Have made a comment allready but could not help writing in again about the comments that Frank Murray made, I nearly fell of my chair laughing about his comments. This guy must need his head looked at for the rubbish that he wrote on here.

I have been on 6 Cruises before this one and Thomson Spirit was one of the best yet. I will have no hesitation about booking the Spirit again .

It was also our friends 50th Birthday and we had the Waiters sing at our table and also got a cake, so tuff luck frank, go and get a life.

First cruise - fantastic.

From check in onwards no problems other than photographs. Too expensive and really bad service. Lost photo with Captain which was highlight for our son.

Cabin size fine (Deck 4 outside, 4 berth). Storage brilliant. No problems with plumbing.

Food excellent in Lido and Compass Rose.

Entertainment first class. They all worked really hard.

Trips are expensive but sometimes worthwhile e.g. train journey in Sardinia.

Service throughout the ship was excellent especially Delroy (fae Drumchapel!!)

If you take a teenager with you (as we did) ensure they go to the Teen Welcome on first day as Ben met other teens from day one which gave us a break for the whole week!! He thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Overall we would recommend cruising and in particular Thomsons.

we read all the reviews and thought the spirt was a great cruise.............]

i was going for my 50th birthday. i never got a mention of my birthday at all other then a note from my room attendant.

the food was worse than my navy ships unless you wetn the ala carte menu and paid an extra £30.00, which i did on my birthday and it was better.

the drinks.

we were all inclusive and had to pay extra for bottles of wine at our meal, and my white russians unless i ordered with ti maria insted of kula. the rooms were noisey but liveable. it has 110volt and 220 volt. there was an ironing room an the 1st and 6th floor with washer and driers. it cost £10.00 for safety deposit box at reception not in the room. we came from glasgow and all our meals were set up for early dinner setting and we had to get up at 9am to change it. they do have tables for 2 if requested. the food was the worst even breakfast. you had to get up before 12pm or all you got ws pizza and rubbish hot dogs, the coffee was served in plastic mugs.

the entertainment was great but drinks and food were the pits this was my 5th cruise and the worst...............

we sailed on the spirit in february this year, and were so impressed with the value for money we booked again in early june. Bristol to our cabin took under three hours and having sailed the Caribbean from Florida with 10 hour flights it was great. our cases were in our cabin within 5 minutes, within 30 minutes of arrival we were recognised and treated royaly.
the maitre'd Leroy Brown treated us better than on any cruise we had been on before, a credit to the company with nothing being too much trouble. we have sailed several times on carnival and island escape and i was puzzled to see the food on the spirit marked down, both of us are discerning and found the quality and choice outstanding. all staff were very friendly and efficient, my only grouse is as always the casino is a tad small. overall great value for money more space in the room than we have had elsewhere, we are planning a trip on the spirit very soon.

This was an excellent holiday from start to finish. If you go this holiday you must go on the excursions especially Rome and Pisa. On the ship the food was fab, the staff was very helpful and they knew you by your first name by the second day. The entertainment was excellent but the only fault was it was a little short. The second week we went to a hotel called rey don jamie in Santa Ponsa which was fab, could'nt fault it food fab entertainment good staff friendly. We would recommend this hotel to anyone.

I sailed on the Spirit in June 05 with husband and took my mother who had her own cabin. We chose this ship as the single occupancy wasn't too bad. I was expecting the worse having been on far more expensive cruises. I can honestly say we were more than surprised. This cruise offers a really good value for money experience. I cannot understand any negativity with regard to the food. If I had to sum up the food I would say it is really good, not fantastic and not inovative but really good in the Compass Rose Restaurant. The buffet in the Lido is just that but standards here were good. If I had to make one negative comment it would be that there is limited deck space when you have a day at sea or a lot of people wishing to sunbathe at the same time. The entertainment is marvellous. I think if you have to pay for the all inclusive - don't - unless you are an alcoholic. We were AI and like a drink and added up how much our bill would have been and we would have broken even, so you would be better paying for your own choice of wine instead of having to have their house wine. We would definitely go back on one of these cruises if the itineray was what we wanted.

My Partner and I Went on a two week cruise on the Thomson Spirt In June 05. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, we are only in our 20's and admittedly were among the youngest on the cruise, but we met some wonderful people of all ages. From the moment we stepped of the plane in Palma we were really looked after, we were taken by coach to the ship, which was no longer than 10 mins away. We then went through a checking in procedure were you have your photo taken for your cruise card ( this allows you to get on and off the ship and is also for all your purchases on board).
We were then taken to our Cabin by our House maid, and our bags were delivered to us about 20 mins later. We had a deluxe Cabin on deck 6 (room 215) which was excellent it had a double bed, mini bar, two wardrobes and plenty of draw space. The bathroom had a bath and shower, we also had a Television and a hair dryer. We had a window that looked on to the promenade deck which was excellent for seeing the views when we woke up each morning.

The Ship Has a Restaurant called the Compase Rose, this served Breakfast in the mornings, then a 4 course meal for lunch and in the evening it was a 6 course meal,this was all waiter service, the food in here is excellent from the soups and salads to the steaks, Lamb, fish etc. usually had about 6 different main courses to chose from each day. We ate in here most evenings as we loved how much your were looked after, once you had told the waiters your name them seemed to never forget it. One tip in here is if you are on All inclusive do not order a bottle of wine with your meal, as if you do you will be charged for this , If you order by the glass this is free and you can order as many as you like. You do have to dress smartly in here but as long as the men had Trousers on they didn't need to wear tie and jacket every night. My other half even wore jeans and a short sleeved shirt some nights and didn't look out of place at all.
If you prefer to eat more casually you can dine all day in the lido, this was a help yourself buffet, where you were not required to dress up at all. The food was also very nice in here . We ate our breakfast and lunch in here most days. They also did two theme nights per week in here which we did attended one evening, this was a Indian night, this was excellent with lots of curry's to chose from. There was also an out door eating area that severed pizzas, chips, hot-dogs, salads and pasta meals.
If you were still hungry after 1 am, when the buffet closed there was a night menu that you could chose from, the chefs would freshly prepare you any thing off this up until 6 am (when breakfast started!) this included chips, toasted sandwiches, curry's, salads, burgers etc

You could never get bored in the evenings with all the bars and entertainment to chose from, Our favourite Bar was the Horizons bar on deck nine, this had the best views from the front of the ship and was a lovely cocktail bar that had piano and violin players, playing music while you drank, There was also the Raffles bar that we also seemed to find our self in most evenings, this is the bar that has the Casino in ! this is on deck 5. The evening entertainment was of a high standard in the Broadway show lounge, they had two showings per night but you did need to get there pretty early to get a decent seat, this was also on deck 5 but had a balcony area looking over the stage on deck 7, also with a bar in. You could also watch a film in the Cinema we never did this but there were about 6 showings a day of quite up to date films. Most of the bars closed at around 1am but if you were still up for a few drinks you could go up to Deck 7 to the High Spirits Night Club, we stayed in there many a nights till 3 - 4 am it basically closed when everyone left. But be warned after 2 am all your drinks are not free if all inclusive, and although they may not warn you these drinks will get charged on to you account. Make sure you get a few rounds in just before 2am !

There were plenty of activities on in the day on the ship, if you did not get off to explore the destination you were visiting. We did get of every day but still managed to go to a wine tasting class, saw the vegetable carving and ice carving demonstrations. There were games played through out the day and bingo late afternoon, we did not go to this, but met one lady who had won £400. There were also exercise classes and line dancing if you fancied it. There are two Swimming pools one with a kids poll next to it and the other with a whirl pool, also there were separate male and female saunas indoors next to the gym.

The ports of call we visited were Sicily - here we got the coach offered by the port in to the town, this was quite a small town with a few shops we had a little walk around and got the coach back to do some sunbathing on deck.
Naples - The ship docked 5 mins walk from the city here. We were not very impressed with Naples as there were dead rats and stray dogs sleeping every where, the traffic was awful, the Italians seem to have no road laws. We did go on a horse and coach tour around the city, this was an easy way to see all around, be very careful if you do this as the man tried to double the amount he had told us for the trip when we got off. You should pay no more than 30 euros make sue you barter with them before you get on.
Sardinia - again here we just walked around the town we docked in and headed back to ship for lunch.
Toulon- We had booked on one of the ships trips on this day as we wanted to Visit St Tropez. We left the ship at 9am and arrived at st tropez at around 10.45. We were then given about 3 hours to look around the designer shops and the Bay. We did stop for lunch here but it did cost an awful lot, we had two sandwiches and two glasses of lemonade which came to around 40E, In the afternoon we were taken to Port Gramound, this is like the mini Venice of France this was a lovely little place worth seeing. We arrived back at the ship at about 6pm. We did enjoy this trip but the ships own trips can be expensive this cost us £35 each.
Barcelona - We decided that we would do our own thing here instead of paying for the ships tour which again was around £35 each. We got to see much more than the people on the tours and was very easy to do on your own. We got a bus that was parked in front of the ship to the centre of town, here we bought 2 tickets for the open top tour buses, these go all around the city with there different routes blue, green and red they all last about 2 hrs each you are given a map when you buy the tickets. We first walked up the rambles were all the street entertainers and shops were, then we chose to do the red route , we then went up to the castle which is the highest point, there were marvellous views over the city from here. We then took the cable car down which was lovely, and then got on the blue route to go and see the Gudi Buildings definitely worth seeing, we got a taxi back to the ship all this only cost about £30 fro the whole day for the two of us.
Villefrance - Here we wanted to go to Monte Carlo, and again did this ourself allot cheaper than the ships trip. When we got off ship we walked along the sea front until we reached a corner with some steep steps this was just before the beach started, we got two train tickets from the station at the top this cost 9 Euros for two, the train ride was about 15 mins and you got off at the 4th stop. Here you were in the bay of Monte Carlo, we walked up a steep hill to the left and reached the famous Casino, we did go in and off course lost. We then had a little walk around, and some dinner in a bar at the front of the bay watching all the ferrias etc drive past, then got the train back to Villefrance.
Livorno- Here we wanted to go to Pisa to see the leaning tower we first got the ports free bus in to the centre of town.We then went in to a tobacco shop and bought two return tickets for the bus to the train station, and return tickets for the train to Pisa this cost a total of 12 Euros this was very easy to do once at the train station you must validate your ticket in the little yellow box all around the station before you get on the train. Once at Pisa it was about a 20 min walk to the Tower, if you just keeping walking straight when you come out the station you will come to the tower. We did catch a taxi back to the station but this only cost 5 Euros.
Rome- Here we went on the Ships do it your self tour to Rome as we were unsure of catching the train to Rome by ourself as it is over an hour away. This cost us £30 each. The coach picked us up in the morning at 9am and we arrived in Rome at 10.30, we were then left on our own until the coach picked us back up at 5pm. It is very easy to see all the sights in Rome including the Collusem, Spanish steps and travai Fountain etc. They were all with in walking distance of each other and defiantly worth seeing. We paid 10 Euros each also to get in to the Colosseum which was fantastic. It was a lovely clean city.
Corsica - Here we got the free bus in to town, which was again put on by the port to get you to the town centre. This was only a small town with a few shops we had about an hour off the ship looking round and getting a few gifts then went back to top up the tan and have lunch.
Menorca- This was a very pretty dock and was extremely close to the town centre. You got off the ship and walked up some stairs, very steep though in to the town itself, lots of nice shops here great for spending all the last Euros.

On the day before we were due to Leave we had to pack our cases, collect some security stickers and coloured tags from reception, place these on your cases and put them outside your room that night before 3am, these were then collected through the night. The next day you had to leave your cabin by 8am. There was a supervised room that you could leave your hand luggage in, until your coach came to take you to the airport. We didn't leave until 5pm, and was allowed to still use everything on the ship, including food and drink until then. When the coach arrived you had to leave the ship, collect your luggage from the dock side and put it on the coach. There was a Thomson rep on the coach, to tell you which desk to check in at, at the airport, which all went very smoothly.

we would definitely recommend this holiday to all ages, it is the best holiday we have ever been on and will most certainly be doing a cruise again.

we went on the thompsons spirt for my 50th birthday. this ship reminded me of my navy days. the food was about the same. the beer was un drinkable and put me off drinking it.the only thing that was good was the intertainment. i wrote to thompsons complaining butbasicly got told werer to go.

it wasn't there fault talk to he tour operator that i booked with cruise control.

any way my 50th birthday was a shambles no singing no happy birthday......................

never again

bigf7777@ntlworld.com

Just returned from jewels of the Med cruise
As first time cruisers we only booked for one week - the only disappointment of the week was having to leave.

Flights Outward smooth as clockwork, we arrive before lunch and our luggage arrived soon after. Home flight was pretty grim: There didn’t seem to be anyone to assist or point the way either in getting onto the coaches or at the airport.

Our Cabin Was a very quiet inside cabin on Deck 2, forward. It was very comfortable, with plenty of storage space, and everything worked. Radio, Lights TV etc. The only problem was that the hot water was usually slightly less than lukewarm with the odd and unexpected scalding dowsing. Our cabin steward, Ana Maria, was very helpful and kept us going with ice cubes.

Entertainment. was excellent, with 2 shows nightly (including guest performers), at about 8.45 and 10.00. A deck party on the first night, a couple of midnight cabarets and a Commitments/Blues brothers tribute, as well as a routine from the deputy Cruise Manager who was excellent entertainment. The Freedom Band, excellent and very versatile, guest comedians Lee Wilson (Of “The Comedians”) and Kev Orkian who is also a great pianist. There was one afternoon play, Hobson’s Choice, very enjoyable.

Food The food was great with plenty of choice in both main restaurants, plus the a la carte not to forget the servery on Lido deck. Some people were put out by the plastic cups and plates in the Lido restaurant. There was 24 hour access to tea coffee and water. There was also very good tea, coffee and hot chocolate available from the bar. We had one Grand Midnight Buffet during our cruise. The meat was very good quality and tender. There was always at least one vegetarian choice. .

Ports We were given a printed leaflet including a map for each port. There was a choice of shore excursions. Some people thought they were expensive, but they all had a good take up. I heard complaints that there were not enough ‘easy’ tours for the less mobile passengers.

A.I. This was our first A.I. cruise, and we enjoyed it tremendously. It felt quite decedent to go to the bar for our coffees after meals in the Lido. We would have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and sometimes lunch, as well as cocktails in the evening and the odd sherry or liqueur. not being drinkers, I don’t imagine, pound for pound, we got full spending quantity out of AI, but we got great quality, in having paid ahead for all our drinks, and not having to give any thought to the cost of drinks throughout the week.

General. The ship was very clean and bright. The bar staff were fantastic, all the crew were friendly and helpful and worked really hard to make everyone’s holiday enjoyable..

Niggles Still not enough shore info for independents, music over amplified, not enough inside seating for smokers. Not much daytime entertainment, deck games, Quizzes a bit thin. Ship still judders quite a lot even when in port. Pretty much abandoned to our fate for the journey home.