Emerald Cruise 4th -18th July 2008

[Sailingscots]

Hi Everyone

I'm posting my review of this cruise here as I've waited in vain for it to appear in the Review Section.

 

"Flight from Glasgow was on time. There was a Thomson desk in the baggage reclaim area where we were given an envelope with details of our allocated cabin etc and numbered stickers to put on our cases.We transferred to the port in Corfu without any major problems. We had to queue to register our credit card and then again to be given our table allocation for dinner but it didn’t take too long and we were given cups of water while we waited. Were a bit hot and sweaty by this time so passed on the photo opportunity as we exited the port building.There were, as we discovered, many more photo opportunities to come!!

 

Our cabin was a superior inside on Deck 7 and we found it more than adequate for our needs. It was spacious (clever use of mirrors made it look bigger than it was) and there was plenty of hanging and drawer space, though we did toil for places to put the empty suitcases. The shower room was fine with a constant supply of hot water. Towels were changed twice a day. Our cabin attendant was very thorough though we did miss out on the elaborately folded towels (rabbits etc) that some other passengers spoke of. The cabin had two electric sockets, one of which had the tv plugged into it. The plug was an American flat pin type and the voltage was 110 so I had to adjust my hair straightener. There was an adequate hairdryer provided in the showerrroom.

 

Food was plentiful and varied and we never had any problem finding something we liked. We used the Lido self service restaurant for breakfast, often taking our trays out to the deck area. Just about everything you could imagine eating for breakfast was available. We also normally ate lunch at the Lido, where you could choose from an array of hot and cold dishes at the self service counters or grab a burger and chips from the griddle area set up on deck. Both breakfast and lunch were also available waiter –served in the main restaurant. We ate dinner in the restaurant each night where there were five courses on offer, each with two or three choices (usually one veggie option for each course). We opted for second sitting which started at 8.45 pm. We had lovely table companions both weeks, ranging from seasoned cruisers to newbies like ourselves. Most people made an effort to dress smartly in the restaurant, though open necked shirts were fine for men apart from on the one formal night each week when suits/ties were expected.

 

We opted not to take the all-inclusive drinks package and ended up quids in. Drinks seemed very reasonable (compared to cafes in the ports) with a coke being about £1.00 and a glass of wine £2.10. Everything you buy on board is charged to a card and you pay off the bill at the end of each week. Being a true Scot I checked off all our receipts against the invoices and didn’t find a single mistake.

 

Entertainment was very good with a different show every night during our fortnight stay on the ship. The entertainment team are talented, unfailingly enthusiastic and always smiling.

 

We did some of the Thomson shore trips and organised others ourselves. Best value Thomson was the trip to Plitvece Lakes from Zadar. You need to be quite fit as you walk quite a distance, but the scenery is spectacular. Good packed lunch included from the ship. We also did the trip to the Corinth Canal from Piraeus, which was enjoyable and an interesting alternative to the Parthenon etc. We did Venice, Dubrovnik and Kusadasi on our own with a bit of prior research before leaving Scotland. In Kusadasi we used Sammy’s Travel for our trip to Ephesus. This worked out slightly cheaper than the Thomson trip and we had our own driver and guide who met us at the port entrance with an air-conditioned minibus. This was very easy to organise before we left home and you can choose just to pay a deposit in advance.

 

We had a wonderful trip and would recommend Thomson to anyone looking for a value for money cruise experience. We enjoyed our first cruise so much we have booked another week in November, this time on Destiny."

[sagalout1954]

Thanks sailingscots - we're on our first cruise (on the sea anyway) in October, Emerald eastern med. Sounds like you had a great time and we've also gone for a superior inside cabin, deck 7 (no. 720).

 

Still have slight concerns about seasickness and now have a few more regarding all that FOOD!! I know people are going to say "you don't have to eat it"............but let's face it, I know I will.

 

Did you experience many problems getting a decent sunbed or seats for the shows? I've heard stories about the old 'towels on the sunbeds from the crack of dawn' trick (then buzzing off ashore for most of the day) and people sitting through the first show then staying to watch it again grabbing the best seats second time round.

[Sailingscots]

Hi Sagalout,

 

We're not big on the sun so didn't have to worry much about fighting for loungers. Despite the fact that the daily bulletin regularly had a paragraph about not 'reserving' sunbeds there were obviously a lot of people who did just that. Not sure how you stop people fom being so selfish.

 

We never had a problem getting a seat for the second show. They make everyone leave the lounge after the first show so you can't just grab the best seats before the second sitting comes out. Sometimes there was an additional late night show after the second cabaret spot and second sitting guests definitely had the advantage there as they already had seats in the show lounge.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. We just loved it and I am definitely hooked.

 

Sailingscots