thankfully we have had great experiences with RCI, MSC and Carnival and we can recommend them.

[Cappers]

One thing nobody has mentioned is that Thomson have excellent cruise and stay options. I'm a P&O girl really because I prefer the larger ships and to sail from Southampton where possible to avoid flying,,which I hate,,but when we do a summer cruise it's always Thomson. We have a weeks cruise and then a week on a beach,,what's not to like?? We want to try the Discovery2 this summer from Malaga,,some ports call we've not been to so I think that will be our plan for August. The less formal atmosphere on a Thomson ship is nice in summer when it's hot and you just want to relax.

[jimgri]

To answer the original question...NO!!!

 

I've just finished my first cruise with Thomson on the Celebration and it was rubbish. We chose the cruise because of a couple of the ports were new to us but everything about the ship was awful. The quality of food, facilities, cabin and entertainment was terrible compared to modern ships we've been on.

If this had been our first cruise we'd never cruise again; we will certainly never cruise with Thomson again. Thankfully we have had great experiences with RCI, MSC and Carnival and we can recommend them.

 

That was my experience too – our first and last cruise on Celebration in January. Old shabby ship, noisy cabin, frequent sewage smells not just in the cabin but along the whole corridor, unadventurous food which was no better than a canteen, smokers everywhere, and loud drunkards abusing the all-inclusive drinks package. Apart from that, everything was fine!

[shot2bits]

That was my experience too – our first and last cruise on Celebration in January. Old shabby ship, noisy cabin, frequent sewage smells not just in the cabin but along the whole corridor, unadventurous food which was no better than a canteen, smokers everywhere, and loud drunkards abusing the all-inclusive drinks package. Apart from that, everything was fine!

 

 

That was my experience on Celebration too. Discovery was not much better; as you said unadventurous food which was no better than a canteen, smokers everywhere, and loud drunkards abusing the all-inclusive drinks package. Apart from that, everything was far from fine! I'll never return to Thomson/ Tui call it what you like.

 

 

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