The whole carry-on around this ship is now verging on the ridiculous , and i'd have expected better from Thomsons (and also Costa who obviously handed over a ship in very poor condition)

I remember when looking to book last year i was priced out of a trip on it in comparision to the Destiny , looks like my forced choice at that time is the better of the two.

I hope everyone who has experienced problems gets some form of compensation and i hope no one else is put off cruising with Thomsons - i've sailed on the Destint before and it was a very enjoyable experience , and from some of the other comments i've read , the same can be said for the Celebration and Spirit.

I really hope things do improve for those who are holidaying on the Dream

Ree

Thanks for the update. Dont think we will bother with Dream in January. I assumed it was to be a total refit. Will be interested in how all the people who have had their cruise ruined get compensated.

We booked several months ago on the Dream for a joint 60 + 65 birthday treat. Very concerned about bad reviews and not sure what to do. Is anyone else in the same position and what advice can you offer - could we get our money back as ship experience not as described in brochure. Part of a holiday is the looking forward to - not in this case. Help.

I'm new to this forum, and would normally be concerned by some of the issues raised regarding "Thomson Dream" as we have a cruise booked on the ship next March. However I've experienced a similar situation back in 2001 when we took a cruise on one of the Airtours (Sun Cruises) ships, it had been laid up in Athens for the Winter period and we were on the first cruise after the lay-up, we experienced exactly the same problems as the "Dream" has been having. I've subsequently worked on ships during repairs and refurbs, and have learned that it is extremely rare for a vessel to come out of dry dock without suffering these recomissioning problems. I wouldn't mind betting that they'll suffer problems after the refurb period later in the year (probably to a lesser degree)
so if your booked on one of the first cruises after the refit, be prepared for some teething problems.
I've read and heard of people cancelling due to concerns about this ship, which is understandable, but I've been informed by my daughter who works for Thomson, that they've been told that all problems with the ship have been solved, and there are no reasons for customers to be concerned if they are due to cruise this Summer.

Not sure about getting your money back....it's all based on hearsay after all.

You could do what I did, and switch to another ship (the Destiny in my case, we sail in two weeks). You will have to pay the £50 per person admin charge, but in my case i felt it was worth it.......

I'm sorry if I gave inaccurate statements earlier. Having just rediscovered Thomsons Cruise magazine I can now quote ' " There will be 10 days after Thomson take delivery of the ship for immediate changes.( They didn't get that luxury) Any additional improvements can then be made during 6 weeks dry dock in November. I want to see how the ship works for our passengers before we make any decisions" says David' (Selby. MD Thomsons Cruises) .
Six weeks dry dock will see a lot more than the plumbing sorted out. A ship yard full of people with different skills will no doubt be working flat out on the ship. She will be stripped inside and out and reassembled in that length of time, as well as cosmetically revamped. I'm personally optimistic for the future. I just feel sorry for those who appear to have suffered so much in the early cruises and hope Thomson act responsibly towards them. As already been said, I think The Dream will be 100% better by the time she reaches the Carribean.

If the ship is only going in for utility services and cosmetic upgrade then it may only go into wet dock, it will only dry dock if some exterior underside work needs to be done. Having said that, it's still possible that if the sanitary services are shut down for a few weeks there could be a few problems on restart, it's the nature of the beast and is difficult to avoid, but if you knowingly book a cruise directly after a refit, then you should be aware that you'll be lucky if there aren't a few sanitary problems, if the crew have the luxury of a window of a few days to do a shakedown run, then it maybe avoided

Somebody who spoke to a member of the crew has already stated that the sanitary pipework is on the agenda during the refit so it should be working OK by the time it is back into service. Hopefully it will be fully tested whilst in dock.

Ashby,
The recent reviews seem to have improved- certainly for the cruisers after first June.

We're sailing on sixth July on the dream, and are looking forward to it !

"The recent reviews seem to have improved- certainly for the cruisers after first June.

We're sailing on sixth July on the dream, and are looking forward to it !"

We are sailing in August and are really looking forward to it. The reviews are improving and whilst I do feel sorry for those who have had a bad experience, we need to to look to the future and trust that Thomson's have sorted out the teething problems and got the ship, well, ship-shape!

We have just returned from a cruise on the Thomson Dream.It was our first ever cruise to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and we were very apprehensive because of the terrible reviews that have been posted.However we had an absolutely brilliant time!! We thought the ship was amazing, the staff brilliant ,the food was fantastic ,the excursions were great-in fact we have absolutely no complaints!

That's good to hear and agress with some of the other recent reviews I've read! Thomson's seem to have finally got to grips with the Dream's teething problems, although I guess this is small comfort for those who have already had their holiday spoilt.

Lets hope and pray that all problems have now been sorted, as holidaying in that environment was enough to put anyone of cruising for life.

Hope everyone has a great holiday, i do recommend the Monster truck up to the Volcano in ITALY.

See all evening shows as these were amazing.

If on board the ship makesure you keep your camera with you because as my husband and i were strolling on deck 9 i saw a whale, beautiful.
I commented to my husband it would be just my luck if we saw dolphins seen as i hav'nt got my camera, next min there were a dozen dolphins , it was quite amazing to watch

Hi
We are going on the Dream in 2 weeks time, glad to hear positive reviews. How did you get the monster truck up the volcano in Italy? Was it a Thomson excursion?
Thanks

Yes Pompei and Monster truck excursions trip by Thomsons.

We went up the vesuvius volcano as far as the Monster Trucks will take you then walked the rest of the way, great fun!

But Beware in Suba u Said Tunisa Excursion.
The Coach drops you of outside a cafe, DONT get a drink, it cost 4 euros a coke, and if your expecting any change then keep at him until you get it as he never comes back with it, and no's you have limited time.

Thanks Leesa will look out for that!

Pompeii & Vesuvius monster truck sounds

Any more info would be appreciated !

If you class yourself as being fit and like a bike, then most trips you can bike around.

Leaning tower of Pisa is also a good one, but unfortunitly you dont get a long enough stay to queue to go up the tower.

hi went to pompei when on the destiny great half day out not to far, anyone going on dream in next few weeks can they post a review +or - holding off before deciding to change booking or not thanks