Review - Caribbean Charms continued....

[lexie1968]

Thanks for the kind comments about the first part of my review. So, carrying on.......

Our first proper day on board was spent at sea. We got up at about 8am and went for breakfast in Sirens restaurant. Afterwards we went to look for a couple of free sunbeds.....no chance! It seems everyone else had got up earlier! We eventually found 2 on the promenade deck but on the side with no sun. It was quite chilly with a brisk wind, but i was determind to sit there all day! The sun eventually came round and it was very pleasant. The crew came round putting tickets on vacant beds giving a 45 minute warning. Not sure if it worked on the busy decks though.

It took a while to get our sea legs, and we felt it was quite choppy all week, a bit of a surprise for the caribbean.

I'll summarise the food.......

we used all the restaurants and apart from the orion, the food was pretty much the same. I would compare it to a good 3/4 star hotel. It was always hot, with various options. Always plenty of starters and salads. Maybe could have done with more vegetable choice. And more dessert choice would have been nice.The Orion restaurant was nice, you chose off a menu and its nicely presented, however you dont get much. We only went once, as we left hungry. However it was a nice ambience and we met 4 lovely people who we shared a table with, so it was a nice night.

Theres free water and tea and coffee with your meals in the buffet, aswell as juice at breakfast. And actually breakfast was our favourite meal!

Ok im getting typists cramp now in my 1 finger so ill finish tomorrow night with the islands we visited. As the cruise director Steve says...chow for now!

[barnowl1950]

Many thanks for this.. we haven't sailed on Dream before and your description of the ship gives a good idea of what to expect, I'm sure we will love our week!

We will be calling at different islands to those you visited but will be looking forward to reading more of your review :)

[happy v]

Thank-you Lexie.:)

[geomagot]

many thanks for this lexie, pleased to hear that they are enforcing the no saving of sunbeds for more than 45 minutes rule....I'm guessing this just happened on the sea days tho? did you notice if sunbeds were usually available during port days at all? and if people were reserving them were they leavinh tickets on those days?...I have noticed myself on port days that some people reserve their sunbeds and then go ashore for a few hours retuning to their beds in the afternoon?....did you notice this happening at all

[Jakanne1]

Thank you Lexie. That's just what I wanted to know, plus the sun bed situation that Geo has asked. Pity about the Orion food as I found the MDR food on Majesty very good and I expected Platinum to be the same or better. Ha ha. :rolleyes:

[kruzseeka]

Pleased to hear you had such a good time lexie - and look forward to the next instalment. :)

 

Jakanne- I'm sorry to say that Platinum means absolutely nothing imo in repect of what your expectations should be. It was a refurb - nothing more nothing less. I liked what they have done in terms of freshening up the look of the ship (it was needed!) and I like the ship very, very much indeed but Platinum doesn't bring any other benefits as far as I can see.

 

I just don't want you to go with unrealistic expectations and be disappointed. The experience will be Thomson through and through like their other ships with all the pluses that entails, the itinerary will be fantastic and I hope you like the ship as much as we do. Nothing not to like imo but I think it would be a good idea if the 'Platinum' tag was dropped as it gives an impression of something better and/or different and I just don't think it is. As for the food in the mdr - we suffered what I hope is a blip and like the entertainment it's an element which has the potential to fluctuate from cruise to cruise. I trust they have noted some recent comments and sorted it. There has been a positive review already so fingers crossed.

 

Do look forward to your cruise - I know you will go with excitement and a very positive mind set - you have been looking forward to this cruise for a long time and to the Caribbean. It will be fab - but just ignore the Platinum bit - it's misleading and what lead to people's disappointment in the beginning when it wasn't much different from before and didn't live up to the hype!

 

But do enjoy the anticipation and, of course, the cruise itself!! As you can imagine I'll be very interested to hear your views. :D ;)

 

Have a wonderful time. :)

[skoozie]

Thanks for the review Lexie. I am sad to hear the MDR not up to scratch it has always been good on Celebration and I had hoped for similar on Dream especially as my DH now requires waiter service. Did you try the Grill? Maybe we will be spending more time than we had planned for in there.

 

The sun bed situation is pretty much as expected. Last September on Celebration we didn't see the crew enforcing the no reservation rule once! I am pleased they are doing this on Dream. Although I suppose it could back fire on me this time as DH won't be able to get a quick lunch and get back like my daughter and I did. I look forward to reading your shore review.

[Jakanne1]

Pleased to hear you had such a good time lexie - and look forward to the next instalment. :)

 

Jakanne- I'm sorry to say that Platinum means absolutely nothing imo in repect of what your expectations should be. It was a refurb - nothing more nothing less. I liked what they have done in terms of freshening up the look of the ship (it was needed!) and I like the ship very, very much indeed but Platinum doesn't bring any other benefits as far as I can see.

 

I just don't want you to go with unrealistic expectations and be disappointed. The experience will be Thomson through and through like their other ships with all the pluses that entails, the itinerary will be fantastic and I hope you like the ship as much as we do. Nothing not to like imo but I think it would be a good idea if the 'Platinum' tag was dropped as it gives an impression of something better and/or different and I just don't think it is. As for the food in the mdr - we suffered what I hope is a blip and like the entertainment it's an element which has the potential to fluctuate from cruise to cruise. I trust they have noted some recent comments and sorted it. There has been a positive review already so fingers crossed.

 

Do look forward to your cruise - I know you will go with excitement and a very positive mind set - you have been looking forward to this cruise for a long time and to the Caribbean. It will be fab - but just ignore the Platinum bit - it's misleading and what lead to people's disappointment in the beginning when it wasn't much different from before and didn't live up to the hype!

 

But do enjoy the anticipation and, of course, the cruise itself!! As you can imagine I'll be very interested to hear your views.

 

Have a wonderful time. :)

 

Thanks Kruzseeka. You will definitely get my views. The remark about Platinum was tongue in cheek, hence the "ha, ha, :rolleyes:" at the end.

 

As an example, 3 years ago I stayed in an AI Thomson Platinum hotel in Mexico and it was OK, the food was good, mainly local drinks, it was a good walk to the beach in the heat, it was noisy at night with entertainment by fantastic dancers who only mimed to songs.

 

Across the road was another hotel which we visited. On the beach, huge rooms, more luxurious, all "top shelf" drinks, excellent food, always a sun bed or palm tree with shade. Same entertainment but a live band in a lovely courtyard for dancing. So we went and booked it. Guess what ....it was not platinum! It did mean that I had 3kg baggage less allowance though.

 

Platinum means not very much at all!

 

Last night I found 4 videos on YouTube done by Missesbroon (think that was the name). They were a journey round the Dream. She looks lovely....cannot wait to be on her. :):)

[geomagot]

more less than favourable comments re food quality in mdr on dream....looks to be the mdr that is worst affected (not so much the buffet food) I hope this gets noted and sorted and soon

 

did someone say they were served a cornish pasty in mdr recently? or did I imagine it....a cornish pasty on an evening menu? is that acceptable?...I like pasties fine...but is that acceptable for an evening meal in a restaurant?

[Jakanne1]

more less than favourable comments re food quality in mdr on dream....looks to be the mdr that is worst affected (not so much the buffet food) I hope this gets noted and sorted and soon

 

did someone say they were served a cornish pasty in mdr recently? or did I imagine it....a cornish pasty on an evening menu? is that acceptable?...I like pasties fine...but is that acceptable for an evening meal in a restaurant?

 

Geo, on the videos I mentioned, there was a shot of the MDR menu and sure enough there was Cornish pasty!! It was a British theme night. The video was dated (from memory) 2 years ago.

[barnowl1950]

Thanks Kruzseeka. You will definitely get my views. The remark about Platinum was tongue in cheek, hence the "ha, ha, :rolleyes:" at the end.

 

As an example, 3 years ago I stayed in an AI Thomson Platinum hotel in Mexico and it was OK, the food was good, mainly local drinks, it was a good walk to the beach in the heat, it was noisy at night with entertainment by fantastic dancers who only mimed to songs.

 

Across the road was another hotel which we visited. On the beach, huge rooms, more luxurious, all "top shelf" drinks, excellent food, always a sun bed or palm tree with shade. Same entertainment but a live band in a lovely courtyard for dancing. So we went and booked it. Guess what ....it was not platinum! It did mean that I had 3kg baggage less allowance though.

 

Platinum means not very much at all!

 

Last night I found 4 videos on YouTube done by Missesbroon (think that was the name). They were a journey round the Dream. She looks lovely....cannot wait to be on her. :):)

 

When I booked our cruise on Dream last June - DH leaves travel arrangements to me - I never told him it's platinum as I didn't think it was worth mentioning at the time and I've not really given it a thought either. May decide to say something on-board if I remember. Agree she looks very nice :)

[Little Nell]

It was me who mentioned the Cornish Pastie, Geo. Now I like a pastie ;), but like you, do not expect it in the evening in the MDR when one of the features mentioned in the brochure about platinum ships is fine dining.

 

I have never seen a pastie in the MDR before on a Thomson ship. The person on FB who mentioned the pastie also said the food was fine, which kind of skews the picture IMO.

 

Gillhalfpint is on board just now and has sent a message saying the food is good and that they had Beef Wellington at the gala dinner and chilled pear and champagne soup. That sounds more like it. Perhaps they have now rectified the problem. She has saved the menus. Feedback from this cruise should be illuminating.

[kruzseeka]

Glad it was tongue in cheek Jakanne ;)- just didn't want you to be disappointed because it's nothing out of the ordinary. Do so hope you find everything to your liking though - and whilst Thomson are never going to admit there was a problem I would think they are doing something about it.

[Little Nell]

Thanks Kruzseeka. You will definitely get my views. The remark about Platinum was tongue in cheek, hence the "ha, ha, :rolleyes:" at the end.

 

As an example, 3 years ago I stayed in an AI Thomson Platinum hotel in Mexico and it was OK, the food was good, mainly local drinks, it was a good walk to the beach in the heat, it was noisy at night with entertainment by fantastic dancers who only mimed to songs.

 

Across the road was another hotel which we visited. On the beach, huge rooms, more luxurious, all "top shelf" drinks, excellent food, always a sun bed or palm tree with shade. Same entertainment but a live band in a lovely courtyard for dancing. So we went and booked it. Guess what ....it was not platinum! It did mean that I had 3kg baggage less allowance though.

 

Platinum means not very much at all!

 

Last night I found 4 videos on YouTube done by Missesbroon (think that was the name). They were a journey round the Dream. She looks lovely....cannot wait to be on her. :):)

 

I liked those videos too, Jakanne. They are very well done :) Between that and the deck plan, I knew the ship fairly well before we went on. It is a very easy ship to navigate your way around (except some of the lifts don't go to all floors). We had a hilarious situation one night where we arrived in our usual area of the dining room to discover that all the waiters had changed. We were having our main course before DH realized we had come in a different door and were sitting at the complete opposite end of the dining room. We told our waiters as we were leaving and they had a good laugh about it.

[Jakanne1]

I had Fish Pie, DH had Steak Pie and our friends had Steak and Sausages at a very posh restaurant in London, the oldest restaurant in London. Mind my fish pie had a champagne sauce!

 

http://www.rules.co.uk/menus/

Edited January 23, 2014 by Jakanne1
Added web site

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I had Fish Pie, DH had Steak Pie and our friends had Steak and Sausages at a very posh restaurant in London, the oldest restaurant in London. Mind my fish pie had a champagne sauce!

 

http://www.rules.co.uk/menus/

£7.95 for a lemon meringue pie and £22.95 for Rabbit Hotpot and extra for veg :eek::eek::eek::eek:

[geomagot]

 

Gillhalfpint is on board just now and has sent a message saying the food is good and that they had Beef Wellington at the gala dinner and chilled pear and champagne soup. That sounds more like it. Perhaps they have now rectified the problem. She has saved the menus. Feedback from this cruise should be illuminating.

 

hurrah! that does sound more like it...love those chilled soups.....just like a smoothie:cool:

 

would love to have a peek at those menu's (thumbup):cool:

[Wacktle]

Can anyone tell me how many $$$$s to the £ you get when changing notes on Thomson Dream? Thanks.

[geomagot]

like everywhere the rate changes virtually daily....I do know its not a competitive rate onboard, you would get a better rate at home...post office/debenhams/thoms shop etc

[Wacktle]

like everywhere the rate changes virtually daily....I do know its not a competitive rate onboard, you would get a better rate at home...post office/debenhams/thoms shop etc

 

Yes, agreed. But when the sell rate at home is 1.6 and the buy back rate is 1.8, it would have to be pretty dire to be worse? We have bought a stack of $$$$$s but the other cruises we've booked for 2014 are euro-based, so surplus $$$s will either have to be exchanged back, or stored away until 2015. So, do you have any idea of the actual rate this week?

[geomagot]

sorry I thought you were asking for the sell rate....sorry i do not know what the buy back rate is (or the sell rate actually) it changes constantly... but I think i can safely say that either rate on board will not be competitive...compared to rates at home (on the day)

[kruzseeka]

sorry I thought you were asking for the sell rate....sorry i do not know what the buy back rate is (or the sell rate actually) it changes constantly... but I think i can safely say that either rate on board will not be competitive...compared to rates at home (on the day)

 

 

I would agree with geo - whatever the rate buy or sell on any given day it won't be as competitive as rates you can get elsewhere. I would only use the money exchange on board as a last resort.

Edited January 23, 2014 by kruzseeka

[lexie1968]

In answer to a few of your questions....

We usually came back to the ship in the afternoon to sunbathe and never really had a problem getting sunbeds then, but the later you left it, the busier it got.

Never done a cruise before i have nothing to compare it to, but i enjoyed the food. The food in the Orion was lovely, but small portions, especially for my other half who likes his food! We didnt try the grill, but people we spoke to liked it.

The decor of the ship was tasteful if a little dark in some areas. The show lounge was lovely. Our cabin had a few strange additions, like a large rectangular piece of laminate covering something on a wall....a door maybe?

As for it been platinum, it didnt influence my choice, and i wouldnt say it would influence me on the next one. I'll do my next part of the review a bit later, as i need to do a bit of research now on our next cruise! Chow!

[Jakanne1]

No pressure, Lexie, but I am enjoying reading your little snippets as you can see it is not long before I am on the Dream. It seems all good so far. :)

 

Don't know how I will cope with 2 weeks of "Ciao for now" though. Steve was our CD on our first cruise and that was my lasting memory of him, although I am sure I remember him singing on the Sailaway party.

[hammers]

Can anyone tell me how many $$$$s to the £ you get when changing notes on Thomson Dream? Thanks.

 

Changed up £300 today, got $1.64 from a small money exchange shop in East Ham, East London.:D