The 283 aircraft are a bit tight if in the middle set of seats in economy. But premium is really good- more legroom than the 258, crew to passenger ratio higher they have half the passengers in premium but only one less crew member. If I had a choice between two flights one on a 258 and one 283 and I was in premium I would chose the 283 any day. The entertainment system is more up to date and more reliable.

Netty,

We flew out on a Thomson 767 last March to Barbados and everything went perfect. Worth the upgrade to Premium seating, more leg room, comfy seats. If interested seats 7a/b are excellent, 2 windows and being on the port side good views of your ship when coming into land.

Also, if travelling down by car and looking for somewhere to park, I can recommend - Meet & Greet at T2, in March it was £49.99 for 14 days, same price as Airparks but right opposite T2, so no buses, no waiting. At Manchester we had priority check in, fast track lane through security and into the concourse, took 15mins.

It sounds like you travelled on an ex Fca aircraft (258) the OP was asking about the ex-tfly (283) aircraft.

We have done this flight five times now and we are going again next Feb we do like premium but have tried economy once and it was ok.
If you have not flown to the Caribbean before you are in for a pleasant surprise, after you have checked your luggage in at the uk airport you will not see it again until you are on the Dream and you do not go through customs its just straight off the plan onto a coach, don't even have to show passports, for the transport to the ship, its similar for the return you check in and obtain boarding passes on the ship you do have to go through security at the airport but it is far less stressful than Europe.
We have only been on deck 9 but I think the cabins are the same and are a good size.
If you do require any other info just ask.
Have a great time
Roger

Why is there no mention of Fred Olsen's ship the Balmoral on the cruise review section. Having cruised on this boat for the first time this year I was hoping for the opportunity to write a review. The food on the Balmoral leaves much to be desired & after having previously cruised with Thomson & Royal Caribbean this was a real disappointment

you have a good point Tommy. There doesn't appear to be a way to add the cruise liner.
However, if you ask on
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/forum/help-and-assistance-f50.html
I am sure it will be added asap

Hi Tommy,

I'm sorry we have missed this ship. Let me add it and ill look into changing the review form so if we don't have a cruise ship you can still write your review.

I'll let you know when it's sorted
Cheers, Phil

Hi Tommy and welcome to HT!

As we haven't had the facility to request cruise ships to be added in the same way as hotels are added, people normally ask in here and I arrange for it to be done.

However the Balmoral is already listed and you can submit a review here

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/cruise-reviews/fred-olsen/balmoral/

It certainly wasn't listed on the cruise page yesterday although I can see that it is now and has reviews. I think Phil added it. There is up till now, no facility to search for any not showing as the search only allows for resorts and hotels. I know Phil is working on that as well.

Yes you are correct Fiona. I have since found out that it was listed under the wrong operator and as there is no facility to search for ships the OP wouldn't have been able to find it.

It was listed under Norwegian as it was on the old site.

All sorted now and we have appointing a mod/admin to keep on top of the cruise section. So that it shouldn't happen again.
Cheers, Phil

Thanks to everyone for posting a reply to my enquiry x feeling very much relieved now x Am excited as this time next week we will be on the ship-quite excited to see The Dream as most people appear to enjoy going on it when its in the Caribbean ??