Prices of Thomson Cruise vs other companies

[davecttr]

Am terribly worried after reading djmutters post. As I have it on good authority that we are not common and I know that we are not drunken or from council estates AND I am from Liverpool, are we going to feel terribly out of place on our next Caribbean cruise with Thomson? Still, never mind, as we are not going with he/she/it on the Independence of the Seas on 25/04/09, at least we are spared cruising with the ignorant!!!!

 

Sandie

You could of course try a certain new large ship on another British cruise line where allegedly you will get all the drunken behavior, fighting and arson that you could wish for :D

 

What you have to REALLY worry about is how many of the enemy (Everton v Liverpool) are on board :eek:

[jenny wren]

In reply to djmutters.....we have done five Thomson cruises as well as P and O, Princess x 2, Costa x 2, Discovery and although Thomson ships are not as new and flashy as some of the bigger ones they are spotlessly clean and comfortable, food is excellent and more plentiful than any of the others we've been on, entertainment is the best and most professional we've seen at sea, tips are included and the staff are the happiest and friendliest we have seen. Thomson also manage to do some very interesting and different itineraries i.e. Corinth canal which we hope to do later this year.

 

We are off on RCI Brilliance of the Seas next weekend so will then be able to compare it as well.

 

Just because the ship is big and new doesn't mean you get a better cruise experience....we have seen badly behaved passengers on all the ships we've been on!!!!

[djmutters]

Sorry that some people did not like my view of the ship but I can only give you my view and I of course respect others views.

 

I never said the food was rubbish or the staff (Both was excellent)

However the ship was veryyyyyyy dated and the entertainment was just as I remember being 15yrs old at Butlins.

 

Maybe it wasn't a cruise for 30-40's like me and my partner however I would say the average age was 60+ ok if you enjoy bingo I suppose.

[marylizcat]

Djmutters probably sailed on Celebration before her November refit. All the public areas are looking really good now, with new carpets, curtains and chair covers. We really enjoyed the evening shows and afternoon play. I believe nearly all cruise ships have bingo and if you want to look at it like that, to a certain extent are 'butlins at sea'. Always have been, whichever line you cruise with. Nothing wrong with that. Nobody forces you to play bingo! We didn't.

[djmutters]

Am terribly worried after reading djmutters post. As I have it on good authority that we are not common and I know that we are not drunken or from council estates AND I am from Liverpool, are we going to feel terribly out of place on our next Caribbean cruise with Thomson? Still, never mind, as we are not going with he/she/it on the Independence of the Seas on 25/04/09, at least we are spared cruising with the ignorant!!!!

 

Sandie

 

Sorry Sandie did I hit a nerve ? of course I understand you have paid your deposit so you are going to deffend your planned holiday,as I stated before this was only my view I have see others far worse then mine and I have also seen far better then mine.

 

However just because I give the op my view you dare to call me ignorant lol why because I told you something you didn't like ?

 

Being rude to a total stranger really just confirms what I said on my post reguardless if your from Liverpool or not:)

[jamiedog11]

I feel very upset at the way thompsom cruises have been put against butlins, i have done royal caribean and yes the ships are far better, but give my thompsoms any day for staff, entertainment and no snooty people who try to be better than the person they are talking to.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Winnie1]

Sandie

 

Well said - bigotry is always a result of ignorance. Am new 2 cruising and have enjoyed boards so far. I was disgusted at djmutters remarks. Good 4 u for having told him so.

[Bella36]

Well djmutters, may I say that just because you did not enjoy your cruise, there is no need to insult people who have enjoyed a Thomson cruise. Surely it is possible to give your opinion of a cruise or a ship without resorting to personal jibes? We each have our own preferences, but it is wrong to say that all people on Thomson ships are drunken, Liverpudlian council tenants, who do nothing but play Bingo and take part in "Butlinesque" entertainment! Not, I hasten to add, that there is anything wrong with Liverpudlians, council tenants or Butlins!:mad:

 

I myself prefer the larger and more modern ships of P&O and RCI, but that did not stop me enjoying my recent Caribbean cruise on Destiny very much. Yes, I do agree that some significant updating of the fixtures and fittings on Destiny is required if Thomson are to compete with the other cruise lines for new cruisers, but Thomson will always have a loyal British fanbase. People enjoy the friendly atmosphere, great staff and in my opinion, absolutely FANTASTIC entertainment! The entertainment for me was the highlight of the cruise and I think it was definitely better than P&O's, which is very good, but Destiny's entertainment team was superb in my opinion, and not at all reminiscent of Butlins-at-Sea.

 

I must say that our dining companions were charming, pleasant company, and full of fun - especially the couple from Liverpool! Bingo is not my thing either, but you will find it on every cruise line. Yes, the atmosphere around the pool area is sometimes a little bit "Hi-de- Hi" but you don't have to join in, and lots of people enjoyed it. I never saw anyone who was drunk and believe me that is not always the case on P&O!

 

I regard my partner and I as well travelled, sophisticated and somewhat demanding when it comes to quality, and while I would not say that Thomson met all my expectations, I certainly would not be as critical of them as you are. I would happily go on another Thomson cruise, were it not for the fact that we have booked cruises on P&O's Aurora and Oriana later this year and just got an amazing bargain on RCI Splendour of the Seas in May.:D

 

I think the phrase "each to his own" is apt here, but I most certainly do not agree with you that Frenchie, or indeed anyone else, should not book with Thomson - I think they will have a great time!

[slhw]

What you have to REALLY worry about is how many of the enemy (Everton v Liverpool) are on board :eek:

 

Hi Davetheroad

 

No, when we're abroad we unite to confront the common enemy - MAN U!!!

 

Sandie

[jilljoy]

I feel very upset at the way thompsom cruises have been put against butlins, i have done royal caribean and yes the ships are far better, but give my thompsoms any day for staff, entertainment and no snooty people who try to be better than the person they are talking to.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

totally agree,we are in the 30 to 40 yrs old bracket and have never had any problems.

we have also sailed with RCI and personally we would use thomson anytime ahead of them.granted their ships are better than thomsons.

regarding the comment about the clientel being in their sixties,we have returned from carribean 4 weeks ago and we found that the average was very low,certainly nowhere near 60

[sobral]

Am terribly worried after reading djmutters post. As I have it on good authority that we are not common and I know that we are not drunken or from council estates AND I am from Liverpool, are we going to feel terribly out of place on our next Caribbean cruise with Thomson? Still, never mind, as we are not going with he/she/it on the Independence of the Seas on 25/04/09, at least we are spared cruising with the ignorant!!!!

 

Sandie

 

Well said! Save us from the likes of these people- maybe we should avoid those type of cruises that are frequented by these ungracious, pompous snobs!

[pauline wales]

Just a little word from a council estate person. 4 Thomson cruises with no problems at all and even managed to make good friendships with some charming couples. 2 NCL cruises, and 1 Sea Princess cruise in the next few weeks. Not to bad for council estate folk.

[slhw]

Hi Everyone

 

Glad to see that djmutters appears to be in a minority of one. Couldn't be bothered to reply directly to his post addressed to me - although I certainly could have done if I had wanted to! It's people like him who get cruising a bad name and I can't make out, from reading his posts, quite what he has got to be so condescending about.

In our business, we mix with people with titles and people with the lowliest of backgrounds and, believe you me, there are people at each end who I wouldn't want to share a table with on Thomson or any other line.

This tends to be a happy, chatty, informative site - let's keep it that way!

Indpendence of the Seas is welcome to djmutters.

 

Sandie

[Frenchie_1]

Frenchie,

 

Hello hunny we have spoke before concerning a certain "Drink problem" please please please do yourself a big favour,if you do decide to cancel RCCL whatever you do don't book with Thomson we found there ships dreadfull unless like I said in another post you enjoy Butlins on the sea.

 

There ships are old and very outdated and the entertainment is dreadfull.

 

You'll be kicking yourself once on board and wishing you had of stayed with RCCL unless your idea of fun is cruising with common drunken folk from council estates (sorry to appear rude) but I'm telling you like it was for us.

 

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

Hi DJ :)

 

Just thought I'd check back and noticed this thread is still going. I'm still undecided about RCCI, even though my "drink problem" was sorted to my satisfaction (and no im not an alcoholic :p), I'm still concerned about spending £5 for one beer and £17 for one bottle of wine with Royal Caribbean, I think I would return bankrupt after paying those prices.

 

I'm in my 30s and have been on Ocean Village before, which also has a bad rep for being butlins on sea, but we enjoyed it.

 

I can't understand why Thomson charge more or less equal prices to the more modern up to date ships, but they obviously fill them or they would reduce their prices.

 

Anyhoo I'll keep looking ;)

[SOOTY SUE]

I wouldn't worry about djmutters - I've seen him on other sites slating Thomsons - obviously got an axe to grind.

[kruzseeka]

I have been reading this thread with great interest and (with the exception of one disgruntled ex-Thomson client) agree wholeheartedly with almost everything that's been said.

 

I wanted to try to respond individually to particular comments but it either isn't possible, or I haven't mastered the technology to get quotes from different posters into this dialogue box - so I'll try to remember what everyone said (more or less paraphrasing) and add my two penn'orth.

 

First of all - congrats Bella on a fantastic deal!

 

But getting down to the original theme about Thomson prices I too had been thinking they were riding very high compared with competitors. A number of very valid points have been made which have to be taken into account:

 

• GeoffH talks of the automatic tipping on some cruise lines (although I know most of us will tip anyway) but is a factor to remember when comparing prices
  
• Carol compares cruises sailing out of Southampton and the number of ports of call in the Med as compared with Thomson's b2b which will give you 11 destinations (although some people do like being on the ship for longer). But we compare how many stops we get for our money as we like to explore new places. Berthing is a big element of a cruise line's costs so a more port intensive cruise is more expensive to them - and therefore likely to be more expensive to us.
  
• Bella comments that 'Thomson cannot rest on their laurels' and says Destiny does need a refit - I agree.
  
• Davetheroad also refers to the lease arrangements and in my opinion quite rightly makes the judgement that Thomson are unlikely to make large investments in these ships. So is he right that some newer ships are on the horizon - and what will that mean?
  
• Like Sandie, if this is the case, I trust Thomson won't go down the road of turning all their ships into the IE style of informality (I don't want stuffy - I like relaxed but also enjoy having some standards imposed and like to dress up too).
  
• Jennywren, your comments about the atmosphere, warmth and friendliness echo my sentiments exactly.
  

But in the context of Sandie's comment here - I think we have the nub of the problem:

 

Hi

 

We have been a bit surprised too at Thomson's prices this year - they certainly seem to be catching other companies up - if not overtaking in some cases. Oddly enough, my husband and I had been chatting about this over the last couple of days. More or less coming to the conclusion that, much as we love Thomson ships for the atmosphere etc., they are going to have to do something about updating the ships in some areas if they want to keep many of their loyal customers. I certainly hope that Thomson are not taking advantage of our affection for their ships.

 

Taking all the issues raised into account, if loyal customers such as ourselves are thinking on those lines it would seem inevitable that Thomson could be in danger of losing clientele.

 

I think Thomson may be suffering more than some of their competitors in respect of the weak £. If they are buying services in $ and in Euros throughout Europe, they're going to be getting a poorer deal in comparison to last year which may, in part, explain some higher prices this year.

 

But we did detect a slight drop in standards on our recent cruise which perhaps was down to cost cutting. For example the cabin stewards seemed to working more or less all the time and we've never before had to wait until after lunch to have our room made up. We got the impression their workload had increased. Another little thing too - expensive cuts of meat appeared on the same night in the dining room - is this cheaper than having them on individually and more people selecting the more expensive option on three separate nights? We just wondered.

The 'production' shows had been reduced in number (less time for rehearsing as just 'singing' shows require less preparation and of course would be cheaper to stage and with no elaborate/expensive costumes?).

The window cleaning and general cleaning seemed to be less evident too.

Of course Destiny is run by Louis Lines so any cuts may be down to them - I would be interested to find out if there had been similar subtle cuts on Celebration since last autumn when we last travelled on her as this ship is run directly by Thomson.

 

It is a very competitive market and no doubt Thomson is feeling the pinch like everyone else - but even loyal customers are going to take advantage of preferential deals as we all have to watch the pennies too.

 

My only hope is that they can remain competitive, keep the formula the same in terms of a relaxed and friendly atmosphere on board but maintain a formal evening and dining room standards, excellent entertainment and perhaps transfer this product to some newer ships (although hopefully not the 'monster' ones!).

[scareyness]

Kruzseeka, I have found your reviews and posts to be very enlighting, fair and balanced (well done). I am very much looking forward to our first Thomson cruise in less than 2 weeks:D on board the Celebration. Having read many differing views on both the ship and Thomson in general I am going with a very open mind. Having cruised on Braemar (pre lengthening) FO and Arcadia P&O before, we loved them both for different reasons and again on both of them we came across many differing views.

 

At this time we do not feel the 'super ships' are for us. I do not like too many crouds, do not want to do many of the activities on offer and like the more personal feel of the smaller ships so they are better suited to us at the moment, this view may change in future. We go on a cruise to chill out and spend time together on what we feel to be effortless holidaying. I do feel that many people pick at very insignificant issues on all the cruise lines, but that is just my opinion.

 

I own and run a very highly graded guest house and have high standards and quality and comfort are very important to me. I hope not to be disappointed on this cruise, but I am expecting the ship to be 'tired looking' which is already a little sad for me. But I will post my findings on my return.

 

but thanks everyone for your comments they are very helpful

[kruzseeka]

Thanks, scareyness :)

 

I do hope you have a great and relaxing holiday - I must say the Celebration is our favourite of the Thomson ships - although we've not tried the Calypso. We love the Celebration crew and Capt. Leech (if he's back on board after his break at the end of last year) is fantastic! We had no complaints at all at on our last trip in the autumn of last year - the only thing I would particularly like to see improved is the mosaic tiling in the showers/ensuite. Although kept very clean by the stewards, they do look 'tired'. We think the cabins, on the whole, are pretty good though - more spacious than those on Destiny with plenty of drawer capacity and good wardrobe space.

 

Have a wonderful time - I'll look forward to hearing your views on your return.

[BillyC]

I'm off on my first Thomson cruise on the 20th of March, 7 days around the Canaries on the Celebration, and I'm really looking forward to it.

 

But just as a matter of interest with respect to the OP’s original comments, I have just booked an eight day trip, March 2010 on the Mariner of the Seas cruising the Mexican Riviera, accessible (I’m a wheelchair user) deluxe oceanview cabin with balcony, return flights to LA for £10.00 less than we paid for the Thomson cruise. Makes you think.

[davecttr]

Of course the up front price is not the final price, A couple I know recently returned from a cruise on the Mariner to the Caribbean, apparently the ship is now based in Los Angeles. They were horrified about the cost of everything and those 15% surcharges on drinks etc.

 

Of course USA based cruises are cheaper but when you add in the cost of all those extras it gives me that 'ripped off' feeling :(

[vwgolf]

We will be taking our fifth cruise with Thomsons later this year, and our third on the Celebration, and we're really looking forward to it. I've heard a couple of people compare the onboard entertainment to Butlins but as one who used to holiday every year at Butlins when I was a child I can reassure people that there really is no comparison. Furthermore, Thomsons cruises are very family focussed so if you are looking for peace and quiet then they are perhaps not for you!

 

One thing that has not been mentioned is Thomson's pricing policy with regard to children. Unlike most other cruise (or indeed any holiday) companies, Thomsons charge child prices up to and including the age of 16. Thus my 15 year old son is travelling this year for a little over £400. That's around half of what we would have to pay if we took him on a week's holiday to, say, Majorca. And it's all inclusive!

[BillyC]

I have been on the RCL ships before, including the Mariner, and I don’t think they rip you off any more than any other line I’ve sailed with. The 15% service charge is applied automatically to drinks brought to you, but in my experience this is common practice. Is the service charge totally at your digression on Thomson?

In all honesty I’m not a lover of the RCL Voyager and Freedom class ships, particularly the royal promenade (all the charm of a shopping mall at sea), but to get a large cabin with a balcony doing the pacific coast with long haul flights for that money is good value, and has to be an issue for Thomson to consider. That being said I really looking forward to the Celebration and our trip on her, I just hope the weather is kind to us. I love the look of the wrap-around teak decks and open lifeboats, as you can tell I’m a bit of a cruise anorak.

We are in cabin 100 on deck 7, has anyone stayed in this before? it looks huge from the plan.

[Travelling Brummie]

Billy,

Thomson do not have a service charge on drinks either brought to your table or served at the bar. I you wish to tip the bar man that's up to you but it's not common.

[davecttr]

I stayed in cabin 720 on deck 2 and it was 13 feet by 10 with a double bed. Apparently all outside single cabins have double beds!

 

So it looks as if cabin 100 could be about 15 feet by 25 :eek:

 

Only 2 decks below Horizons, best bar in my opinion. Oh! the heady mixture of pints of boddingtons and tequila sunrises :D

[jenny wren]

We have just returned from RCI Brilliance of the Seas where two glasses of house white wine on the first night was $14.99 (about £10.00) whereas the same on our last Thomson cruise was £5.30 .......so we had a tee total cruise from then on!!!!!!!!!!!!!