Thomson Destiny Cruise Ship

Advantages: Great Value Fabulous service
Disadvantages: expensive excursions, ship a little aged

...We travelled on Thomson Destiny on it's first mediteranian cruise of 2006 on May 4th. We had cruised on this ship previously when it was owned by Airtours and named Sunbird. The Destiny is the biggest in the Thomson fleet. I must say the improvements under the Thomson brand were very much evident. As this was our honeymoon we booked two 1 week cruises, back to back. This cost us about £1,900 with free all inclusive upgrade. We did book an inside cabin as on all my previous cruises I had always been upgraded to an outside cabin. Unfortunately we did were not upgraded and found out on the cruise from passengers that Thomson do not upgrade passengers to outside cabins free of charge. We flew to Majorca from Doncaster Robin Hood on the Thursday departing around 0600 hours. At our arrival airport there was a delay with coaches taking...

ged1967 27.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Thomson Travel - Mediterranean Cruise

Thomson Celebration Cruise

Advantages: pampering from day one
Disadvantages: need to start diet the year before

...you really wanted to. We did not book any of the organised visits, I thought they were expensive and many required long coach trips to get anywhere interesting and that was not the reason why I chose to cruise in the first place. It was very nice to have the ship to ourselves when many disembarked to go to Rome or other places of interest. Although notices abound regarding towels on sunbeds as a means of reservation while out on visits - staff did not reinforce this by removing towels that were on beds at 7am and remained there most of the day. I left the ship at every port and explored the immediate area - the worsed being Casablanca and well worth avoiding. It was a long way from the market area and even then this was dirty, smelly and very intimidating. In a couple of the ports got a good deal on a waiting taxi driver...

seamaster30 19.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Thomson Travel - Mediterranean Cruise

  Thomson Spirit Cruise - Fortunate Isles

Advantages: Excellent Food, Interesting places to see
Disadvantages: Fairly expensive

...My first cruise was a very positive experience. I was worried that I would be trapped with hundreds of old people for a week, but in fact it was nothing like that. Myself and my boyfriend made a last minute booking to go on the Thomson Spirit Fortunate Isles cruise. We wanted to go on holiday in early April but when we went to the travel agents the only holiday they had on days we could travel was this cruise. We thought about it for a bit and decided to bite the bullet, so here is the story of my first cruise. **The ship** The Thomson Spirit is 214m long and 10 decks tall. It weighs about 35,000 tonnes. In other words, it is massive! It takes about 1200 passengers. Thomson have owned it since 2003; before that it belonged to a German company. **Facilities** On board the ship there are the following facilities...

Cat2005 03.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Thomson Travel - Mediterranean Cruise

Romance, Romans and the Riviera - Thomson Cruise

Advantages: Excellent Food, Great Entertainment, Friendly Staff
Disadvantages: Ship is quite old, Not much to see in port without going on excursions

...INTRODUCTION As a 27 year old Honeymooner I was quite concerned when my fiancee booked a weeks cruise. The outlook on the Thomson Satellite TV channel was not great, after seeing that most passengers were old enough to be my great grandparents. Not that I'm ageist at all, but going to bed with a cup of ovaltine at 8:00pm didn't seem like my idea of a great holiday. Would I be proven wrong? INITIAL IMPRESSIONS After arriving at Palma Airport we were greeted by a Spanish Girl in her mid-twenties dressed in a Thomson Rep Uniform. She was very polite and her english was good, although the information we got consisted of being ushered to a waiting bus and having an A4 sheet of paper thrust into our hand. We were the first couple on the bus and my worst nightmare started to come true, as the other passengers started to arrive. We...

bermudaviper 02.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Thomson Travel - Mediterranean Cruise

A cruise on Windermere

Advantages: No driving, fresh air, wonderful scenery
Disadvantages: May be a bit wet and windy up top depending on the weather

...Each time we go to the Lake District we go on at least one cruise on Lake Windermere and our last visit was no exception ? we took my mother in law on the journey from Bowness to Ambleside and she loved it! The people who run the cruises are a company called Windermere Lake Cruises ? I bet it didn?t take too long to think of that name! The company runs cruises across the lake between Bowness, Ambleside (Waterhead) and Lakeside. Bowness is a pretty holiday town which is the ?heart? of the Lake District. It has all sorts of shops from the traditional Tesco, Boots, Co-op and clothes shops to shops selling souvenirs of every kind. There are also plenty of cafes and restaurants here making it an interesting place to spend a couple of hours. Ambleside is a beautiful town full of interesting shops selling everything from books to...

SusanLesley 06.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Windermere Lake Cruises, Windermere

  A Cruise to remember

Advantages: See all the ancient towns cities and temples
Disadvantages: The heat, but only if you let it grt to you

...major credit cards accepted, oh and cash. Back to the boat for the last time this is when we all said goodbye to our wonderful guide who looked after us all extremely well and guided us with distinction, he was well tipped by all and gave a short speech on how we were the best group he had led, yeah ok. Then we had our last lunch before joining our coach for the long four and a half hour journey back to Luxor. When we got on the coach we had to join a very long convoy of over fifty coaches, mini buses and cars that were travelling north to Luxor that had to be escorted by the army for security reasons, thing is we have always felt very secure and welcome in this country. The whole experience has left us nearly speechless as we did not plan this excursion, sorry adventure, so that we would recommend this cruise to you all. For the price...

yampy-uk 10.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Nile cruises

Cruising On The Cheap

Advantages: Doesn't cost the earth, varied itinerary. Plenty to eat.
Disadvantages: Feels a bit like an up-market & mobile Butlins

...Like "JONYEE" who has also written about a similar cruise, I feel that at least one cruise is something you need to get out of your system. I would recommend an Airtours Cruise to anyone who isn't sure whether cruising is for them - that way they don't spend a king's ransom on something that turns out to be not to their taste. The Airtours Med cruises are centred around Palma in Mallorca. They can either be combined with a stay on the island, or taken alone. We opted for the former, since it cost hardly any more. The ship itself was a refurbished ex-Caribbean liner, hence the lower prices. The itinerary was demanding, with a full day somewhere different almost every day. However, in our case, the first leg involved 36 hours at sea to get to Ajaccio in Corsica. The journey was very boring, since I didn't want to sun-bathe, gamble...

BNibbles 18.12.2000 · Read review
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Review of Airtours cruise

Casual Caribbean Cruising

Advantages: Excellent food, huge cabins, fabulous entertainment
Disadvantages: Expensive shore excursions, annoying ships photographer

...We have just returned from a 2 week cruise of the Caribbean with Ocean Village. It was fabulous. Anyone younger than 50 who thinks cruises are all old age pensioners having a 6 course dinner at the captain's table can think again - the company's logo is "Cruises for People who Don't do Cruises" and this is certainly true. I've detailed below all the facilities etc that are on board the ship but outline briefly here our experience. We flew from Manchester with Thomas Cook and they were great. You check your bags in at the desk and you don't see them again until they arrive at your cabin later that evening. When you get off the plane in Barbados a coach arrives and takes you from the tarmac direct to Bridgetown Port meaning you don't have to queue up at customs in the airport. On arrival at Bridgetown Port one you have signed...

miggmoggspud 13.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Ocean Village Cruise

CRUISING ...

Advantages: Entertaining & Fun (for all kids), Encourages Crawling & Cruising, Colourful, Versatile, 2 music modes, teaches dexterity, grows with child, multiple activities, ball holder
Disadvantages: Space requirements, volume, music is on the annoying side - only three songs, doesn't fold, potential safety hazard, heavy, batteries run out quickly

...is set up so you set the ball in and then turn a dial to make the ball drop, lights flash, and music to play. Whichever way the ball enters, the ball will travel around the sides and eventually exit through one of the small holes on the lower bottom side front of the unit. This makes for a great game of "now you see it, now you don't. So, Christopher will be "chasing" balls around in no time - pulling himself up, dropping the ball, only to repeat the cycle. I get tired watching, but this is fun for little ones and great exercise too! This part is just plain cool, lots of fun. Fisher Price was smart enough this time around, to include ball storage for all 6 balls in the lowest section of the Crawl 'n Cruise Playground. Unfortunately, you can?t purchase additional balls, or replacement balls. ** STAGE 3: STAND 'N BOP ** When your...

mysteryshopper2 06.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of Fisher-price Crawl'n Cruise Playground

Cruise Myths

Advantages: Hassel Free
Disadvantages: Diet

...Cruise Myths Some say cruising is for the saga buffs and some say cruising is for elder people, But what is wrong with travelling with the older generation, it makes your cruise complete because they have numerous and interesting stories to acquaint you with. Cruising is for everyone's experience. Increasing in age does not have the same meaning as it used to be in the past. In many cases, the popular stereotype of senior citizens relaxing in a nursing home is now thrown right out the window. More and more senior citizens are making the decision to get out and enjoy life instead of just saving it all for the kids' inheritance. Whether it is on the luxury Saga Ruby or the luxury QueenMary2, cruise ships are becoming more and more fashionable. Nowadays most cruise ships cater for all ages and the myth that cruise ships...

halk 13.09.2007 (15.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Member Advice on Cruises