New to cruising

[ekco]

I am going on my first cruise on June 21st to Marmaris on the Thomson Celebration. The posts on this site have been really helpful and I used the tip to take the on-line quote into the TA, which they matched and some. I had an invoice from the TA with the reduction but the confirmation email from Thomsons is showing the full price. Is this usual? and could it cause trouble later? Also, is it worth pre-booking an inside cabin on decks 1/2 and if so which is best for least noise. I'm really looking forward to my trip :)

[sobral]

Hi there!

I am sure once you have cruised you will be hooked as we were!

Celebration is a nice ship and staff/service are the strength of Thomson cruises. We have sailed several times with Thomson and apart from our Destiny cruise, had a lovely time. It may be a good idea to choose your cabin- think it costs £35- we always do- look on deck plans and choose a cabin then call Thomsons and see if its available. Mind you, you will probably not spend much time in your cabin- too much elsewhere to do and see!

Enjoy your first cruise!

[ekco]

Thanks sobral. The Thomsons shop said they are charging £39 to book a cabin now so we don't want to make a big mistake, not having been on a cruise ship before. We saw a video on YouTube with the view out of the window on deck 1 and the sea just under the port hole racing along, I think I would rather not see that. A bit too much like a submarine. :D

[kruzseeka]

Thanks sobral. The Thomsons shop said they are charging £39 to book a cabin now so we don't want to make a big mistake, not having been on a cruise ship before. We saw a video on YouTube with the view out of the window on deck 1 and the sea just under the port hole racing along, I think I would rather not see that. A bit too much like a submarine. :D

 

If you haven't booked an up-grade you will be allocated a Deck 1/2 inside cabin - so no worries about seeing the sea whipping past! At least that's better than on one occasion when we were on a Deck 1 outside and kept disappearing below the water line :eek: - eventually they came to batten down the port-hole cover (don't know what you call it) but I was very relieved and felt much safer then!!!!

 

If you are considering paying £39 to secure a particular cabin so that you know where you'll be, then you might as well go for Deck 2 and it's usually said mid-ships is more stable if you have concerns over motion sickness. It's certainly noisier near the back so if you're paying you might like to take that into account too.

 

I'm sure you'll love the Celebration - as Sobral says, I'm sure like most of us, you'll be bitten by the 'bug'. The new itineraries look very interesting too - Marmaris is a new home port for Thomson so I'm sure a lot of us will be interested to hear your opinions when you get back.

[merciaman]

Dont worry about the invoice.It is normal for it to show the TAs normal price not the discounted/matched price. As for the £35.00 to prebook when we rang to do this we were informed that they were in the process of increasing the price to £39.00 and we would have to pay that. Three weeks later it is still showing £35.00 in the website! Bit cheeky i thought.:mad:

[ekco]

Thanks Kruzseeker and Merciaman. Not sure about Deck 1 but might try for Deck 2, I like to be on the ocean not in it ;) Would you know if I book the cabin through Thomsons or the TA? Feel better about the invoice(s) now, this is the first time we haven't booked on-line for years. We are going to Cruise and Stay in Marmaris at Club Magic Life which has good reviews.

[merciaman]

We booked ours when we booked the holiday and the TA rang Thomson while we were there to check 'live' availability.You can also call 08702434010 to check availability but they might bump you back to your TA to book through them if your original booking was through the TA.:)

[ekco]

Thanks merciaman. Will go through the TA I think, I see Thomsons charge 10p per minute for that service from landlines and being a bit of a skinflint....:eek: