Reviews of Thomson Spirit Cruise Ship, Thomson Spirit, Thomson Cruises

Our first and possibly our last...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Itinerary:

Baltic Cities

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs A Barber

Comments:

Our first and possibly our last cruise thanks to the appalling organization of the Thomson Company who put making money before the holiday enjoyment of their passengers.



After being persuaded by family and friends that 'cruising' is great, we decided, along with our relations, to celebrate our Ruby Wedding Anniversary in a special way on the Thomson Spirit. We especially looked forward to visiting St.Petersburg to see the palaces and gardens. I had heard so much about this lovely city that it was the deciding factor in choosing this cruise.



In order to make it special, we booked 13 months in advance and chose our deluxe cabin which were as we expected. They were spotlessly clean and we were taken care of very well by Svetla our cabin steward. As it was our anniversary, our son telephoned the ship and asked for a bottle of champagne to be sent to our cabin as a surprise. He was told that this was not possible as this should have been done at the time of booking. However, every day in the news letter, it clearly stated that if anyone had anything to celebrate they must let the staff know and champagne and strawberries would be delivered to rooms - at a cost of course - so why could my son not do it over the phone? I am so glad that he could not manage it as the price being charged was astronomical.



Boarding the ship was slow but hassle free and our bags were delivered to our cabin promptly. Never having cruised before we did not know what to expect. We explored the ship and went to eat in the Lido restaurant. This was self service and the food was good. We were introduced to crew by the cruise director after which we went to our cabin. The air conditioning was difficult to get just how we wanted it but we could live with that. The bed was big enough but very uncomfortable.The first night's sleep was not good. In the morning the weather was very rough, which we know cannot be helped, but my husband and I along with many passengers and crew spent the whole day being ill.



Due to bad weather our first port of call in Denmark was cancelled which meant that we were on-board for 3 days. The staff looked after us very well but the activities on board were less than stimulating and the High Spirits lounge is used by smokers and it can be smelled even in the non smoking rooms. Some of the evening events e.g. ABBA tribute took place in this room and I had to leave due to the smoke.



Good points:-



Clean and tidy

Friendly staff

Good food

Good shows, although very repetive dance movements



Bad points:-



1. Constant vibration throughout the whole ship



2. Lack of communication with passengers. Although news sheet was pushed under the door each evening, we were not given alternatives for transportation into ports. All that Thomson wanted to do was to sell their very over priced excursions. After participating in 2 of these, we then decided to explore on our own. We managed to get a train into Copenhagen at half the price Thomson were charging to take people in by bus and then pick them up. At one point we had paid to travel on the shuttle bus. We were all lined up on the dock (which was always way out of the city as this is a cheaper berth than where all the other cruise liners dock) and it started to rain. Only one bus turned up and the rest of us waited and waited. We had not been told city tour buses could take us into the town and as one was standing waiting, we opted for that instead. It was extremely good value for money compared to Thomson.



3. On one of the excursions we were booked to go to Catherines Palace and Gardens in St.Petersburg. The guide took so long to take us round the palace that we did not have time for the gardens. This means we paid for something we did not have. We did complain to destinations service staff and were told that every complaint is taken very seriously and were told that they would investigate and we would get an answer. Some other passengers were given a written apology. We are still waiting!!! Whilst docked at St.Petersburg we had the only good days to use the sunbeds, but the view that we had was of scrap metal and railway siding with a constant banging of a working port. We also booked tickets to see the ballet and I would have expected to have seen something very special. As an ex-ballet dancer and teacher, I'd hoped that Swan Lake would have been performed by the Kiroff Ballet Company. Instead it was in a building across the road and performed by a third rate set of dancers.



4. We had booked a trip into Talin which was cancelled by Thomson as there was a road race taking place so buses could not go through. Surely, they should have known or at least done their homework and found out? It isn't as if it is the first time they have travelled to this city or is it?



5. To put the icing on the cake disembarkation at Harwich was a joke. I am sure that children could have made a better job of this than Thomson did. Although we knew that we were 7 hours late arriving, due to bad weather, we were told that we would leave the ship in stages as the luggage had to be taken off first. We accepted this and were all very patient, but Thompson were trying to get 1,000 people off at the same time as getting 1,000 people on. Tempers were getting very frayed. Quite rightly.



6. The cruise director always rounded the evening show off with "See you round the ship" In 2 weeks we saw him twice and never saw him talk to any passengers except when we were all complaining when things went wrong. I don't believe it was his fault. It was the fault of Thomson. They expect their crew to cope with all these mishaps but don't give them the authority to over-ride their rules.



Although many, many passengers said they had cruised lots of times and never experienced what we experienced on this holiday we most certainly will not be cruising in the near future and if we do, it will not be with Thomson and we will certainly never recommend them to anyone.

Small ship, clean, not stunning,...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Itinerary:

Legends of the Fjords

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs C Thomas

Comments:

Small ship, clean, not stunning, very easy to find your way around. Food good & plentiful, crew friendly, cabins OK. All in all a very nice 6 night cruise, just a few pointers for anyone doing this cruise next year:



It's colder than you would imagine in the Fjords in August! Our first port of call Eidfjord they had had snow on the mountains that morning and were expecting winter in two weeks! It was grey and sleeting all day, we were freezing.



Flam & Bergen were sunny but cold, we should have taken winter cloths; the organized tours are not worth it, it's easy to do your own thing. Don't go white water rafting in Flam, there is no white water! we had half our trip money returned after complaining. The Fjord Safari (speed boat) in Flam was much more fun & just yards from the ship.



The Captains Cocktail evening was great, friendly Captain & almost everyone wore formal evening ware, the ships air conditioning was too cold for the women with bare arms. Forget using the pool on this trip as its outside & unheated.



The ship does vibrate, as mentioned in previous reviews but this did not bother us, after a few drinks you find it quite funny. It can get a bit ruff in the North Sea so take plenty of sea sickness medication.



Embarkation & disembarkation at Harwich very easy & quick.

All in all, rather...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Itinerary:

North Cape Explorer

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

lovelyleo

Comments:

All in all, rather disappointing. We had booked this holiday 12 months in advance in order to get a good cabin. In that we were not disappointed, Deck 9, deluxe, with bath and it had plenty of room.



However, for the extra charge, in future, I would go for an outside cabin on a lower deck as I don`t feel that the additional charge was pro rata with the better accommodation.



Although saying that, on reading other reviews, I see that vibration was bad on other decks and we did not experience that at all in our cabin.



The food was ok - Certainly Sirrocco's, where we dined twice, was excellent. The Compass Rose was very good if you had enough room for lunch, but in an evening, it was rather rushed - and as all the gannets (other passengers), seemed to be afraid there was going to be no food left, the vast majority seemed to dine as soon as the restaurant opened, and there was certainly a jaded feeling in the dining room if you left it much later.



The entertainment in an evening, which I thought I would not enjoy, proved to be the highlight of the cruise. I am not one for amateur dance/singing troupes, but these young people really were excellent (although the "main" male, who was definitely very talented, was also incredibly conceited).



The ports of call were the main disappointment. One place was taken off the itinery, and a place called Alta put in its place. . The letter sent to us prior to departure informed us that "this is for your additional enjoyment.” What a joke. It was a disgrace to be taken there - an absolute dump.



It was also on a Sunday, everywhere was closed (not that there was anything there), but I and a lot of other people felt that it had probably been put in so that the only thing to do all day was to take one of the very expensive trips to North Cape, which also proved to be a waste of time. People only went to say they had been there - certainly not worth approx £150.00 for two people.



Another disappointment was the choice of excursions. These, were an absolute rip off. Norway is of course a very expensive country, but I am sure that Thomsons are taking advantage of that and putting additional charges on. The tour staff on the ship were also not much better than useless. It is no excuse to say "we have not been to Alta before, and will not be going again".



Norway itself was ok, but we had gone thinking it would be a mixture of the Canadian Rockies and Austria, which it was not. The southern fiords were very pretty, and we were lucky with the weather (this being the time when all England was under water with June floods). We had no rain for the whole of the 2 weeks, so we were lucky.



I must not forget to mention the "Cruise Director". He was appallingly rude, self opinionated, conceited, and arrogant and a total pain in the neck. One evening, the ship was in a fiord and the glacier we were beside was supposed to be of "outstanding natural beauty".



Thomson`s entertainment department had decided that this was a good time to hold a rowdy deck party, playing TV quiz show games. I mentioned politely to the Cruise Director that surely this was not really appropriate for the area or time, and it would certainly not be allowed on Lake Windermere! He was very rude, saying that the ship would not be able to get on Lake Windermere (totalling missing my point), saying that he had to cater for all tastes - yet I am sure that on a Norwegian Fiord Cruise, the great majority (who were over 55, and I was therefore a mere spring chicken), were not wishing to participate in Bruce Forsyth type game shows whilst there was a glacier to be looked at in the evening sun.



After a few days, I and many other people became heartily sick of the Butlins type loudspeaker announcement "This is your Cruise Director here on this lovely bright and breezy morning - just to let you know what is going on around the ship...... “etc. etc. etc. Absolutely vomit making after a while.



I would say that this cruise was rather an anomaly in that the content of the entertainment did not match the type of people on the cruise, or cruise itinery. Personally, I would have preferred a more sedate/relaxing time at sea and would have gone on a different type of cruise if I had wanted rowdy entertainment.



The staff however were excellent - dining room staff/bar staff/hostesses etc. The majority were Phillipinos or Rumanian and the officers Greek.



The highlight for us was dining on the Chief Engineer`s Table for dinner on our 30th wedding anniversary and being invited by him to tour his engine room which is normally completely out of bounds.



All in all we enjoyed the cruise, but felt that it would have been better to have stayed in the Bergen/southern Norway area as the scenery was certainly far better there, although the point of our choosing this particular cruise was to go into the Arctic. The hot tub on deck was very enjoyable in the Arctic.



I would recommend anyone wanting to do a Northern European Cruise, if they want a bit of luxury/quality/ peace/relaxation, to pay a bit more and on a more "up market" cruise.



Food was on the whole good and certainly plentiful. It could be an evening`s entertainment just to watch the gross, obese, stuff themselves all day and night, piling their plates with chips, pasta, jacket potatoes, cheese, and then go back for more and more - and then see them trying to get off a sun bed! We decided that they must go on cruises as no way would some of them have ever got into two aircraft seats made into one.



One tip if you are going on a Thomson cruise - the shipboard photos are another rip off and the tackiness of some of them certainly give an idea of the quality of the cruise i.e. superimposed photos of you boarding the ship with a lifebelt being stuck round your neck, or an otherwise very nice photo being printed with a heart round the faces. Really tacky and cheap - yet the prices were certainly not cheap!



Our favourite evening`s entertainment was just to sit in the bar on the top deck (can`t remember name now) which is right at the front of the ship with picture windows and relax with wine or a gin and tonic in an evening. That was the best part of the holiday.



One final note - I would say that the rudest, most ignorant people on the boat were the elderly women who just seem to go on holiday to chat amongst themselves, drowning radio shows, cinema films, evening theatre entertainment etc. Extremely selfish and thoughtless people.



Having read the above back to myself, it does seem as if we did not enjoy the cruise - we did enjoy it, and would certainly do a cruise again, but we would definitely pay for a better ship/cruise line, and offset the extra charge by not paying so much extra for a top class cabin.



We would also chose ports of call where we could arrange our own excursions independently.

We have just returned from a...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Itinerary:

Weekend Affair

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs S Bennett

Comments:

We have just returned from a three day break on the 'Weekend Affair' mini break aboard the Thomson Spirit. We have cruised on this ship, and others in the Thomson fleet, in the past but felt that this time we were very disappointed. Some staff appeared to have little time for passengers who were only on board for 3 days.



Our cabin was a deluxe outside on deck 6; it was very spacious but deck 6 is the Promenade deck and passengers using the promenade deck could be seen and heard from the cabin - a bit disconcerting when dressing/sleeping!



The waiters and cabin stewards were excellent and food in the Compass Rose restaurant was good. The Spirit is looking her age and rather faded.



The itinery was Harwich-Amsterdam-Bruges-Harwich. However, the arrangements in Holland were a shambles with many passengers being left high and dry in a port where, to get to Amsterdam, a shuttle bus and ferry ride was required.



The shuttle bus stopped taking passengers after 1 hour of operating and passengers who had queued for a long period were told that it was at least a 1 hour walk to the ferry! In Bruges we took the excursion provided by the ship-'Bruges on your own' which proved to be an overpriced bus ride to the city.



If this had been our first time cruising, I doubt that we would book again with Thomson.

A sudden opportunity to get away...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Itinerary:

A Weekend Affair

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mr I Johnstone

Comments:

A sudden opportunity to get away for a few days and a late booking on the Spirit seen everything come together and we had a great time.



We have been on the Spirit twice before for longer cruises but the service and quality was every bit as good on this 3 day taster. We have been on the Destiny and the Celebration and whilst both are good the staff on the Spirit are the best especially in the Compass Rose, and we must mention Rob and Roy our waiters and although we were not on his station, Yasser the wine waiter is excellent.



We did book late so were not aware there was a Formal night so no DJ but it really did feel like a smaller version of our longer cruises, with as many of the elements being incorporated as possible.



The weather was good and made for two enjoyable stops in Amsterdam ( eventually ) and Zeebrugge. The shuttle bus arrangements at Ijmuiden were a complete shambles and Thomson should shoulder part of the blame for this.



The Destinations staff should have been on hand and should have done their homework so they could advise that there were alternative methods of travel into Amsterdam close by and also that the capacity of the Hydrofoil was severely limited taking only 50 passengers at a time.



Zeebrugge was good and having been to Brugges before decided to take to head to Blankenberg and have a couple of Belgian beers before heading back to the ship.



The entertainment staff were excellent and the evening shows were good to see and well presented. We enjoyed the guest spots up in Horizons which made for a nice end to the day.



Apart from the shuttle bus problem it was a great cruise and I hope we will back on the Spirit again in the near future.

Just returned from bank holiday...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Itinerary:

Weekend Affair Amsterdam/Bruges

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs K Williams

Comments:

Just returned from bank holiday 3 - night Weekend Affair cruise with my son (8) and a colleague/friend from Work; as Cruise Virgins, we booked this as a 'taster' to see if cruising was something we might choose for a holiday in the future.



Extremely well organised in terms of embarkation onto ship and same for disembarking.



Within half an hour of arrival at Harwich port, we were on and in our cabin. I had booked a deluxe cabin for the 3 of us and must say it was as good as you would expect in any 4-5* hotel.



Staff were all extremely friendly and attentive and the ship itself was kept immaculately clean and tidy. Once settled into our cabin, we explored the ship and then settled down for our first bottle of wine in Raffles Bar.



Whilst the weekend trip was 'full board' in terms of food, we expected to be 'stung' with bar prices for drinks, but were very pleasantly surprised - a few bottles of Rose wine and the odd cocktail without feeling guilty about breaking the bank! There are a fair few restaurants on board, but personally we felt that the Lido restaurant catered extremely well for our needs - open 24 hours with plenty of choice.



Must admit, some of the hot food did present itself somewhat like school dinners, but all piping hot and very tasty - no matter how fussy you are with food, I would defy anyone not to find plenty on offer to suit their taste/requirements (whatever time of day or night they felt peckish!), and the Compass Rose Restaurant (waiter service) was excellent.



Good sunny weather definitely helped us - nothing better than lounging on the deck in the sunshine of an afternoon before dressing up for an evening of entertainment/alcohol intake.



As travelling with an 8-yr old lad, wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of activities to keep him occupied. I needn't have worried - within an hour of arrival he knew his way round the entire ship, had found the cinema and sorted out film times, found the games arcade and kid zone area and discovered that the evening 'musical' shows in the Broadway lounge would be just up his street!



The only down side as far as this trip was concerned was the organised/non-organised trips when docked on Saturday at Imudjen (for Amsterdam) and Zeebrugge (for Bruges). Destination Services take bookings shortly after boarding for anyone interested in partaking in organised trips; however, we found that although they knew they would have about 1300 passengers (and let’s face it ... the majority were going to want to join in on a trip being as this was just a 'weekend affair') they really only had capacity for a few hundred people and were fast turning people away as the organised trips were fast 'fully booked'!



Not a problem we felt.... we would disembark and make our own way into Amsterdam by shuttle bus etc - easy! ..... Or perhaps not....... Having disembarked after breakfast, we then joined a huge queue of people trying to do the same as us.



Having queued for at least an hour, we were told by shuttle bus ticket office that they would not be running any further buses into Amsterdam for at least a couple of hours because of the volume of people already trying to get into the city centre for the 'Festival' being held that day!



Obviously there were many disgruntled passengers - hot and bothered, queuing in hot sunshine only to be told there was little chance they would be going anywhere. And throughout all this ... absolutely no sign of any Thomson rep/employee to assist/sort things out!!!



We played "merry hell" when we then got back on the ship only to be told that this was the first time they'd docked in Imudjen or Zubrugge and it wasn't their fault - hearing this didn't really do much for our moods and many people were moaning about the situation well into that evening.



However, we did later manage (as did most others) to get into Amsterdam for a look around and despite the worries that we would experience the same problems when docking in Zebrugge the next morning, these worries were unfounded and I think everyone enjoyed a stress-free day out.



All in all a fantastic, well kept ship with plenty of entertainment. Perhaps Thomson could just do with a little help with their organised trips (or contingency planning)!

Overall the cruise was fine for...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mr D Braithwaite

Comments:

Overall the cruise was fine for the money - food was Ok, but nothing special, staff were friendly. The cabin was big enough. Entertainment was good and the ambience was free and easy. Almost everybody was very sociable.



The down side - the ship vibrated badly causing everything to wobble. I read a report that said it is a cheap boat and that it has done this since new.



The destination services people only wanted to sell trips and offered very little advice for independent travellers unlike on the Thomson Destiny where a daily advice sheet was available. I also found it cheeky that people who had paid for the expensive trips could get off the boat first.



Hardly any information was forthcoming from the bridge, would have been nice to know when dolphins and pods of whales appeared or the name of the islands/volcanoes that we passed.



Smoking should be banned on the whole internal sections of the ship as it marred some evening entertainment.

Fire and Ice Cruise – Thomson...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs P Bairstow

Comments:

Fire and Ice Cruise – Thomson Spirit – 23 July to 4 August 2007



Two years ago Thomson started cruising from the UK. My husband, a ferry enthusiastic, suggested we book a 7-day cruise to the Norwegian Fjords with our then 7-year-old son.



I was sceptical imagining a holiday camp atmosphere hardly my husband’s scene! But I was pleasantly supplied – yes you can play bingo, participate in game shows and join other organised activities but on the other hand you can completely ignore them. We were converted and in 2006 did the longer North Cape Explorer cruise.



Fire and Ice provided an opportunity to visit the Faroe Islands and Iceland, both new destinations for us. We were extremely lucky with the weather in the three Icelandic ports but unfortunately both Flam and Bergen were very wet – luckily we had been to these ports before so it did not matter.



Our first two cruises were on the ‘Thomson Celebration’. This year’s cruise was an opportunity to sail on her near identical twin sister, ‘Thomson Spirit’. Both are Holland America cast offs but nevertheless are still lovely ships. Their strengths are the promenade deck, (5 times round equals a mile), the flexible dining arrangements, the varied entertainment programme, and the friendly ‘children welcome’ atmosphere.



The crew composition of both ships is different. On the ‘Celebration, ’ Filipinos and Indonesians predominate whilst on the ‘Spirit’ there are more Eastern Europeans. All offer the same professional and friendly service – the housekeeping departments in particular must be commended on the excellent standard of cleanliness throughout the ships.



We had a deluxe cabin, mid ship on deck 7, in a quiet location. These larger cabins are ideal for three people with plenty of storage space. Although fairly high up, we were not adversely affected by choppy seas. The ship does vibrate and creak but I found this rather reassuring rather than a problem.



The cabin was in close proximity to two self service laundries complete with washing machines, tumble driers and iron boards. These facilities are well used and are good places to meet fellow passengers!



We were also not too far from the gym and sauna and adjoining outside spa pool and small swimming pool on deck 8. The combination of sauna, spa and very cold pool appealed both to the contingent of Russian passengers and to myself.



Food was good, but not gourmet standard. There was plenty of choice with fish and vegetarian options together with a varied children’s menu. The Compass Rose restaurant has the advantage of having no set sittings for dinner except on the weekly formal night.



Tables are not pre-allocated which means dining companions varies – so if you do not get on with them or they with you, it is only for one meal! Even on formal night the dress code is fairly flexible – dinner jackets are optional and my son got away without a tie. My son, who is not a dresser up, actually wanted to go!



The self-service Lido restaurant is another plus providing 24-hour food again of high standard with unlimited tea, coffee and drinking water. If you did not want to join in on formal nights or simply could not be bothered to change for dinner, then this restaurant provided a perfectly adequate alternative.



My son enjoyed the excellent nightly shows in the Broadway show lounge. He also enjoyed Nintendo Wii bowling, the guest magician and playing football with other children on the sports deck. He refused to join the kids club but it seemed to be aimed more at girls than boys with an emphasis on drama – not one of his interests.



We are not ones for being herded around so avoided the organised excursions. These seemed very expensive. In Reykjavik, I arranged an independent trip to the Blue Lagoon with the local bus company, who picked me up from the ship. This cost about £30 for me whilst my son was free.



Thomson charged £40 for adults and £20 for children and did not allow as long there.



In Akureyri, I met some fellow cruisers at the Tourist Information Centre, and 8 of us decided to join up and share a taxi to Godafoss Waterfall and the Lake Myvatn area – well worth visiting. This cost was around £34 each.



Thomson’s ‘Jewels of the North Tour’ covered the same sights and cost £75; admittedly it included lunch. In Flam we got the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ ticket, (boat to Gudvangen, bus to Voss, train to Myrdal and then back on the Flam Railway) – although expensive, about £48 each, it is still considerably cheaper and more extensive than the organised trips – average cost £75 per person for a day trip.



I was happy to walk in Torshavn and Isa fjord – the latter destination has an extensive network of tracks and paths and the scenery is stunning. It is easy to get around in Bergen independently – this time I took the local bus to Troldhaugen, Greig’s home.



My main complaint is the departure port – Harwich. The last two cruises were from Newcastle, which is much more convenient for us. Unfortunately Thomson do not cruise from Newcastle in the school summer holidays.



It is ridiculous to travel south to travel north – after 18 hours at sea we were only at the same latitude as Edinburgh. We did not arrive at our first port, Torshavn, until lunchtime on the third day and had to be back on ship at 4.30 pm at our last port, Bergen.



If the cruise had started from Newcastle or Leith we could have fitted in an extra port, say Kirkwall or Lerwick, or at the very least had a longer stay in Torshavn, which would have allowed for an ‘out of town’ trip as well as a walk round the town. We would have also had a later departure from Bergen.



A weak point of all three cruises has been Destination Services; their sole purpose seems to be to sell excursions. I do not expect a full tourist information service but at the very least they should know where the ship docks in relation to the town and tourist information centre and the times, frequency and pick up points of any shuttle bus service.



In Reykjavik, there was confusion about where the ship would dock – Destination Services claiming that the information provided on their plan was wrong when in fact it was right! No one seemed to know the frequency of the shuttle bus. We were told it picked up from City Hall when it did not – luckily I had previously checked with a bus driver but others spent a long time waiting.



There was also the embarrassment of not realising that Iceland was 1 hour behind UK time – I did query this the night before but was told to keep to UK time! Luckily they rectified the mistake just before disembarkation commenced.



High Spirits, my least favourite lounge, is in need of refurbishment. Worse still, it provides the only public indoor smoking area and even when sitting at the back of the no smoking area, you can smell it. Unfortunately many of the activities in High Spirits appealed to my son and other children.



Thomson should bring itself into line with recent UK legislation and make all inside areas including cabins strictly no smoking.



On our two trips on the ‘Celebration’, we were fortunate to have Gers Larson as our captain who provided twice-daily detailed updates on weather and sea conditions together with occasional announcements about features of particular interest. This was lacking on the ‘Spirit’ and whilst the Greek captain seemed friendly enough, we would have appreciated more announcements from the bridge.



Finally my son gives Thomson ten out of ten and wants us to book the Baltic cruise next year from Newcastle – a subject of some debate as it will involve time off school. I think eight of ten would be more appropriate, rising to nine plus if they sailed from Newcastle in school holidays.



Thomson provides affordable child friendly cruises from the UK – I would like to see them expand this programme preferably with flexible dining ships and northern departure ports. A round Britain cruise and a wider range of Norwegian ports, (Flam and Bergen are very pleasant places but not on every cruise please), would be appreciated.

Excellent, really enjoyed...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs V Dester

Comments:

Excellent, really enjoyed ourselves definitely to be recommended. Plenty of good food with choice of dining areas. Cream tea every day. You need to walk the deck, 5 times deck is a mile.



Entertainment superb! Everything Mr A Williams said was right. We were on the tender that crashed into the ship, very very scary.



Have booked next year’s cruise on the Destiny but made sure no tenders to shore!

Having been independent...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Itinerary:

Fire & Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mr D Ferdinando

Comments:

Having been independent travellers for 25 years it was a bit of a shock being "organised" but it didn't upset us it was just different to what we were used to.



So - let's get over the bad bits:



Our very first cruise - please tell me that all cruise ships don't shudder and vibrate like this one did? It felt as if the prop shaft was out of balance and it meant that you were constantly in motion. The mini bar in our room cheerfully rattled all night with the chinking of glasses. The shaking was really noticeable and it was an annoyance and a distraction. Trying to read, drink or eat whilst this was going on was a challenge.



Upgrading (we had two cabins) seemed like a good idea until we found we were below the sports deck. I'd like to thank the herd of Elephants who used the sports deck at strange hours of the night - Not!



The ship is a little - well - 1980s and looks tired and in need of brightening up. The bathroom looked very 70s.



The Good stuff:



The staff were great.

Everywhere was clean & tidy.

The food was fine and plenty of it.

The entertainment was OK and the cast were enthusiastic.

Our cabins (Deck 8) were huge and comfortable and apart from the problems above it would have been great.

All the places we visited were as we expected them to be and the tours that we did were well organised. Whilst I am sure you could have got them cheaper at the destination - we didn't feel that we paid a great amount more to secure them from onboard.



The two guest speakers for the days at sea were very interesting - Stephen Jones (Operation Raleigh) and Michael Conway Toms. Stephen spoke of his Arctic, Antarctic and Greenland expeditions and Michael spoke about show business variety acts, comedians and early movie stars. Even our "young adults" were kept fully engaged.



I thought the bar prices were reasonable and the cashless charge card approach worked well.



Overall:



The staff made up for any deficiencies and we did have a good holiday and enjoyed the ports of call. But Thomson do please sort out that vibration - the cocktails should be shaken not the passengers. If it wasn't for the bouncing around we would probably have made this a 10 rather than a 9. It is a friendly ship and all the staff made it very special.

Overall we had a great time,...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Itinerary:

Myths of the Fjords

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomas Cook

Submitted By:

Miss M Ripp Caputo

Comments:

Overall we had a great time, although we were a bit shocked at the high pension age of the passengers onboard. We thought there would be more of a mixed age group.



The ship's itinerary was pretty good but they could have done better on the day time activities, i.e dance classes where they teach you how to salsa, etc. Would have been nice to interact a bit more with the professional dancers (Stuart & Rebecca) with them breaking down the steps for easy learning for a bit of fun.



The Entertainment crew (Rob, Lauren, Lewis, Zoey, Andrew, Mark, Diana & a few others) were fantastic and really made us feel at home. They were young and vibrant - making our evenings fun! Just sad they had a 1am curfew.



The whole crew did a great job serving us, from the waiters right through to the stewardess (lovely Pita).



The photographers (Rodrigo, Silvia & Francesco) were great too, very friendly and made our stay memorable (lots of pictures to prove it).



The day excursions were good but sadly overpriced.



Food and drinks were good.



Decor definitely needs updating, however it was clean, comfortable and met our needs.



Fjords were just spectacular! Would recommend going to see them.



We'd certainly go on another Thomson cruise.

If you had never been on a...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs M Bailey

Comments:

If you had never been on a cruise before you might have been impressed. The ports of call were great - Faroes, Reykjavik, Isafjord, Akureyri, Flam, Bergen. Tours were good, but organisation frequently a bit scrappy - poor information.



If you have cruised on Thomson's Celebration you would have been disappointed. For a 'sister ship' it was definitely a poor relation. Where the organisation, dissemination of information, and atmosphere on the Celebration were all you could wish for, on the Spirit there was a 'wing and a prayer' feeling to it all.



Not a word over the public address from captain or crew to tell you where you were, what the weather was like, what that interesting bit of coastline was - made us realise just how fantastic Captain Larsen of the Celebration was! Timetables were shaky - the change of time zone in Iceland having escaped the entire ship's crew, as we all arrived to disembark at 8 am, only to wait ten minutes to be told it was actually 7 am, please go away for an hour!



Info over the public address was poor - told to "wait in any lounge" to be called for trips we discovered that these calls were being made to Broadway Lounge only - we had to ask people making their way to the gangway to find out which trips were leaving. Mooring seemed to be a (literally) hit and miss affair too!



The vibration at times was quite incredible, particularly in the Broadway Lounge and Horizons, where your drinks were well shaken whether you wanted them to be or not. On one night we had hammering coming from above our cabin somewhere - we discovered in the morning that someone thought it a good idea to lay new carpet in the Reception (immediately above us) between 1.30 and 2.30 am.



The food was very good, the service in all eating and drinking areas was excellent, and the cabins were kept immaculately clean and tidy. The entertainers were very good although the shows themselves were occasionally repetitive - those with added humour were definitely the best - i.e. "We are the Champions". And The Pirates - the Broadway/West End show rip offs naturally suffered from lack of people/space to do the subject justice.



We know from past experience how good a cruise can be on a virtually identical ship, so there is no excuse for the poor running and lacklustre atmosphere on the Spirit. Sack the captain and the Cruise Director and have the crew do a training course with on the Celebration!

Good Points:

Overall Rating:

7/10

Itinerary:

Myths of the Fjords

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mr P Mace

Comments:

Good Points:



Extremely friendly and attentive staff, especially the waiters and bar staff.



Decent size cabin (3rd deck number 498) plenty of hanging space in wardrobes.



Very clean and well presented public areas, you could tell it has had a recent refurb.



Norway itself. The Fjords are stunning.



Evening shows. The singing was very good. Lauren had a very good voice. Choreography was a bit simple but all in all the shows were of a good standard.



Food was of a decent standard throughout the ship although not spectacular



Bad points:



The major, major downside to the ship is its excessive vibration. It was bad on ALL decks. It was very difficult to sleep at night because of it. Everything in the cabin rattled. If you are going on the Spirit make sure you take ear plugs and even these won't compensate for the constant juddering.



Poor daytime activities on days at sea and poor organisation in certain areas. (Photo gallery was a free for all).



Cruise Director was uninspiring. No enthusiasm. He seemed to think he could get by on his 'catchphrase' 'I'll see you around the ship'(You never did). Excursions offered were, as always, vastly overpriced.

What a fabulous cruise,...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs K Prosser

Comments:

What a fabulous cruise, everything was wonderful, food, entertainment, room and staff.



Special mention to: Marvyn, Warren, Vasko and Lyndon who made our trip extra special, we hope to see them all again soon.



Trips were great, especially the whale watch, but can work out a little expensive. Beautiful scenery especially Norway, we walked into the mountains for about 10 miles and caught the train back. Warning Iceland and Norway are very expensive, bus in Iceland from ship to Reykjavik, 1 mile, £2.50 each so a family of 4 it is £10, that is just one way.



Don't let the prices put you off, every port has something to see or do for free and you can always walk back to the ship for dinner and tea.

Our Fire and Ice itinerary took...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Itinerary:

Fire and Ice

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mr A Williams

Comments:

Our Fire and Ice itinerary took us to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway.



Weather was fine considering the area we went to with one rough day at sea.



Good points:

(1) Food, both quality and service was excellent. The waiters knew your preferences after one day of knowing you and they were always pleasant. We paid a supplement on our anniversary and ate at Scirocco's - the quality and service there was second to none and we were given all the time we needed to complete our meal - so much so that when we left the main restaurant was empty!



(2) Entertainment. Broadway style shows were very well worked and generally well-received by the passengers. We also had a UK comedian/magician who was brilliant and good with the few kids on board.



(3) Cabin (inside twin on deck 2) was spacious enough to crash out in and there was plenty of space for clothes to be put away. Luggage was at the cabin within half an hour of boarding.



(4) Excursions. Excellent choice but at times the day's itinerary seemed rushed with only a five minute stop here and there to take photos. It was if too much had been fitted into the tour. Overall though they were well organised although you could have probably have done them cheaper if a few of you book a minibus taxi through the Tourist Information offices.



(5) Checking in at Harwich port was very quick and smooth. We were on board within an hour of being dropped off by the car park coach.



Bad points:

(1) You can smoke on deck - fair enough I suppose as it's in the open air but one of the lounges - High Spirits was also a smoking area and as soon as we non-smokers poked our heads through the doorway the stench of smoke hit us.



Because of this we didn't frequent this lounge which meant we missed out on some of the activities/musicians which we would have liked to have seen.



In our opinion all enclosed public lounges should be non-smoking as in the UK.



(2) Vibration. You cannot get away from the fact the whole of the ship resonates like a car with an out of balance wheel. When the ship is at sea this is constant and at times this became irritating when all you wanted to do was to read in one of the lounges or have a quiet drink. It also made some of the larger passengers wobble in a most disgusting way!



Apparently the Thomson Spirit is going in for a refit this winter so hopefully some of the ship's tired looking facilities may be upgraded along with a rectification of the vibration problem.



(3) Organisation. Before we reached Iceland I knew that we would have to change our clocks by one hour. The ship's personnel didn't. This meant everyone was up one hour too early for the tours and it seemed that this was an embarrassment to the crew.



We arrived back in Harwich one hour late. Not bad we thought but the quay crew at Harwich informed us that the ship had overshot the estuary and had nearly hit another quay before having to go round one more time. We weren't impressed to hear this especially as the captain made a jokey reference to not being able to miss the UK the day beforehand.



Additionally there was almost a serious accident with one of the tenders in the Faroe Islands hitting the side of the ship so hard that it dented the ship's hull close to one of deck 2's cabins. In fact our tender hit two boats in Torshavn harbour before finally heading for our ship, crashing into the landing deck before being lashed to it by the deck crew.



After disembarkation at Harwich the procedure for retrieving our cases at the car park was very slapdash and I would have been very unhappy if we had had to wait around in the pouring rain instead of the good weather we had. In fairness this probably wasn't all Thomson's fault.



Would we sail with Thomson again? Yes. We've been on larger and smaller cruise ships before and the Thomson Spirit IS a very friendly ship.