Thomson Cruises, Spirit

The entertainment on the Spirit was excellent, really high quality and thoroughly enjoyable. Our cabin was of a generous size with everything we could need and spotlessly clean, the stewardesses are amazing, the itinerary was great and the tours excellent in every way. I really can't fault any of it... Until we come to food. To be fair, food on any cruise isn't amazing but this was worse than anything I could have imagined.

Buffet - fish dishes were mixed in with other dishes, which for the surprisingly high amount of people with seafood allergies including myself caused issues, fish was regularly being dropped into meat dishes thus contaminating all not to mention the fact that you don't really want a lump of fish in your meat pie! This aside the vegetables were regularly so over cooked they were mush, meats burnt or over cooked and dry, many dishes didn't even loosely resemble the label. The desserts, well better to avoid completely.

Restaurant - normally food in the restaurants is of a better quality, not so here. On 4 occasions during a two week cruise the main was literally inedible. The consommé and soups plain nasty, although the beef which I am certain was bovril was palatable, desserts again, awful and often the same dessert was served under a different name.

Highlights were crispy duck which was dry over cooked meat with a mushy skin.

Stuffed pork loin which was so over cooked and hard you could even cut it with a knife!

Strawberry shortcake with no strawberry and no shortcake.

Mint moose which I suspect was made with toothpaste.

Steak Diane , steak was good but the Diane sauce was more like a budget supermarket instant gravy made thinly and spoilt everything it came in contact with.

Pancakes with caramel sauce, on a table of five we all ordered and upon first mouthful it was synchronised napkin spitting! May I never experience that again.

After two weeks of that McDonald's sounds amazing!

we have just returned of the thomson spirit cruise to the pharaohs and promised land,we had a great time.this is our first cruise so nothing to compare with, the cruise liner spirit is a lovely ship with loads to do everyday of the cruise,

the food is first class plenty of variety,you can either dine self cater from a very well presented buffet,or you can be waited on in the restaurant in the compass rose.we decided to eat from the buffet and was highly satisfied.the food is 24 hour and as many drinks of coffee or tea you can get.

you can book the trips on the ship, however we and friends of ours decided to go it alone by taxis.there was plenty of taxis waiting on the port side however better getting the shuttle bus provided by thomson to the centre then haggle the prices for your trips .the taxis we had was ok the driver very helpful he took us were ever we wanted to go also giving us all the knowlege about the places that we visited. thomson said it was not safe for us to go alone, we never encounted any trouble at all,in fact quite the opposite,all the places we visited- we was made to feel very welcome.oh and this was less than half the price and we saw alot more and was not rushed we told the driver how much time we wanted at each place,

my expectations of a first cruise and first holiday with thomson were not high, and they did not even reach that it was butlins at sea, but not quite as good the ship or ferry more like, it was old and tired the ship had a vibration all the time it rolled even in calm water.the food was limited not at all tasty and not much choice,i had diarrhoea and vomiting on our 4th day the nurse attended said myself and wife were to stay in cabin for 24 hours and meals were sent in the meals were worse i didn't think that possible missed 2 days in different ports, ruined our holiday found out the ships previous sailing had norovirus, we had an awful time nice birthday and 30year wedding anniversary trip, complaind to thomson they couldnt be bothered to reply i will be sure to go with them again if i ever cruise again it will be an american ship

This was our first cruise and it was even better than we expected!

The staff were friendly,the cabin was very roomy with a Queen size bed,the food was varied...we ate in The Compass Rose and found it very good.

There were different types of entertainment to suit all tastes e.g.

Comedian

West End style shows

Piano Bars

Casino

We were only at sea 1 day...which we liked,anymore would have been too much!

The rest of the days we awoke in a "new" port and couldn't wait to explore the area.

Really we have no negatives....perhaps Tea & Coffee facilities in the cabin would be nice!

Our first cruise. Apart from being held up going and coming at airport, and to be fair outward journey was caused by a strike by French Airpot Control taking i ntermittent strike action!! Food and facilities could not be faulted - yes their were small irritations but these were personal things and nothing is perfect- Evening entertainment was exceptionally good, theses staff members work exceptionally hard and deserve all the credit they receive. Staff in the resaurants and food facilities were first class and nothing was any trouble to them. this also applied to the cabin staff who kept you entertained each day by arranging someof the towels into small and delightful animals. This is definately an art. Ship was going for refurbishment for three months and this can only enhance your cruise. Thank you all.

Another excellent cruise with Thomson. Not their fault but weather was too hot for the week.Venice was extremely busy as wll as the old city in Dubrovnik. As usual the food at all times was plentiful and excellent. The Cruise Director, Ray Bauer, was very good and at times honest when schedules had to be changed due to a thunderstorm. Only Nathan in his team let the side down as he appeared not to fit. Other minor grumble was that the quizzes were the same as last year it appeared but but the answers had changed eg Oscar winners but Thomson had not updated. Whilst good the entertainment needs changing as we have seen some shows several times now !

We have travelled on the four times and the Celebration twice, yet again no faults to report already booked again for next year on the Celebration.

As usual the food, service,and entertainment in the showlounge was excellent. Cabin cleaned to a very high standered.

Visited some beautiful places during the fortnight and had wonderful sunny weather and calm sea the whole time.

Since we have been on Thomson cruises for years there is nothing we needed to know before purchase.

Tours a bit on the pricey side Food very goodEntertainment 2 to nonestaff always ready to helpThe Airline that we travelled from Gatwick was indescribable even Ryan air has more leg room . . THE NAME OF THIS AIRLINE FIRST CHOICE YUK ! LAST CHOICE.IF on a day at sea you felt like a tan you had to be up and stake a claim to a sun bed by 0700hrs IT WAS LIKE BEING ON A BOAT LOAD OF GERMANSTo sum up after 4 cruises with Thomson's we felt that the standards had sunk its like Benidorm afloat

This is the 3rd Thomson cruise that my wife and I have been on in 24 months, firstly the Calypso, small, a little tired but great atmosphere, did the Greek coast, Corfu and the Corinth canal, Truly great!

The second was the destiny, cruising the Canaries and Madeira, lovely ship, much larger than the first, but food ,staff entertainment spot on.And lastly the Spirit, which we got back yesterday (26th March 2009) on the Red Sea Magic trip.Lovely ship, not new but stylish,with same standards of friendly ness from the staff, with decent food and good entertainment.

I have just returned home from a week on the Thomson Spirit. For those wondering about the vibration yes it is still there and worse than a couple of years ago. I spoke to s senior officer who said they had carried out numerous repairs and investigations and they CANNOT cure the vibration.

The standard of food has gone down I thought as the choice is not as good as it was and the Lido food seem to be out too long and was either not very hot or dry due to the heat lamps. The cabins are tired, tiles loose on the floor, discoloured grouting etc. We had a cabin mid-ship level 3 this was ok, we visited some friends on deck 1 and 2 at the rear and the vibration and noise was terrible, I would have needed ear plugs for me to sleep down there.

There are rumours it is having a major refit soon, but again I think it will not be noticeable as it sounds more like a hull and structure safety inspection and I don ' t think you will see much difference cosmetically.

If you go all inclusive be sure to specify branded drinks when you order otherwise they give you the house spirits which are cheap and nasty, most branded are available with NO supplement to pay.

The entertainment staff were not as friendly as previous cruises, they seemed to think they were above everyone else and the standard and quality of the shows was nothing to write home about. The games they play seem to be identical on all the ships and the show themes also the same come on get a director in with a new list to perform and get more variety. At the end of the day the cruise was ok, Thomson is the budget end of cruising so you get what you pay for, that said I would not like to think I ever pay full or brochure price as there are many other companies with better quality ships in that price range. Hope this review is useful.