Thomson Spirit Cruise Ship

2 readers found this review helpful

this holiday will stay in my mind for the rest of my life it just got better and better the crew were fantastic and our waiters Elvis Bernard an Jed just made the holiday when we went on the ship the feeling was just in the air they all wanted you to have a good time i wish this ship and all who sail in her god bless

5 readers found this review helpful

We were back-to-back on the 'Pearls of the Aegean' and 'Adriatic Explorer' a wonderful itinery, mainly doing our own thing,but once or twice did the guided tours. found them more expensive than going on our own, but still.Had a horrendous rain storm during the first week sending a waterfall down onto the Lido deck from the deck above. The second Friday we experienced a fantastic thunderstorm. forked lightening -winds - noisy thunder - rain the lot. Very picturesque, and glad we were not on our own, and safe inside. Next day it was typical U.K. weather, quite cool. Most of the ports were very interesting, Kusadisi in Turkey was typical 'Grand Bazaar' "Leather jackets madame, just for you" "What, in this weather" was my reply. he seemed to acdept that. " Beautiful perfume madame, here" Handing me a unsealed box of 'Chanel no 5. to which I replied "if I take that from you , you will not let me give it back, so no thanks" It seemed to do the trick, as he soon turned away. 'Genuine Fakes' were signposted all over, but thanks to the Destination team we were warned that this kind of thing happened. We had knowledgeable guide to Ephesus, and the Olympia.
Venice, Dubrovnik, Koper, Kotor and Split, were super, would like to visit them all again.
This was our seventh cruise, four of which have been on the Spirit. On our first visit for dinner in the Compass Rose, a waiter came up to us and said 'welcome home', Jose was on the Spirit 2 years ago, how he remembered us is a mystery.The waiters treated us the guests as members of their great big family.
Richard Grey the Cruise director was more actively involved with the entertainment side of things than any other we have come across, taking over the role of, in our experience, the asst. cruise director's job. still Matt was a very good singer.
Oh, let's hear it for the 'Prime Men' the best resident band of all our cruises. I asked if they had in their repetoire a jazzed up version of 'somewhere over the rainbow' by Isreal K...? No, they had never heard it but would go on 'you tube'' to rehearse it. And so, a couple of days later, they played and sang it to perfection, it was great. All four of the musicians were soloists in their own right.Pop songs to ballads oldies and new ones. Brilliant. Thank you guys!
The showteam were brilliant also, the costumes, the energy , the enthuisiasm. Even performing up to midnight, singing and dancing. Hello to my fellow friendly dancer Danielle. We will be back Janet & Michael

3 readers found this review helpful

took cruise only option for agean adventure from corfu. good check in . cabin very spacious, did bit of research before.ship although bit dated was very well laid out and clean. buffet or table service at no extra cost. i was happy with the food on offer ,prob 3 star hotel standard ,could done with little more choice. drink very resonable (happy hour as well)plus non of those silly service charges as so popular on other cruise lines. very good bar service, all the staff were very friendly. ports of call excellent,no real need for excursions as easy to do yourself.found odd that a few people thought croatia might be dangerous!one of the safest and cleaest contries in europe . found thomson have very relaxed drinks policy as to drinks bought onshore as well.cabin staff exceptional,2 girls always smiling and happy.in all good value,reasonble food ,good atmosphere.only minus was rather tatty carpets on some stairs which detracted from the general pleasnt feel of the ship.dont forget that because of no service charges and no tipping all the time the cost of cruise is quite resonable. i always think of a cruise as hotel where you wake up at a different destination every day ,so tend to put more emphasis on the ports of call.

3 readers found this review helpful

We had our first cruise and decided on the Thomson Spirit and returned last week from the Adriatic Explorer cruise. After reading some of the reviews we were apprehensive, but we had a fantastic time. The only gripe we had was the single beds, we thought you could move them together. The food was great, excursions reasonably priced and the staff were so friendly, nothing was too much trouble. The decor was a bit tired in places but we heard that it is due for a refurb after its last voyage this year. We have booked for next year this time on the Island Escape, again we have read the reviews and some of them are horrendous, others glowing. Will have to wait and see. Would certainly recommend the holiday.

4 readers found this review helpful

I can not praise the service on board the Thompson Spirit enough they were absolutely SUPERB, for a first cruise i would definitely do it again.
I thank each and every member of the cruise for your great hospitality and service "WELL DONE"

2 readers found this review helpful

Thomson Flight from Gatwick to Corfu
If you book a cruise through Thomson from Gatwick to Corfu be sure to find out first what the flight time table are available before you book do not leave it to Thomson.
They will decide what flight you will be on and not make you aware that there are 2 flight going and 2 flights coming back from gatwick to Corfu
The last flight coming back to Garwick gets back at a 21.55p
Thomson booked us on this return flight and did not offer the earlier flight.
The flight on Thomson air is a low budget airline with no leg room.
When you lower the tray in front of you it sits on your stomach because the seats are so close to each other.
There is no pouch in front of your seat to put a bottle of water or a magazine
That has been taken away to make room for your knees.
Thomson Spirit Cruise
The destinations for the Agean and Adriatic are great.
The suite on deck 8 is spacious but dated.
The TV in the room should be in a museum.
The TV programs are terrible.
£25 to use the cabin safe. £40 if you loose the key
The Cabin crew are great.
The food is fair, cheap cuts of meat.
The deserts look good but the taste not so good
The waiters in the restaraunt are very good and will try are very pleasant.
Deck 6 the only deck for walking (5 miles around equals 1 mile)
You cannot move around the deck 6 easily because of sun lounges occupying more than 50% of the walking area leaving a narrow walkway between the end of the sun lounge and the handrail.
You will find people on the sun lounges all day like beached whales and will not give anybody else a chance to use them
The beached whales leave at lunch time and leave their towels and a book on the sun lounge go for lunch for an hour then return to the sun lounge later.
If you are one of those people with smart phone iPads there is no wi fi you have to wait to go ashore and find a cafe or bar with WIFI
The Internet charges are 25p per minute
Deck 5 outside the Lido restaurant at the rear of ship is where all the smokers hang out all day, not a place to be if you are a non smoker.
Some of the main entrances from inside deck 6 to the outside you will find smokers hanging around the doors so you end up breathing on all that second hand smoke.
The chairs in the some of the lounges are uncomfortable
The purple Carpets on the stairs are thread bare in places.
The decor in the hallways are tired looking the carpets have stains in places they are drab looking and need to be replaced
The ship vibrates.
Thomson should have classes for those interested to get up to speed with modern technology and show passengers how to use smart phones or iPads instead of having classes how to fold towels to look like animals, napkin folding, play carpet bowls in the middle if the explores lounge.
Some of the Thomson staff at the reception desk are helpful and other are hard to understand when you ask them a question
Self service laundry room dryers are free but do not work efficiently.
The washing machine is ok and cost £2 per load
Take my advise check out other cruise lines that gave more modern facility's for a few dollars more remember you get what you pay for if Butlins is your cup of tea then this ship is for you

2 readers found this review helpful

This was our first cruise booked as a 'treat' for our 10th wedding anniversary and I have to say I couldn't fault it.
The ship, although old and a little dated, was spotlessly clean and well maintained. Our cabin (deck 4) was larger than I expected, albeit 2 single beds.
We managed to board with no hassle and while we waited for our cases to be taken to our cabin, we had a late lunch and then an explore of the ship.
There are 2 main resturants - the Compass Rose which is buffet. the food was excellent, although at busy periods it could be reminescent of a works canteen with people struggling to find a table. This was open 24 hours a work. There was a second waiter served restaurant which was also excellent. We only went there for dinner some nights and you could go whatever time you wanted. You were put on tables of 4 though, but it did mean you got to chat with someone different every evening, but that might not be to everyone's taste.
There was lot going on - at least 4 trips on offer at every port and there was a guy who did cycle trips at every port too. We did one and thoughly enjoyed it. Evening entertainment good - we only went to the Broadway Show lounge which did something different each evening. Most of these shows were excellent, one or two were a little amateurish. But there was also a bar that did quizzes and game homes and there was also a casino on board - we never bothered with those.
Bar prices were about the same as pub prices - so not too bad. Its very expensive to upgrade to 'all inclusive'. We were told nearly £200 each for a week !!! So unless you are a 'professional drinker' you would struggle to get your money's worth - what with the happy hours etc.
The staff (mainly South East Asian) couldn't do enough for you. What ever time of day we went back to our cabin there was always a cleaner in that row of cabins doing something.
If I HAD to make a criticism then they would be minor - the day the ship was at sea then it did seem cramped and people were struggling to find a sunbed by 10am and at lunchtime the buffet restaurant was jam packed. But saying that a friend who went on a Royal Carribean cruise said it was exactly the same on there... My other minor gripe would be that as the ship was only small as cruise ships go the swimming pools were tiny - more for splashing around in there. There are 2 pools - one anyone can go in and the other for adults only. There was also an outdoor jacuzzi up there. That is where we tended to sit.
I would have no hesitation in going back on a Thomson cruise tomorrow. In fact we are saving up for our next !

3 readers found this review helpful

we, my wife and i had booked for the Island Escape for the Colourful Coasts cruise 11/02/11~18/02/11 to celebrate my wife's 60th and our silver wedding anniversary. So where shall I begin. I suppose at the departure airport, when we arrived, were advised that Thomson had changed the venue ship from being 'Island Escape' to the 'Spirit' at very very short notice. As we had specifically booked 'Island Escape' due to others comments which we had read, as well as we had been on other Thomson ships and decided to try their new acquisition.
it was all planned in our minds, we had upgraded to decks 7~9 to be able to get better views of all destination ports from a seemingly safe area, as well as being away from some of the hustle and bustle that goes on.
we complained at departure airport about the change of ship, to be advised that we had to take it up with on board staff on arrival. having got to the ship, was then put in a twin cabin on deck 3 which is just above sea level. beds in cabin were at opposite ends of the cabin. we did request that we were moved but were advised that the ship was FULL and there was NO chance. after having made our feelings known to customer services, both here in UK and on board, things just went from BAD to WORSE as there was an outbreak of NORO VIRUS on board, which we were unfortunately part of and then confined to cabin for 3 days. it was hardly surprising that this happened due to some very unconventional hygiene standards being adopted on board, by both STAFF and clients. [ if you are advised to use sanitizer wash on entry then USE IT!! it is there for a reason] same cloths being used to wipe down tables, chairs and other surfaces. clients being able to assist themselves to handling food etc..
having said these comments, the actual cabin stewards that we had were attentive to our needs, and were helpful where possible.
We feel that we were most definitely mistreated by Thomson and let down big time, but that is for others to decide. Although there has been lots of GOOD comments regarding Thomson Spirit, our experience of Thomson Cruises as a whole, has NOT.
All in all,this was a holiday from HELL from the time we arrived at the departure airport to the time we got back to our original departure airport.

3 readers found this review helpful

Such a nice ship will go again everything excellent!!

5 readers found this review helpful

My friend and I were on Adriatic and Greek Island cruise what a wonderful holiday.The ship excellent as usual.That is my fifth time on her the crew are exceptional so eager to make your cruise special. Cabins clean if you showered three times you could have three clean towels.Food out of this world sometimes you had to queue at dining room but not for long as even maitre d got stuck in and cleared up to keep things flowing smoothly.Entertainment on board very good it is up to the individual what they choose.I know I could go on a larger ship but I could not be better taken care of.This ship is going off to get brushed up roll on next year we will be back she deserves the six awards she got and more.From the captain down 100per cent from the Scottish Golden Girls.