Customer Service Response to my concerns re: Dream!

[jojo67]

What a joke! Following yet more bad reviews from people returning this Tuesday (25th May) I decided to contact Thomson outlining my concerns & asking for reassurance on a number of things. My email was quite lengthy & very detailed & took some time to compose. I was specific with the cabin numbers that I had booked and asked specific questions relating to MY booking & MY cabins, this is the rather pathetic response I have just received....

 

Dear Mrs Bowden

 

Thank you for contacting Thomson cruise.

 

As you know, there has been publicity in relation to Thomson Dream in the way it

has been affected by some technical issues during its first sailings from Palma

we can confirm that this has now been largely resolved.

 

Entertainment - particularly the evening shows - are being appreciated by packed

audiences, and the dining experience is already up to the high standard

experienced on other Thomson ships. The ship will provide an excellent holiday

destination in itself, as well as providing a means of sampling some wonderful

destinations in the course of its voyage.

 

We trust this clarifies the situation and thank you for contacting Thomson

Cruises.

 

Kind regards

 

Cruise 'ContactUs' Team

Service Centre - Swansea

email contactus@thomson-cruises.com

 

 

5 Great Reasons to choose Thomson Cruise or Island Cruises

1. Your Home from home - British cruising with everything priced in £ sterling

2. Fly from your local airport - other cruise lines can't match our range of

regional flights

3. The seal of approval - 9 out of 10 customers would recommend us to their

friends

4. Honest pricing - Tips are included and there's no hidden extras

5. The ultimate package holidays - we look after you every step of the way

 

Sadly it didn't clarify 'my' questions so yet another email is on it's way :mad:

[Judaism]

I received exactly the same email as a response to my email to them!

[Jim The Scot]

jojo

 

I know its not the response you were hoping for but to be honest its the response I would have expected..The ain`t going to admit to any problems on board to future passengers.

[Rebel Rouser]

C'mon people's judge the ship your self and stop worrying what other reviews you have read, what some dislike you might like and vice versa.

 

This is the trouble with the internet, it is such a powerful tool to get any sort of media out (good or bad)

 

I think we worry to much at times.. lifes to short :D

 

RR

[CRUISIN LINDA]

C'mon people's judge the ship your self and stop worrying what other reviews you have read, what some dislike you might like and vice versa.

 

This is the trouble with the internet, it is such a powerful tool to get any sort of media out (good or bad)

 

I think we worry to much at times.. lifes to short :D

 

RR

 

Yes, but you haven't been on it and I have and I wouldn't recommend it to my friends (or even my enemies :p)

You will always get some bad reviews amongst the good ones, but on this occasion there are many more bad than good!!

 

Linda

[Jim The Scot]

C'mon people's judge the ship your self and stop worrying what other reviews you have read, what some dislike you might like and vice versa.

 

This is the trouble with the internet, it is such a powerful tool to get any sort of media out (good or bad)

 

I think we worry to much at times.. lifes to short :D

 

RR

 

You just passing through ;) :D

[Rebel Rouser]

You just passing through ;) :D

 

Like a ship in the night best I could do Jim :D

 

 

Linda, I appreciate what your saying. The reviews are good for people that are looking round to book a Cruise, but what about the poor sods that have booked and reading this? how must they be feeling.

 

 

RR

[CRUISIN LINDA]

 

 

Linda, I appreciate what your saying. The reviews are good for people that are looking round to book a Cruise, but what about the poor sods that have booked and reading this? how must they be feeling.

 

 

RR

 

Same as we did after we read reviews of the first 2 cruises I expect. But it was too late to change then, without losing a lot of money.

 

We did enjoy our holiday to a certain extent, the trips we did were very good value, the entertainment was excellent as usual (particularly the comedian - Lloyd Hollett - he is on the Dream again 10th August), the staff were doing a great job in difficult circumstances and I think we were lucky to be on deck 7 and not 5, but I did not feel entirely safe on that ship and I have never felt like that before.

 

I think the repair was botched and the ship should not have set sail until it was refurbished and I have told Thomson that.

 

What made it worse was that we went to a hotel for the second week and that had just been refurbished and so showed up the state of the ship even more.

 

Linda

[jojo67]

jojo

 

I know its not the response you were hoping for but to be honest its the response I would have expected..The ain`t going to admit to any problems on board to future passengers.

 

I was just very disappointed Jim, in that I'd taken the time to ask specific questions about particular cabins and Thomson couldn't even be bothered to respond in a more personal manor. Bad reviews in general don't tend to worry me, I like to make my own mind up about things, but when the same three complaints come up again & again & again (smell, toilets & A/C) I want to know that my cabin will at least have such basics as a flushing toilet & a/c especially as I'm due to part with the best part of £9,000 on Friday :eek:

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Hi Jo, did you get my reply to your earlier question about the £5 laundy bags?

 

Linda

[Jim The Scot]

Like a ship in the night best I could do Jim :D

 

 

Linda, I appreciate what your saying. The reviews are good for people that are looking round to book a Cruise, but what about the poor sods that have booked and reading this? how must they be feeling.

 

 

RR

 

:D

 

See ya

[Jim The Scot]

I was just very disappointed Jim, in that I'd taken the time to ask specific questions about particular cabins and Thomson couldn't even be bothered to respond in a more personal manor.

 

Yes I know Linda its frustrating but I doubt those responding to the emails are qualified/have the knowledge to answer specific questions,more likely just capable/permitted to respond in a general manner.

 

 

Anyway,the ship will be fantastic :D

[bankiegirl]

I was just very disappointed Jim, in that I'd taken the time to ask specific questions about particular cabins and Thomson couldn't even be bothered to respond in a more personal manor. Bad reviews in general don't tend to worry me, I like to make my own mind up about things, but when the same three complaints come up again & again & again (smell, toilets & A/C) I want to know that my cabin will at least have such basics as a flushing toilet & a/c especially as I'm due to part with the best part of £9,000 on Friday :eek:

 

I wrote to Thomson about a different matter also with specific questions which were totally ignored. I received a standard letter similar to yours.

I was also given some wrong information about regional flights.

I returned a copy of my original letter and the standard letter I received from Thomson. This time I sent it F A O The Director of Cruise for Tui.

Awaiting reply. keep you posted.

[vwgolf]

Like a ship in the night best I could do Jim :D

 

 

Linda, I appreciate what your saying. The reviews are good for people that are looking round to book a Cruise, but what about the poor sods that have booked and reading this? how must they be feeling.

 

 

RR

 

Well I'm looking forward to my cruise. A few bad reviews doesn't bother me in the slightest. If the toliet is dodgy, I'll use a public one. If the A/C is on the blink, I'll sweat a bit. These are minor things in my opinion and I certainly won't be letting them spoil my holiday!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Well, perhaps Thomsoms will have sorted it all by then, after all the letters we have sent them:p At least you will have Lloyd Hollett that week, he is a brilliant comedian:)

 

Enjoy your cruise

Linda

[jojo67]

Hi Jo, did you get my reply to your earlier question about the £5 laundy bags?

 

Linda

 

I did Linda, thanks. 3 children x 2 week holiday = lots of washing for me when we return ;)

[midlandcruiser]

Hi all, I've sent an email of concern this morning as I'm very concerned about air con, with 4 of us in an inside cabin, I also queried the toilet and smell issues for the same reason. Lord help us with no windows to open.:eek:

I sent my email at 9.00am and recieved their reply at 10.57am. I had told them not to send me a standard email reply, telling me how good the entertainment was, and I told them about my original email sent 27/04/10.

 

Thank you for contacting Thomson Cruises, our sincerest apologies for the delayed response to your original email.

As you know, there has been publicity in relation to Thomson Dream in the way it has been affected by some technical issues during its first sailings from Palma; we can confirm that this has now been largely resolved. We have no details stating cabin 6062 has experienced any problems as the incidents when occurring was taken place in isolated areas, and when these issues did arise, the ship was dealing with them as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

All areas on board and the standard are the same as on other Thomson ships. The ship will provide an excellent holiday destination in itself, as well as providing a means of sampling some wonderful destinations in the course of its voyage.

We trust this clarifies the situation and thank you for contacting Thomson Cruises.

[jojo67]

Well we bit the bullet as it were & paid off the balance of our cruise yesterday! My TA had this letter waiting for me...

 

As you know there has been publicity in relation to Thomson Dream in the way it has been affected by some technical issues during its forst sailings from Palma.

 

Initially the air conditioning was working unevenly in different areas around the ship, so it was working too well in some areas whilst not well enough in others. This has now been largely resolved and is working with a general consistency around the vessel.

 

In the last week, the ship has been affected by some unpleasant aromas, due to some blockages in pipes caused primarily as a result of the un-forseen lay-up from Feb - April when the ship was operating as Costa Europa. We believe that a remedy has been found and by the end of the week, this problem will have largely disappeared.

 

There have also been a number of individual issues with some burst pipes in certain areas of the ship, but extra plumbers brought on board are fixing these and as a contingency, extra cabins are being held back from sale in other areas, to provide peace of mind in case of difficulty.

 

This was a press release issued to Thomson TA dated 26/5/2010, I'm not sure if it was intended for public viewing or not, but she gave me a copy due to the concerns we had already expressed to them. Only time will tell if these issues have finally been resolved but fingers crossed all will soon be well & she will be of the same high standard as the rest of the fleet :D

[hoopy]

hi hoopy here live from the dream nothing has been resolved on this ship vomit inducing smell almost everywere you go passengers meeting tonite at 6pm some people got off on the 25th the day they boarded some got to tunisa and had enough and flew home from there my advice do not book this ship nothing will be done till its refrub job simply to big to do at sea happy for you to post this or quote me i have been lied too since i arrived on here wiill post tomorrow after meeting 2nite

[its,only,me]

hi hoopy here live from the dream nothing has been resolved on this ship vomit inducing smell almost everywere you go passengers meeting tonite at 6pm some people got off on the 25th the day they boarded some got to tunisa and had enough and flew home from there my advice do not book this ship nothing will be done till its refrub job simply to big to do at sea happy for you to post this or quote me i have been lied too since i arrived on here wiill post tomorrow after meeting 2nite

 

Well sounds terrible , so sorry for all of you onboard :( thanks for letting us know and please keep us up to date

seems like thomson has been telling a lot of porkies :mad:

 

mrs.c

[billmul]

hi hoopy here live from the dream nothing has been resolved on this ship vomit inducing smell almost everywere you go passengers meeting tonite at 6pm some people got off on the 25th the day they boarded some got to tunisa and had enough and flew home from there my advice do not book this ship nothing will be done till its refrub job simply to big to do at sea happy for you to post this or quote me i have been lied too since i arrived on here wiill post tomorrow after meeting 2nite

 

Probably the most worrying post yet, as this is straight from the horses mouth, so to speak, and is here and now. Just feeling for you, and hope you can salvage something good to remember:(

[kruzseeka]

Oh dear. I thought Jo's letter from Thomson sounded more promising but this report from hoopy is worrying. I feel so sorry for everyone caught up in it and just hope as billmul says your holiday has some positive aspects and things are improved VERY quickly! :(

[jojo67]

Not sure if I should go and have a good cry or a large Gin after reading Hoppys live update :eek:

[its,only,me]

Not sure if I should go and have a good cry or a large Gin after reading Hoppys live update :eek:

 

 

When do u go Jo

 

mrs.c

[jojo67]

When do u go Jo

 

mrs.c

 

27th July (8 weeks Tuesday & my birthday!)