thomson dream 22nd april

[perthorchid]

just about to book 5 night cruise from palma. anyone else been on thomson dream. i will be having single cabin. Any experience out there of single cabins with thomson. Will they seat me with others in dining room or am i destined to sit alone every night.

[Cymro1953]

just about to book 5 night cruise from palma. anyone else been on thomson dream. i will be having single cabin. Any experience out there of single cabins with thomson. Will they seat me with others in dining room or am i destined to sit alone every night.

 

Hi, You will have the pleasure of being the 1st to sail aboard her as the Thomson Dream. (We are aboard the week after you).

there have been comments on here from those who have sailed on her as the Costa Europa and say she is a beautiful ship and of a much better standard than the others even though she is only a bit younger.

 

 

Berwyn

[perthorchid]

great news. i have sailed on thomson celebrity and loved it. also did costa last year . good but so many italians. both of these with late husband. this will be first on my own and a wee bit nervous. i picked thomson because we found it th e friendliest. Have also been on ncl, rcci and celebrity before. Hope it will be easy to fit into and not stick out like sore thumb. bad enought being on your own with out added embarresment

[Cymro1953]

Hi,

No you'll fit in fine. Apart from single cruisers aboard of all ages, I'd say about 95% of the passengers aboard will be British. (at least).

They have an open seating policy in the Waiter service dining room. So they will sit several of you at a table together and you'll meet different ones each night.

We felt more comfortable with this than Royal Caribbean in June, where we did the anytime dining and were sat at at table for 2 each time we ate in there. We felt more relaxed eating in the buffet there.

 

Berwyn

[Cymro1953]

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1045815&highlight=europa

 

That's the best I can find on her on here. It's not much but I think we'll be fine.

As for sunbathing aboard her in April, We were on a Western Med cruise in middle of April 2008 and we needed jackets and cardigans rather than swimming costumes.

 

Berwyn

[tenpin]

just about to book 5 night cruise from palma. anyone else been on thomson dream. i will be having single cabin. Any experience out there of single cabins with thomson. Will they seat me with others in dining room or am i destined to sit alone every night.

 

Hello,

 

The Dream is a lovely ship having sailed on her twice as the Europa, the single cabins then were the same size as normal insides/outside about 19sm, if you have one of the insides take a small nightlight and adaptor with you, (homebase or B&Q) if you have your cabin number I can tell you your location on ship.

 

No worries about dinning unless Thomson change it, you wll be seated with other single if fixed or others if relaxed anytime dinning.

 

On the first day there is usually a singles meeting which is worth going to, of only to arrange tours or dance partners.

 

You will find most other passengers more than willing to stop for a chat or join you at your table for a drink.

Cruising is about taking time with our fellow passengers and enjoying life and Thomson do it best

 

If you have any further concerns just ask.

[davecttr]

The Dream has single cabins either forward or aft. When I cruise on her I will probably pay the supplement and go for a forward cabin because it is further away from the engines. For very late bookings you might even get a normal double amidships if they still have cabins available.

 

Thomson ships may vary depending on itinery but on Spirit this summer solo travellers were invited to several meals etc with the social hostess. we had breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. It worked very well and a group of us arranged to meet at a set time if we wanted to go to dinner with a group we recognised. Surprisingly it turned out that two of my dining companions had the cabins next door and opposite to mine but we never noticed. The ladies seemed to form their own groups, some did their own thing and the men tended to bump into each other in bars(not literally!).

[perthorchid]

thanks tenpin and dave for the road. Just completed the booking tonight and booked my connecting flights from edin to london the night before.

 

Having looked at the cabin layout on the dream (and on the costa europa site) seems almost all single cabins are outside at front and mostly on deck 4 or 5. there is an aft cabin (on 7 i think) but only one.

 

Dave i'm not surprised you were all next door to each other, seems there is a wee ghetto up the front of deck 4. but that s ok.

 

Hopefully i can get in touch with one or two others who are on this ship before i go.

[perthorchid]

thats the travel lodge at london gatwick in place now and the travel insurance. I am so excited and nervous but i am sure i will enjoy it if not quite as much as if i have my dear departed husband with me . Hope someone joins my roll call on the other board (under other cruise lines)

[jojo67]

Glad you are all sorted. I hope you have a fabulous time, can't wait to hear all about it when you return :-)

[Cymro1953]

Hi,

I don't think there's much activity on the Roll Call boards for us. They seem to concentrate on the bigger cruise lines.

From what I've seen anyone going will post it on here like you have done.

Not long now, just over 3 months. :D

 

One thing you will find is that if you do the ship's excursions Thomson's are a lot cheaper than the American ships for same excursion.

 

Berwyn

[perthorchid]

i wa thinking aboutexcursions. I think i would like to do the florence one. Barcelona and Ville france are do-able alone. I wonder if its pisa and florence together. Did that once before off an airtours ship . Pisa was ok but once youve seen the tower...... I'd like to go back to florence though.

They wont charge me extra for being a single on excursions will they. I read somewhere that singles were ofter discouraged in case a couple wanted to go

[kruzseeka]

i wa thinking aboutexcursions. I think i would like to do the florence one. Barcelona and Ville france are do-able alone. I wonder if its pisa and florence together. Did that once before off an airtours ship . Pisa was ok but once youve seen the tower...... I'd like to go back to florence though.

They wont charge me extra for being a single on excursions will they. I read somewhere that singles were ofter discouraged in case a couple wanted to go

 

 

Yes, Barcelona is very doable on your own. when we went, there was a shuttle just to get us out of the port complex although we could almost see where they were taking us. They dropped us at the bottom of Las Ramblas - so very central.

 

Villefranche is LOVELY! It is a tender port but where you land is right in town which is very pretty and has a lot of character. If you are interested in gardens there are some glorious ones at the Villa Ephrussi which is a villa built by one of the Rothschilds. It has magnificent views over the bay. If you are ok walking, it takes about 30 minutes. If you are interested, I can post instructions. Here is a link:

http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/ephrussi/

 

Villefranche also has a lovely waterfront and cafes etc. There is also a little train which does tours of the town or a longer one which goes over the other side of the peninsular to Beauville? (I think that it's name). Lots of people dash off to the more well-known resorts close by (also easy to DiY on the train from Villefranche) but miss out on the charms of Villefranche itself - which isn't crowded as nearly everyone goes somewhere else!

 

We did a Thomson's transfer to Florence. A guide travelled with us and gave us some info on the way about the area and Florence then gave us a map and agreed a meeting time for our return. We enjoyed this approach - it gave us maximum time in Florence but allowed us to explore independently.

 

Trips are really fairly reasonably priced on Thomson's (at least compared with other cruise lines) and I've never heard of any discrimination regarding single travellers. In fact I've often chatted to other passengers on an excursion who have gone on their own, having left their partners to do something else! (One lovely anecdote from a trip to the ballet one evening in St Petersburg: a lady who had gone on her own, because her husband didn't fancy it, got on our bus and said, 'Does anyone recognise me?'. She wasn't sure of the coach number and just hoped other passengers remembered her! We all had such a good laugh WITH her and it really broke the ice and everyone was chatting to her after that!) So don't worry about doing trips on your own. Prices are always quoted per person so there won't be any extra to pay for a single traveller.

 

I trust you have a really good trip and especially hope that you will find good company on board. (I'm sure you will) I think that's one of the strengths of Thomson ships - they are so friendly and everyone (or almost everyone :eek:) seems to be happy to join in and talk to other passengers.

 

Do let us know how it all goes - you are going to be amongst the first to gather information/give opinions on the Dream so we'll be really interested to know all about it - also that you found it all you hope for on a personal/social level. I wish you all the best.:)

[Cymro1953]

i wa thinking aboutexcursions. I think i would like to do the florence one. Barcelona and Ville france are do-able alone. I wonder if its pisa and florence together. Did that once before off an airtours ship . Pisa was ok but once youve seen the tower...... I'd like to go back to florence though.

They wont charge me extra for being a single on excursions will they. I read somewhere that singles were ofter discouraged in case a couple wanted to go

 

No, you will be fine as a single person on an excursion.

If I remember correctly you can do either Pisa or Florence separately or as a joint tour. Also they did do a Florence by yourself where they just take you there and let you get on with it and make sure you know where to meet for the return coach.

 

Berwyn

[capasamari]

Just make sure you tell a fellow passenger if you go out of sight to the loo! My friend's husband nearly got left behind on an excursion in Mexico, the courier told the driver to go and it was only because we knew he was missing and shouted out that they stopped and waited for him!

 

Carol x

[its,only,me]

thats the travel lodge at london gatwick in place now and the travel insurance. I am so excited and nervous but i am sure i will enjoy it if not quite as much as if i have my dear departed husband with me . Hope someone joins my roll call on the other board (under other cruise lines)

 

 

I,m sure that you will be fine and have a fabulous cruise cannot wait till it,s our turn we go in june :cool:

 

mrs.c

[perthorchid]

have been trying to access my cruise details online thru the 'my thomson' section on their page. put in holiday ref, name and date Nothing. I tried a few times then phoned thomsons. the man there said he would send it up to 'IT' dept and i should try again Yesterday. Nothing. so i emailed the help people at thomson and today heard cruises are not accessable online. How can i pre book excursions etc without telephoning. any ideas

[kruzseeka]

have been trying to access my cruise details online thru the 'my thomson' section on their page. put in holiday ref, name and date Nothing. I tried a few times then phoned thomsons. the man there said he would send it up to 'IT' dept and i should try again Yesterday. Nothing. so i emailed the help people at thomson and today heard cruises are not accessable online. How can i pre book excursions etc without telephoning. any ideas

 

Unless things have changed, you can't book excursions until you are on-board. If you have selected the trips you want to do, you can hand in your booking form (in your cabin when you arrive) straight away, or post it in the box on the destinations desk without waiting for the 'Port Showcase' presentation.

[Cymro1953]

Unless things have changed, you can't book excursions until you are on-board. If you have selected the trips you want to do, you can hand in your booking form (in your cabin when you arrive) straight away, or post it in the box on the destinations desk without waiting for the 'Port Showcase' presentation.

 

That's right, Thomson's say they are working on it so we can book them before going like we can on hotel holidays. But up to now still nothing.

 

Berwyn