rolythecat

Well I wish you the best of luck with that Pensioncruiser! As I said Thomson assured us all would be well and we had the paperwork to prove it! Well done on winning your issue regarding the seats. We were asked to sign to say it was the end of the matter when accepting the refund and meal! Hope you enjoy your holiday in Feb. You've certainly done a lot of cruises! A bit unlucky for us then that we got the wrong cabin 50% of the times!

We booked in August just before the new booking system went live. I double checked all paper work that it showed the correct cabin number. It was a repeat of what happened the previous time which was our first cruise in 2013. The first time they refunded our pre booking fee and gave us £50 compensation. This time we were just offered the refund of booking fee but when we said this wasn't good enough they additionally gave us a meal in one of the speciality restaurants which we accepted. As I said it seems wrong that the staff on reception seem to have to sort this out when it should be Thomson themselves. We did enjoy the cruise but I think we are unlikely to book with Thomson again.

We have just reurned from 2 weeks on the Celebration which on the whole was very enjoyable. This was our fourth cruise with Thomson and second on the Celebration. Because we like to have a midship cabin we always pay to pre book as Thomson say this is the way to get the cabin of choice. When we arrived at Gatwick and checked in we were given our luggage labels and it was immediately obvious we had not been given the cabin of our choice despite having the paper work to show what it should have been. Once we had been through security and while waiting for the flight to be called we called Thomson to explain the situation and they assured us all would be well once we got to the ship and we would have our pre booked cabin. Well, as you can guess once we arrived this was not the case and we were taken to the newly allocated cabin not the one we had pre booked. Off we went to reception only to find at least 6 other parties all with the same problem. The reception staff were very patient and professional in trying to help everyone but there was nothing they could do. The problem lies with Thomson and their booking system not with the ship. It was very annoying for us but not the end of the world, there were people there who had pre booked because they needed twin beds or particularly wanted a double but there was nothing that could be done. Some people were getting very angry with lots of raised voices which we felt was uncalled for as it wasn't the poor receptionists fault! What was interesting was that we noticed when passing reception on change over day for the next week and just before leaving the ship on the last day was that exactly the same thing was happening again so it wasn't a one off. Also unbelievably this was the 2nd time in only 4 cruises that this has happened to us, the previous time being on the Majesty. Have we just been unlucky or do other people have the same problem?

I can log into the flight extras where I presume when the time comes I will be able to check in and will do the API then. I haven't booked premium seats so that won't be until a week before we go. We used to be able to log onto the Mange My Booking where you could view all the ports of call and the weather forecast but that doesn't seem to be available now.

We are flying on 13 Dec which is in 6 weeks time to join the Celebration. I know we don't get tickets as such anymore but will I be getting an email from Thomson with any further information? I really wish we could log on like we used to to view our booking and check everything was in order, it is a shame they haven't got this sorted yet.

Well I've certainly got it as I suspect many others on here have too. I' m very much looking forward to my 4th cruise in December. First time to the Caribbean but 2nd time on the Celebration. What is it about cruising that gets us hooked? I was thinking about this and for me, I think it's the chance to be away from it all with the assurance of good company in a lovely environment. Also the opportunity to wake up in a different place each day. What more could anyone want?! The looking forward to is almost as good as the actual experience!

Web site is down now. I guess they are sorting things out!

Thank you so much for all the information. Particularly thanks to geomagot for such detailed information about the ports. I never realised there would be so much we can do walking straight from the ship. I think we will probably book a few trips but then try and diy for the other days walking to places of interest and hopefully enjoying that lovely sunshine. Can't wait now!

We are going on the Celebration on 13 December for 2 weeks back to back cruise doing Paradise Islands and Caribbean Cocktail. We very very nearly jumped ship and went with P and O for a change having been with Thomson 3 times before although never to the Caribbean. At the last minute we changed our minds due to the extra formal nights and sea days with P and O. So we are now really looking forward to our first time to the Caribbean but are getting very confused with all the islands and what do when we get there. We have done quite a lot of research and found that a lot of people opt for private taxi tours which sound great but I would worry about getting back to the ship on time. Do people tend to meet other people on the ship to do these tours? We have found there are 10 consecutive ports of call on this cruise due to the change of sea day to accommodate Christmas Day! Whilst we prefer ports of call to sea days, 10 together is quite something so we will want some quieter days where we can just wonder off ship. Which would be the best islands for this? We really like walking,parks and gardens and are not really beach people for any length of time. I would really appreciate any advice that can be offered. Many thanks.

I was wondering this too. Does anyone know what cruise insurance specifically covers that normal travel insurance doesn't?

Thank you to the people who have replied and their helpful advise. I had seen the other thread but it didn't answer my specific question. My husband having spent many years in a dark suit for work has no wish to wear one whilst on holiday. We would be happy to eat in the buffet but just wanted to make sure we would also be welcome in other areas of the ship on those evenings so.

We are looking to book a Caribbean Cruise on the Azura this winter. Can anyone tell me if it is ok for men to wear a light coloured suit with tie for the formal evenings and eat in the main dining room Also if wearing casual dress can you still dine in the buffet restaurant and are there any bars that you are able to access if not formally dressed in a dark suit.

We have used the night before bag drop at Gatwick a couple of times when staying at the Premier Inn before an early flight. It has been very efficient and saves time in the morning as you go straight to security. Hope you have a lovely cruise.

I have been looking at the Caribbean cruises for next winter and was wondering if anyone could offer any advice please. We have never been to that area before and are not sure what to expect. We like to be out and about looking at things, interested in history and gardens, views and looking round towns and villages. Which itinerary would be best for this? Also we like the idea of being able to explore from the ship sometimes without going on an official trip. We would probably do a b2b. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks for your replies. I didn't know they put on special flights for the cruises, hopefully that explains that then! I was getting a bit paranoid as we had booked to go this Feb on a repositioning cruise on Majesty from Egypt to Spain but it got cancelled so I don't want the same thing happening again!

This is my first post although I have followed the posts for a while and found the advice helpful especially when we went on our first cruise around the Canaries last Feb. I have been prompted to post after reading the thread about the lack of people posting so thought I would ask for comments about a query I have. We have booked to go on the Celebration on Nov 5th this year on the Mediterranean Flavours cruise flying from Gatwick. We tried to get an online price and then book via the TA however could never get a price online with a Gatwick flight. We enquired in the TA and they had the same problem so phoned up and then the Gatwick price appeared. Anyway we ended up booking online as we had the £100 voucher code that was available in Dec and the TA would not match that price. Since then when looking online , it still does not show Gatwick flights and when searching a flight only to Paphos for Nov 5th it does not come up. Any ideas?