Iain1873

Thanks for that - that was the case when we went but wasn't sure if it had changed or not - it'll be boxed and wrapped in a towel so should be okay

Hi all , i tried to book a Champagne breakfast for my son and his girlfriend for their cruise on Ventura embarking this Sunday , however apparently they need 72 hours notice to put a voucher in the cabin !!!

So instead we were thinking of putting a bottle of Champagne inmto his case so it's a surprise when he opens the case to unpack - question is - can he carry drink for cabin consumption onboard okay ??

We don't want to get him in any bother but would like to give him a surprise - it's been a couple of years since we were last with P&O so not sure of what the policy is these days.

All comments appreciated - thanks in advance Iain

Whilst i don't agree with all of Keiths post i can sympathise , had our Cruise in January onboard the Dream been our first cruise it would have been our last ...... my days of cruising with Thomsons are over , i can get more for my money elsewhere and before i get oh the staff and entertainment are great ... they aren't any different from any other cruise i've been on , in fact nowhere near the standard of my first Thomson Cruise 5 years ago .... couldn't wait to get off the ship after 7 days , thankfully the land-based part of the holiday stopped our 25th Anniversary holiday been a complete letdown.

Still some folk love the ship , so whatever floats your boat so to speak ....

Not dropped their prices to pre-Platinum though!

I went on a Platinum Cruise - it wasn't ....... :(

Comparing my recent Thomson Cruise with my last P&O Cruise , there is no doubt P&O win hands down , the staff i found to be every bit as friendly as the Thomson staff , entertainment on the Ventura was better than anything the Dream offered in January and the ships are light years apart , i returned to Thomson in January due to two previous excellent cruises with them , unfortunately it was a cruise to forget and i seriously doubt i wll return to Thomsons again , other lines give you so much more for your money these days.

I done a cruise and stay the week after you , during my stay an issue occurred during which they agreed to return £133 to me , 10 weeks later i'm still waiting despite having a signed off complaint form (signed by rep in resort and me) absolutely shocking , its only £133 but now become so much more - i should have claimed about the cruise also mind you as it was a complete waste of money - never again.

Lynn loves a good chuckle !!

Maybe his previous contract was on board a pando cruise ship :D

To be fair that he was a she ......... :p

To be honest i'm surprised at the defence of the Staff on Thomson , in January on the Dream i found them to be polite and reasonably friendly , but no more so than the staff i've encountered with other cruise lines and in all honesty they were a million miles behind the staff i had previously encountered on the old Thomson Destiny 4/5 years ago , the food i also thought poor , the restuarant lacked any atmosphere and the Baked Alaska Parade was a damp squib as the restuarant was less than half full.

The assistant cruise director openly calling passengers "moaning minnies" didn't go down well either , after a poor experience its doubtful i'll cruise with Thomson again , the cruise itself was a dreadful letdown for our 25th Wedding Anniversary thank god we had a week in Jamaica to make up for it - the really sad thing is that when asked about our holiday , we don't mention the cruise and we never took one photograph onboard , only when we were out and about at a port (all two of them !!!)

Unfortunately it doesn't have any bearing on when you booked, some flights this winter have been on a Dreamliner and some haven't.

 

I was under the impression, that from the start of this Summer season, all long haul Thomson flights would be on a Dreamliner, but unless they've been lazy and just copied things over from this winter, one or two flights next Winter look like they're on a 767, based on the flight times.

Yep , we booked 12 months in advance also after it was advertised as a new Dreamliner route to Jamaica from Glasgow , also had the pleasure of a flight supplement from Glasgow and ended up with the quite dreadful First Choice 767 - nobody does Pi**ing off customers quite like Thomsons.....

Its better late than never and at least it gets rid (in my opinion) of those "bonus" sea days i wouldn't wish the cruise we ensured in early January on anyone , dreadfully disorganised with only two ports achieved in a week.

It was Negril we were in - lovely

Yes Jamaica surpassed our expectations and we're planning a two week break there in the future.

Panama Canal i enjoyed but that is probably the inner geek in me bursting to get out ..... :D

I twice tried to book one of the "speciality" restuarants during our cruise in January to be told they were fully booked , but in both cases when we checked half an hour either side of the time we would have liked both were half-empty (or full depending on your view) - can only presume that despite the number of seats they have they can't cope with more than a certain number of covers

We were on the Pride of Panama Cruise in January and it was a huge disappointment also , from weather to the ship , to entertainment and to the poor service in some areas and for it to be descirbed as Platinum is beyond laughable - we booked a weeks cruise and stay and it's sad that after paying all that money the only part of that holiday we talk about is the stay in Jamaica , it was as if the cruise never happened - if only !!

Good decision I think. Having done four thomson cruises, I will not be going with them again. Most other lines are better value with more modern ships and balconies. Thomson need to enter the 21st century.

I couldn't agree more and whilst the staff and entertainment used to be where Thomsons won hands down - not so any more , the cuise previous to my one with Thomsons in January was with P&O , the staff were as good , the entertainment better and the ship light years ahead of the Dream and probably any other ship they have in the fleet for much less money that i paid them for the fiasco that was the Pride of Panama in Janaury .......

If you are going on a cruise , you won't need fast tracked or a lounge on arrival in Jamaica as you get taken straight to the bus to the ship where immigration is done very quickly - worth having the lounge for coming back though

A good sensible way of looking at things, would all the people who have left a bad review be bothered to leave a good review, i very much doubt it

totally untrue , most of my reviews on TA are positive and indeed if i feel a place deserves it i am more likely to leave a review than i would if it was a bad experience - Pride of Panama cruise was a bad experience and given the prices Thomson charge for their cruises it's unlikely i would use them again , there entertainment had dropped markedly since my previous cruises with them so that doesn't win me over anymore and the staff on this particular cruise while nice , they were no nicer than staff on other cruise lines that i've experienced (and not a patch on the staff that i experienced on the Destiny) , so again thats another previously winning reason gone ....... they have lost their edge and are charging premium prices for very average cruises

Just back from a Cruise and Stay and to say I was disappointed with ththe cruise would be a huge understatement , we had choppy sea and high winds and I'm afraid the Dream just couldn't handle it , the wife ended up being stuck in a cabin with her head in the toilet constantly being sick , so that also probably prejudices my opinion , I didn't like th ship , nothing I could really put my finger on but I defo didn't like the layout and there was something just unappealing about it (just my opinion) and I appreciate nothing can be done about the weather.

The ship itself was a huge disappointment in my opinion , breakfasts in the buffet were bland and not particularly hot , the main dining room was okay but no more than that nothing special , even the Baked Alaska Parade I thought was a damp squib.

We also thought that the ship smelled , on decks 4 and 5 in particular there was often strong smells of either diesel or sewage.

On the whole the staff were great as per usual but a couple with surly faces (one in particular in the Orion)

We also tried it to book Kora-La but were told it was fully booked for the evening we wanted (we wanted a table between 7.30pm and 8.30pm) , we then tried to book the Black Rock to be told it was also fully booked - fair enough , however that evening when we went to the Orion for dinner more than half of Kora-La was empty at 7.40pm and was even quieter when we left around 9pm - very disappointing.

Due to high seas and wind we missed two ports of call but to have us in Colon for two days was a mistake , it wasn't safe to leave the port area and the area around it looked like you would imagine a Banana Republic to look , it was a slum , I seen someone say that setting sail for Jamaica and an extra day there would have been a better option and I can't help but agree.

The captain was also a butt of many a joke with his "buckle up and enjoy he ride" comments every time he told us of rough seas ahead , if my wife could have gotten hold of him he'd have been put overboard - the "joke" didn't work with her.

Thomsons have a real issue here they are offering second class ships at new ship prices , I'm afraid I won't be back , 30 year old ships have had their day , the cruise industry has moved forward and after a 5 year absence from Thomsons they seem to be stuck in the past , I recall the entertainment used to be excellent and was a strong selling point , it was sadly lacking on this cruise , my previous P&O cruise had a better show team and better guest artists and more of them for less money.

I know some people love this ship and that's fair enough , a lesson learned for me and a parting of the waves for Thomsons and myself for future cruises.

Sorry just wanted to get my tuppence worth in , on the upside the holiday on Jamaica during the 2nd week was excellent , so that helped the disappointment of the first week.

Just a week then a weeks stay on Jamaica that is all inclusive !!!

No never bothered wouldn't be worth it for us as we're only on for a week plus the wife isn't a huge drinker and we would need to buy for both of us

Beer . Beer and more Beer for me please :p

It was myself that put the post up about the refurb but someone hijacked the post to complain about their cruise , so I pulled the thread as I can do without the notifications every 30 secs plus I asked the person to ask Thomsons the question directly rather than via my post but it was ignored , if you want to complain post your own thread don't do it on someone else's , however not long to go now :)

I did an extensive survey before dinner and I am sorry/gutted to report that there were no sprouts on pando :( ... but, its not all bad..... they do have walk in wardrobes :cool: (just be careful of all the skeletons that fall out of them tho):p:D

Sorry to contradict you but sprouts are available to those without tattoo's , shaven heads or those of better breeding .......

Those with tattoos and shaven heads will be given peas (processed) :D

On my first ever cruise i was also the same regarding wearing of a suit or evening suit , so never bothered , ate the Lido on the old Destiny (along with possibly only 2 other couples in the whole buffet area) going into the main bars casually dressed made me feel out of place when mostly everyone else was in evening wear (this was in the Med rather than the caribbean) , so the next cruise i got myself a cheap evening suit and haven't looked back , i see it as part of the holiday , its one night of the week and it does create a feeling of tradition (rather than bygone days :) ) and of course it allows my wife to dress up and bedeck herself in her full glittery swarovski collection !! :p

However absolutely no need to dress up if you don't want to , just passing on my experience from my first cruise

The Ventura post on the P&O page is a corker , was amusing to see so many folk still stuck in a time warp , but i did see a couple of what i would describe as vile and ill-informed posts

so my brought my shaven head & tattoed arms and myself back to this page :p