Just back from dream's highlights of the med

[DONNYCRUISE]

After finding coach 6 at Majorca airport,despite it displaying both 6 and 174,we made our way to the port where we were placed in a queue with other coaches whils't they unloaded and scanned the luggage - this left us on the quay for over an hour in 30c + heat wondering why we couldn't have been off-loaded first.We also noted thst the whole operation was being 'controlled' by TWO members of staff with no help from any entertainment staff, as has been our experience on all our previous cruises (Has there been a change made to their terms of employment ?.)

On board we found the ship to be as expected,due to recent reports,even down to the smell that Thomson had assured us had been eradicated (We later nicknamed this 'Odour-De-Dream'),the ten person lifts that were only capable of carrying five and the blocked public loo's.

So to the first Port of call,-La Gourda,Tunisia....or not.This was altered for 'technical reasons' to Cagliari,Sardinia,and this wasn't the only change.....Third port should have been Olbian,Sardinia,but due to bad weather,this was changed,understandably so,to Ajaccio,Corsica.However,worst was to come when Thomson decided that due to the European Athletics Championships taking part in the city,the port of Barcelona was 'too busy' so they docked us two hours down the coast.Thomson then cancelled all pre-booked tours,re-instating three of them with a £6.00 increase......or we could do 'BARCELONA ON OUR OWN' at a cost of £29.00pp (The shuttle bus in Barcelona would have been free).

Finally,on the day of our departure,no announcements were given over the ship's PA - not even on which deck the gangplank was situated, despite having doors open on both decks 4 and 6.

On shore we now had THREE staff available (Again no entertainment staff) though guidance was minimal which caused US few problems but then we weren't first time cruisers.

All this said we had a great holiday,have booked a Thomson cruise in October aboard 'Celebration' and look forward to sailing on 'Dream' in 2011..................after her re-fit !!! :rolleyes:

[davecttr]

When we arrived at the port the scanning equipment had broken down because of a power cut. After a few minutes they decided to let us board without scanning the suitcases. On departure the leaving documentation said use the deck 6 exit, not deck 4 which was for arrivals and that they would not be making announcements as we all knew our departure times. Even so they had to repeatedly page one couple, I would have gone without them!.

[Jim The Scot]

On departure the leaving documentation said use the deck 6 exit, not deck 4 which was for arrivals and that they would not be making announcements as we all knew our departure times.

 

Same,departure time,the time expected to be on the quayside, I think it was 10/15 mins before our coach departure and that there would be no reminders was on the documentation left in our cabin.Found it fairly simple and straight forward really