overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

Anything about Thomson cruises
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Dark Knight
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overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#1

Post by Dark Knight »

The Thomson Dream is a smaller ship with around 1500 passengers and 600 ish crew
we found it to be a very clean ship with the crew doing constant maintainance and always cleaning the place, the crew were also on hand everywhere with hand sanitiser and insisted you used it, no excuses
whilst the ship was smaller than the last 2 we have cruised on, we found it to be perfect for us, plenty of space, plenty to do day and night, good food, good entertainment and the crew the most friendly and sociable of any ship to date
Now contrary to the opinion of Thomson and all inclusive cruises, there were no drunks, no chavs or idiots and we found the passengers to be very friendly both at dinner and generally around the ship, yes the dress code is much more relaxed but in my opinion, this had no impact on the way people behaved and all inclusive does not mean getting hammered from morning till night on free beer.
there were many people who had cruised with PandO and Fred and had done some of the other mainstream lines as well but by far most people were repeat customers on their 8th/10th/ 20th Thomson cruise
As for the AI, we are still debating if it was worth the cost and if we broke even, we think we did but only just and unless it was free or very cheap next time, we would not buy it, preferring to pay as you go
the excursions were reasonably priced and gave good value , als Thomson seem to have much longer in port than many of the other ships we saw berthed next to us along the cruise, we always seemed to have an extra 2-3 hours in each port
our cabin was larger than both Ventura and Aaura and the bathroom markedly so.
the cost for on board purchases for cigs and booze also seemed cheap comp;ared to the duty free shops in the airports

overall a very enjoyable cruise on a great ship,we now agree we prefer the smaller more friendly ships, in fact we were so impressed we have booked the Thomson Spirit for a cruise to Iceland and Norway in August
Nihil Obstat

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gfwgfw
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#2

Post by gfwgfw »

DN

Thanks for your "Dream" review, and pleased that your needs were met

Cheers

Graham
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Dancing Queen
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#3

Post by Dancing Queen »

Glad you enjoyed it DK, I know a lot of people knock Thomsons although I would guess those that knock probably haven't even tried them, some friends of ours love them and have had some super cruises .
Jo

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Jean W
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#4

Post by Jean W »

Thank you very much, I have really enjoyed reading of your experiences.

We have cruised Princess, but the majority P&O. I want to try Thomson at some time for the more casual approach. It obviously wouldn't spoil my holiday :clap:

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#5

Post by oldbluefox »

Thank you for your reviews DK and pleased to hear you enjoyed Thomson so much.

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david63
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#6

Post by david63 »

Sounds like a good time was had by all.

I think from what you have said that it confirms the views of others that have cruised with Thomson.


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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#7

Post by Quizzical Bob »

Very interesting... especially the bit about longer in ports.

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#8

Post by Dark Knight »

on average we got 8-10 hours in port per stop
plenty of time to do tours and still have time to do some stuff on our own
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gfwgfw
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#9

Post by gfwgfw »

Me and much beloved had many land based sojourns with Thompson

Halcyon days of yester years

Most memorable

Hotel designated on arrival . . . was a 5 star inclusive sited in the hills of beautiful Majorca

Just five weeks later - my beautiful Betty was confirmed well and truly "preggers"

Majorca mountain air worked it's charm for us :thumbup:

BUT . . my suggested name for our wee girl . . . Thomosa . . . . was not to well resaved

Sorry folks for yet another buttock clenching post

Lubooo all :wave:

The in Gentle Giant Reflective Mode :angel:
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Admiral of the Humber
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#10

Post by Admiral of the Humber »

Very interesting Kevster.

I'm not surprised that you found that you preferred a smaller ship; we much prefer the mid sized P&O ships to the Azura sized ones. You now probably understand why so many P&O customers do not see the introduction of ships such as Britannia as "progress". As a family we all like the formal aspect of P&O cruises and their offer currently ticks all the right boxes for us so I doubt very much that we'll be giving Thomson a go any time soon. However, its good to know that you have found a cruise provider that gives you what you want out of a holiday. We are all different, and that is not a bad thing.

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Rob aka AOTH
One day P&O will cruise out of the north.....

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Dark Knight
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#11

Post by Dark Knight »

AOTH
If we were to go with P and O again, which we have not ruled out, we would go for the smaller ships, possibly the adults only.
It may well be that case that by only having cruised on the bigger ships , it has given me a somewhat unfair opinion of the company, that said , the formal nights and the dress code are not to my taste, when I am on holiday :wave: :wave:
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#12

Post by Ray Scully »

DN

So pleased you and Mrs DN enjoyed you Thomson cruise. We have fond memories of the Topaz & Island Breeze. We mainly migrated to Princess because of the availability of balcony cabins, being a smoker at that time. However we did find Thomson the friendliest of cruise lines with some of the best entertainment we have come across at sea.

Ray

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#13

Post by Dark Knight »

Ray
the staff were superb, so friendly and welcoming, by day 3 they had remembered our names and what our drinks were
the show team were very good, although they were very new and the shows we saw were great
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#14

Post by towny44 »

Thank you for the excellent reviews DK and glad you enjoyed the holiday.
I would be very happy if DW and I could try out some of the smaller, older and more traditional ships, but now we need an accessible cabin we find the more modern ships are better geared for wheelchair passengers.
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emjay45
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

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Post by emjay45 »

1500 passengers sounds like a nice size ship. So there wasn’t a ‘snob’ or ’10 bob millionaire’ in sight to spoil your cruise. :thumbup: They must prefer the larger ships. ;)

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

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Post by qbman1 »

Thanks for the review(s) old pal - a good and informative read. Not sure it would persuade me to desert P&O but my views on that are well documented !!

Sounds a bit like an eating and drinking diary...but then that's part of what cruising is all about !

Glad you clearly had a most enjoyable holiday

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#17

Post by Dark Knight »

QB
we don't really do hours and hours laid on a sunbed, we tend to get off and walk about and stop for lunch and a few drinks, do a bit of sightseeing and hop back aboard.
I am sure some people spend hours covered in chip fat going brown or spend hours treking about the place, but for us a hoiliday is about relaxing , seeing something new and getting a snapshot of the places we visit, to decide if it is somwhere we go for a land holiday :wave:
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#18

Post by qbman1 »

Ditto - I get bored after half an hour lying in the sun so we do like to get out and about. No point visiting far flung foreign parts otherwise in my view

We did the same tour as you in Antigua first time we were there and I agree it is well worthwhile

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Gill W
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#19

Post by Gill W »

emjay45 wrote:
1500 passengers sounds like a nice size ship. So there wasn’t a ‘snob’ or ’10 bob millionaire’ in sight to spoil your cruise. :thumbup: They must prefer the larger ships. ;)


Don't take this the wrong way, we know you don't like the bigger ships, but why do you have to keep making digs about them or pot shots about people that go on them? I'm happy to go on the larger ships, but I don't feel the need to constantly rubbish the smaller ships or the people that sail on them

Anyway, moving on the more pleasant things

Thank you to DK for posting about your recent cruise, it was interesting to read.

I don't think 1500 passengers is that small, actually, and I would like to do a Thomson cruise at some point. I think any slight doubts I might have about the size of the ship would be outweighed by the more relaxed dress code.
Gill

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Romig1
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#20

Post by Romig1 »

Thanks for doing all those detailed cruise reports DK, I felt as though I was there with you and the Lady Dark.

Got me all excited about my own Thomsons cruise! :thumbup:


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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#21

Post by Jonty S1 »

emjay45 wrote:
1500 passengers sounds like a nice size ship. So there wasn’t a ‘snob’ or ’10 bob millionaire’ in sight to spoil your cruise. :thumbup: They must prefer the larger ships. ;)
Good to see someone teasing a teaser.

Thanks for the interesting reports Sir Dark Knight, have very much enjoyed reading them. You mentioned Tortolla which always brings back fond memories of a certain bay and Pussers' eatery. :thumbup:

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#22

Post by Dark Knight »

thanks everyone for the feedback
I tried as much as possible to avoid any real comparison with other ships , as it is each to their own, other than the obvious such as cabins size and the more relaxed dress code, which was part of the reason we booked Thomson
the next ship we are on is the Thomson Spirit which has less passengers at 1250, at this rate we will be on a canal boat soon :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#23

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

I can recommend Black Prince. No not Fred's ship, the canal hire company. I'm on one in October. Three passengers. Three crew. Total aboard three!

And none of us ten bob millionaires or riff raff. :sarcasm:

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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#24

Post by Dark Knight »

Merv you and your good lady are the poster boy and girl for a whole generation of cruises, how dare anyone intimate you are a 10 bob millionaire




you are worth at least a pound :sarcasm: :sarcasm:
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emjay45
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Re: overview of the Thomson Dream by DK

#25

Post by emjay45 »

Gill W wrote:
emjay45 wrote:
1500 passengers sounds like a nice size ship. So there wasn’t a ‘snob’ or ’10 bob millionaire’ in sight to spoil your cruise. :thumbup: They must prefer the larger ships. ;)


Don't take this the wrong way, we know you don't like the bigger ships, but why do you have to keep making digs about them or pot shots about people that go on them? I'm happy to go on the larger ships, but I don't feel the need to constantly rubbish the smaller ships or the people that sail on them

Anyway, moving on the more pleasant things

Thank you to DK for posting about your recent cruise, it was interesting to read.

I don't think 1500 passengers is that small, actually, and I would like to do a Thomson cruise at some point. I think any slight doubts I might have about the size of the ship would be outweighed by the more relaxed dress code.
As Jonty said I was just teasing DK. I don't think I'm always having a dig at the bigger ships anymore than anyone else. I noticed on the Britannia thread it was only my post you quoted although plenty of other posters said they didn't like the look of the ship. I'm sorry if you don't like my opinions but I'm just as entitled to them as anyone else on here.

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