I don't want to be alarmist shykins, but please remember to tell your travel insurance company of your husband's illness and hospital stay. If you don't, they may not honour any claims you have to make on holiday, even though they may be unrelated.

luci

thanks luci but events overtook us today and hubby got admitted for emergency surgery and we have had to cancel the cruise

we are both devastated as we were so looking forward to going but of course his health is more important

at the moment i am just oh well its one of those things but no doubt in a few days it will hit me and i will be really upset

i want to thank you all for your help and advice over the last weeks but i think i will have to stay away from this forum for a while cos it sort of reminds us of what we had to miss out on

thanks everyone xx

oh shyskins im upset for you but like you say hubbys health is more important at the moment. i sent you a pm before i knew bout this so just ignore it. i hope all will be well again soon

Oh shykins I am so sorry to hear that, but as you say, your husband's health comes first. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

I hope you manage to rearrange something else soon, but remember to tell the insurance of your husband's operation.

luci

thanks for your kind thoughts, its much appreciated

luci i telephoned them yesterday and they are sending all the forms out for completion... informing thomsons became a nightmare they insisted on a letter or for me to go into the office.. i told them my husband was in surgery so that was not possible but they insisted so i sent the letter yesterday afternoon... about an hour later the same office rang me to notify me of a change in itenerary.. i said isnt that academic when i just rang you to cancel, oh dear she said nobody has logged that call

then they rang me today and said i hadnt signed the letter... it was all handwritten and had my name at the bottom what more do they want.. i said now look here you messed up yesterday and nobody said i had to specifically put a signature on it,,, i got a little shirtly and out of the kindness of their hearts they agreed to cancel today but i have to send another letter with a signature on

needless to say i am not best happy with their attitude at what is a fraught time for me anyways, so a letter of complaint is quite likely to be going their way soon

xx

Hi all

Been a while since I came back, but have been mad busy.

Well where to start. After reading all your fantastic reviews we set of for the Emerald on the 15th of September.

The flight and airport transfer all went smoothly. Once on board, the crew were fantastic. All the waiters in the various bars around the ship all remembered what we were drinking, a remarkable feat with so many passengers on board.

The entertainment was absolutley fantastic. West end standard and beyond......

Ports of call visited were Rovinj, Trieste & Venice( Italian icecream...mmmmmm) Split, Dubrovnik, Pireaus, Kusadasi & Marmaris, Santorini (600 steps???), Katakolon and of course Corfu (twice).

Went on 3 excursions in 2 weeks (should have been 4 but one cancelled), they were ok, tended to be mainly half day trips and we thought one or two maybe were a little expensive but its holiday time so....

Back on board ship the food was good, one or two little things like the food at times could have been a little hotter and there wasn't any black puddings at breakfast( am I being too picky). The cabins considering that we paid an extra premium for my daughter to have a single cabin (£300) the furnishings could have been a lot better for example she just had mixer taps with shower fitting on instead of a proper shower

Yes there was some queues but I personally did not find this a problem as I took the opportunity to have a good chin wag with people.

Overall we had a fantastic time. Would go on the Emerald again definately. However like variety, so next time we are going to try Ocean Village.

Hope to hear from you all soon

Shykins, so sorry to hear your news, best wishes to both you and your Hubby. Fingers crossed you will enjoy your cruise in the near future. Shame on Thomson for their lack of service/understanding.

we've just come from this cruise would be interested to contact anyone who contracted the norovirus bug whilst on board!

Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted for a while.

I've had to change logins from fatandy1942 to fatandy1972.

I will be posting a few bits over the next few days.

Couple of points

1) I did go on the ancient wonders cruise
2) I did get the norovirus
3) No it did not spoil my holiday
4) Did I enjoy Libya, Yes
5) Was there lots of flies outside, yes in a couple of places
6) Did I enjoy the cruise, Yes
7) Did I ejoy the other passengers - depends

A small point on the novovirus infection onboard the ship.

I have watched the reaction to Novovirus in a holiday area before, having seen it on board a ship, and at two Warner adult break country houses and a small private hotel in yorkshire.

Out of all these places, the ship was probably the fastest acting with Warner coming a close second. Thomson tried to confine infected people to their cabins, however some people did not want to do this. Thus assisting in the spread. hand cleansing --- OMG, I was shocked to hear two old ladies (roughly 70-75) claim that they were english and clean, it should be the staff washing as they are foriegn. OMG, thats blatant discrimination, but of course people seem to think its allowed.

Anyway, i'm off my high horse for a time. I am going to do a review for the cruise in a little while.

OMG Have i done the right thing by booking a 2 week cruise on the EMERALD next July ? some reports are truly awful yet some are really superb, im totally confused as to what to do next, do i cancel or not ? i paid for a premium cabin so it was not on the cheap side, i've been saving hard for 4 years to be able to take my wife on a cruise please don't say i've made a bad choice. HELP ME PLEASE

Whitecliff, I cannot lie to you. If you can get out of this , then you should urgently even if you have to lose a deposit. If you wish to give me your e-mail address I am very happy to try and help/advise. otherwise will try best to help through this forum.

You can get much, much, much better cruises, probably for less than you will for the thomson one!! I have sailed with thomson, cunard, holland america etc.

Sorry, I know this is not what you want to hear.

I was frightened to say anything but if I were you and could get out of this booking then I would without question.
I said on another post that it is better to book a lower grade of room on a higher grade of ship and if you have booked and paid a lot then it is not the best deal for you.
I have cruised extensively over the past 10 years and also in the 1980's
I know what is out there and what you can get for your money and I can say without reservation that in my opinion you can do a lot better.

Its just the whole ambiance of the ship the standard of food of service and the standard of the accommodation entertainment etc etc.

Just think of it like this Thomson and First Choice are buying ships which are old and other Cruise companies are off loading so the ship they no longer wish to use or rather their clients would not wish to use. There are so many ships being built and they need to put bottoms on beds so there are some fantastic deals out there!
I don't want to discourage you but think about it and I too would be happy to point you in the right direction if you so wish. If you give me your email address then I'd be only too happy.

Sue

Cruising comes down to personal choice.

Anyone considering cruising either for the first time or having done so many many times, should consider what they want from a cruise.

For me, I look at the following points:-

1) Route
2) Number of stops and where the ship actually stops
3) How many tender points
4) Cost
5) Size of Ship
6) nationality of passengers
7) Experience from other similar passenger groups via Holiday truths or similar.

Obviously everyone has their own tastes and no two people would think alike.

At the end of the day, you will find a cruise you want.

Andy

Also, regarding an earlier post.

Please note the news today. The QE2 has been kept in port in America today due to the Noravirus. Hundreds of crew and passengers have been removed from the ship.!!

All ships of all classes suffer from virus infections which spread due to the close proximity. Hotels suffer from the same occurances.

Andy

Hi,

Where is the Emerald at the moment? Is she in dry dock for the start of the season in May? did I read on here that this may be her last year? The itinerary for the summer season looks very tempting - I have been on the Destiny, Spirit and Celebration the latter being my favourite.

Well, I am not entirely sure.

She should be in Piraeus being supplied ready for its short term charter to Luis Cruise Lines own cruises.

After this short 2 month batch of cruises, the ship is handed back to thomson for the Summer Season.

Full itinery again, I was lucky to do both the 2 mid season trips during august and then popped back out for the Libya and Egypt end of season one.

This year I am taking it quiet and going round the black sea again, which I really recommend.

The real story is what happens next??

The Ship is chartered to run another season with thomson, however, rumours are that she may sail a very long way away at the end of this season and there are some of us who do not believe she will return, judging by the country she is sailing to.

In this case, we think Thomson may charter a bigger, more modern ship to compete with the larger numbers on other ships.

I for one have treated last year and this year as the last ones, and although i have petitioned Thomson to ensure there is a farewell cruise to say goodbye to the old girl. I am afraid it might not happen so am taking the cruises I want now.

LOL, sorry for a long post for a short question.

For the first thomson cruise of the season, check the thomson web site. But she is running this year.

Andy

Thanks Andy,

Very informative as always

:thanks. First of all i would like to thank Hamraq, Keela1Eva2, Fatandy1972, and Marqarita for all your advice about my future cruise with the Emerald next July, and also thank you to Holiday truths and all web sites that gives the paying customer a fighting chance with there well erned money. In the end i decided to cancel my holiday aboard the Emerald and re book a 2 week cruise with Island cruises aboard the Island Star. Yes i did loose my £300 deposit but actually ended up saving a WHOPPING £700, can you believe that we got a deluxe balcony cabin aboard a far better ship (totally re,fitted last year), a far better itinery and all for £700 quid cheaper. Im just an ordinary working man on an ordinary wage who has been saving for a cruise for 4 years, this move has made all the difference to me so once again thank you for getting me off my backside and doing something about it.
All the best
Cliff

Thanks for letting us know your decision. The most important thing is that you are happy with that decision.
The ship you have booked was formally Celebrity Cruises Horizon. I saw her last year when I was in Nassau on my Galaxy cruise. You will note that there is the large X which is the Celebrity trade mark which has now been painted out. Still visible under the paint

She did have a refit and hopefully she will fill your expectations. Emerald was built in 1958 and whilst refitted is still a very old ship. Not sure when Horizon was built but certainly nothing like as old. Mercury Galaxy and Century are around 10 years old and Horizon I would think a few years older.

I wish you and your wife a very happy holiday and welcome to CRUISE ADDICTS which we all have become.

Sue