rookery

I agree. Based on the reviews thus far I would not consider a cruise on Discovery whether term time or not.

Anyone know if there will be more than 1 formal night on this 12 night repo cruise?

Agadir is very nice. The beach is marvellous as is the grand souk. Very cheap and easy to get a petit taxi from the port to wherever you want to go. It's quite a poor country, typically North African, but quite safe in my opinion.

Anyone else on this cruise. Seriously thinking about it but find the itinerary on Thomson website differs from that on Cruise Deals website for the same cruise. Thomson's say Day 10 transit Suez Canal, Day 11 at Sea, Days 12 & 13 in Jordan. Cruise Deals says Day 9 transit Suez Canal, Day 10 Port Sokhna, Day 11 & 12 Hurghada, Day 13 Sharm El Sheikh.

They cant both be right, can they? I rang Cruise Deals and they were clueless. Out of curiosity, I rang Thomas Cook to see what they had to offer for this cruise and not surprisingly got the same office as Cruise Deals so I didnt even bother asking the question. And I was going to book it today too.

We've done that excursion and yes we went inside the cathedral. It was very interesting to see. Good job the contractor isn't on a penalty clause :)

Oh I do hope that is correct. Have a very soft spot for Spirit.

Me too. My favourite by a distance.

I too was very nearly the victim of a pickpocket. Fortunately I felt something and this prevented my wallet from vanishing. We were just pulling into a station a couple of stops before the port and he got off. I expect that this is the modus operandi - select a cruise passenger to steal from leaving just enough time to alight the train and disappear. Lucky for him I prevented it cos I would have battered him senseless.

It might also be that the flight you are looking at is sold out, not the actual cruise. It can be worth a search using a different departure airport.

The point I'm making is that having selected the airport and the month, the search results shouldn't include a cruise if it's not available.

I went on line earlier today to look at/book a specific cruise. I easily found the one I wanted and made my selection. I clicked through to find the price had gone up a little. Despite this, I clicked through again only to find the cruise had sold out. I did the same thing this evening and got exactly the same result. Thomson, if the cruise isn't available then don't include it in your search results.

Pathetic :mad: :mad: :mad:

The Dream is my least favourite Thomson ship so out of the two, my vote would go for Majesty. Neither a patch on Spirit though.

If you want to do a bit of shopping or browsing in the morning, get a petit taxi from the port gates and ask for the grand souk. It's marvellous. Agree the fare first, haggling is expected, it should be about 15 - 20 dirham and give a tip too. Same on the way back but a good idea to take a picture of the ship with you to show the driver otherwise he might take you to the fishing port! As in every North African country, you'll get pestered a bit but a firm no thank you, with a smile, is all that's required. Have fun.

Am on Majesty's Colourful Coasts cruise from Tenerife on 22nd March 2016. Daughter, her husband and daughter are being energetic and taking the ship's bike tour when in Agadir so I need to organise something for myself. Am leaning towards a ship's organised tour as I am hesitant about going out and about on my own. Do you have any recommendations as to what to see and do and would you advise for/against going out alone at this port?

 

Suzanne

I wouldn't worry about going it alone. In my view its a very safe place, the people are respectful and they like British tourists. Its a lot safer than London. We've been many times and Mrs R has gone out on her own several times. Have a great time.

I'd ask them why their customer service is so bad.

As a long UK phone call from overseas is cost prohibitive, and we cannot go into a Thomson shop, they are going to lose customers.

If I was in your position I'd ring a Thomson T/A or Cr##s D##ls and say "I want to book a cruise today and I've got my debit card with me, please will you ring me back"

We thought he was excellent too. Thomson's loss, and ours. Anyone know what Paul Evans is doing?

But if you only want cruise only, you probably live in Spain etc, so how could you visit a local store :confused::confused:

I just looked on Cruise Deals and they are showing a 7 day cruise on Celebration departing Malaga on 28.4.16, sans flights so maybe one could book over t'phone.

Of course it isn't really free. A week in the Med on the Dream Sept 15 is currently £712 flying from M/cr whereas a week in the Med on the Discovery Sept 16 is currently £1232 also flying from M/cr. If you're going to drink £500+ worth of booze each in a week you need a clinic not a cruise ;)

I've been watching the prices of a couple of cruises over the last few weeks. This morning, the price of a 1/2 inside going in 8 days time flying from Manchester is £675 (hurry, only 3 seats left) whereas the same 1/2 inside flying from Exeter is £567 (hurry, only 2 seats left). That's £216 difference, enough of a saving to pay for petrol and a hotel for the night and still have change.

A week in the Med on the Dream also in October flying from M/cr to Palma and back is currently £703. That's a smidge over £100 per night, double the cost of the Oceana. Come on Thomson, pull your finger out.

Just be wary of planning travel by train if you're doing DiY (Piraeus into Athens or to Olympia for example) as I understand there has been a train strike today - at least in the Thessaloniki area.

And be careful with your belongings too. I nearly had my wallet lifted by some greek git on the train from Athens back to Piraeus. Luckily, I felt it when he undid the press-stud on my shorts pocket. It was just as we were pulling into a station so he would have had a quick getaway had he succeeded. Mind you I'd have laid into him if I caught him.

We had a serious problem with one Thomson cruise and 2 letters from me got the usual fobbing off. I consulted my solicitor who said that even if I won my case I might not be awarded costs so I reluctantly dropped the matter. It left a bitter taste which hasn't gone away. As far as I'm concerned, ABTA is a club run for the benefit of it's members.

I always book as late as possible. I reckon about 3 weeks before departure gives a good price. We've booked as late as 3 days prior to departure on more than one occasion. As a rule we're not fussed about which deck or inside vs outside, rarely pre book a cabin and don't drink enough for buying A/I. I'm currently monitoring the price daily of a holiday on the Dream in September and when I feel it's gone as low as it's going to, I'll book it. Of course if it sells out or the price isn't right then it's not a problem, we'll just go somewhere else. There's always a holiday available somewhere.

:mad: Stevie

 

 

The summer solstice is happening this Sunday, June 21 which means there will be 17 hours of daylight

 

 

The longest day of the year is finally here!

 

June 21 marks the summer solstice, which is, technically, when the Sun reaches its highest point in its path as seen from the Earth and the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined towards the sun.

 

Which means we get the most daylight of any day the year (hooray!)

 

It's generally understood to mark the middle of summer, although looking out the window, we could be forgiven for thinking that hasn't even started yet

Well I never...

Well here it is....

 

Formal night was the most informal I have seen, not many DJs and some came to the Captain’s cocktail party in shorts. In fact this cruise was very informal, compared to our last two trips on the Majesty. Not complaining, just saying!

I don't often get the chance to 'dress up' so me in my DJ and Mrs Rookery in her posh frock for the captains do is an integral part of the cruise experience for us. The lowering of standards is disappointing to say the least.

We were on the Spirit in April and as soon as we boarded we felt 'at home'. Our cabin, inside double on deck 3, was fine. The bathroom had been refurbished with a new basin and vanity unit. Cant remember about the tiling though. I think quite a few of the public areas had received new carpets and soft furnishings and fortunately, they hadn't converted the Explorers lounge into a coffee lounge like they have on Celebration. We felt the quality of food had dipped a bit. We had planned to dine in the compass rose but on day 3 we gave up due to the very slow service and ended up using the buffet for the remainder of the cruise. The staff were excellent as usual though not so many familiar faces this time. Ents staff were quite good too. Bar service was good which made yet another price hike a little more palatable. Overall, Spirit is still my favourite ship but we would only use Thomson again if the price was right. Having spent a small fortune with them over the years, it would have been nice to have received some recognition as a returning guest. Alas, Thomson shot themselves in the foot on this one.