Thomson Cruises

MS Thomson Spirit

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Operator: Thomson Cruises
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1983 / 2005
Length / Tonnage: 704 / 33,970
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 627 / 1,254
Officers / Crew: European / International
Operating Area: Year round Europe
Telephone / Fax: Tel 130 2552 / Fax 130 2553

Thomson Holidays, a division of TUI UK Ltd, are the largest tourism and services group in the world. Thomson Holidays is the market leader in the UK inclusive holiday market, a position it has held since 1974. The company has about one third of the UK market and operates a wide range of resorts offering a large variety of holiday. Thomson owns the UK's leading chain of travel agents, as well as a direct call centre. In addition they operate their own airline 'Thomsonfly'. Thomson is the UK's biggest provider of 'budget cruises'. In 2007 they will operate a five ship fleet; Thomson Spirit, Spirit, Destiny, Emerald and Calypso.

'Thomson Spirit' and 'Thomson Celebration' are the ex Holland America line Ships Nieuw Amsterdam (1983) and Noordam (1984) respectively. They are around 34,000 gross tons and carry approximately 1250 passengers. 'Thomson Destiny' is Royal Caribbean's ex 'Song of America' (1982), formerly Airtours very popular 'Sunbird'. She weighs in at around 37,500 gt and carries 1432 passengers. The Emerald is the oldest (1958) at approximately 26,400 gt and carries 1,198 passengers. Calypso (1968) is the smallest ship in the fleet at 11,000 gt, and carries 486 passengers.

For the ship enthusiasts out there, Thomson Spirit was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at St. Nazaire France. Unique to her design and that of her sister, was the total absence of curved lines; every line on the exterior of the ship is angular.

When I announced the fact that I going to book a Thomson cruise to some seasoned cruising friends, I was warned not to touch 'Thompson' with a barge-pole. (Interestingly these were all people that have never actually cruises with Thomson). There is definitely an element of 'cruise snobbery'. Some people believe that the ships must be rusty old tubs, the food and service must be poor and many of the passengers will be drunken members of the underclass. Well I can now report that this is could not be further from the truth.

If you walk into a Thomson Travel Agency and say 'Cruise', and many Brits do, you will probably be handed a copy of the 'Thomson Cruise' brochure before that of any other cruise line. The brochure is very family friendly, with some good child discounts. There are lots of 'cruise and stay' options to bolt on to the many cruise itineraries. Thomson prefers direct telephone booking. In addition their web site www.thomson.co.uk offers additional discounts for on-line bookings. I booked my cruise via Thomson web site, which is the first time I have ever booked a cruise on-line. The web site worked well. However, one word of warning, Thomson's prices do go up and down from week to week 'like 'stocks and shares'. Special 'Sale' offers come and go through the year. It is possible to book a price on Friday and see the same cruise cheaper by Saturday. This actually happened to me. Unfortunately, unlike in America, us Brits do not get a refund if the price drops after booking.

Most cruises sold in the UK with cruise lines cost at least £100 per day, often more. Thomson regular undercut this price and includes 'budget' flights with their own airline and has a 'no tipping required policy' onboard ship.

Although she's a small ship by modern standards, the Thomson Spirit is plenty big enough and has around fifteen public rooms at the passenger's disposal. These proved to be more than adequate for the number of passengers.

Much of the décor appeared to be original HAL 1983 style although if I had not known this, I would have dated it as late 1960's - 1970's in appearance. In fact certain aspects of the interior design such as light fittings and use of mirrored tiles reminded me of aspects of the QE2's decor, built in 1969.

Most of the decks have names, most have numbers too, but just to confuse the issue, three decks have letters of the alphabet instead of names. Fortunately the ships signage was good and navigation onboard was not difficult.

Decks one to three (C, B, A decks) are mainly passenger cabins, with the exception of the 'Medical Centre' on deck three. Deck four (Main Deck) features the main dining room, 'The Compass Rose Restaurant', the 'Beauty Salon' and 'Reception'. Deck five (Broadway deck) is exclusively public rooms with the Lido Restaurant at the stern, the lower level of the 'Broadway show lounge' amidships, forward of that 'Raffles Bar' and Casino, 'Broad Street' shops, the Cinema, and at the bow 'Explorers Lounge', 'Browsers' Library, card and reading room. Deck six (Promenade Deck) featured 'High Spirits' lounge' at the stern and the 'Broadway's Theatres' Mezzanine level and bar. Deck seven (Mariner deck) featured the 'Kids Zone', 'Oceans Health Club'. Likewise deck eight (Bridge deck) featured 'Ocean Beauty Salon and Spa'. Deck nine (Eagle deck), the uppermost deck, featured 'Horizons' at the bow.

I'm in danger of stating the obvious here, but there was no 'Atrium' onboard Spirit, now very commonplace on modern ships to provide a 'wow' factor and waste space.

The 'Broadway' theatre (it should be called 'West End' for us Brits) was not unlike that of the QE2's main show lounge. It was an old style entertainment lounge without raked seating and required prompt attendance to secure a good seat. It was located amidships and had two walkways passing through it on the lower level. The upper 'Mezzanine' level also had two corridor/balconies which looked down onto the stage. The stage was quite large and I believe was extended to replace the original HAL dance floor. It appeared that the seating capacity had also been increased from her original design, too. Bar drinks were served if you sat on either level. The room worked reasonably well, but people's heads obscuring your sight line was always a risk. It could also be a little distracting if people chose to pass through during a show, although doors were closed at show time.

'Raffle's Bar', the 'Explorers Lounge' and 'Horizon's' (HAL's former Crows Nest observation lounge) perched on Eagle Deck 9, were all particularly nice places to relax with a drink. Piano music, accompanied by violin, was often performed in 'Explorers'. 'Horizon's' often had a band. HAL original had a one million dollar art collection onboard the ship. Thomson has provided many painting around the ship, including many sea scenes of fishing boats, but few are particularly outstanding and the lot are unlikely to fetch a million dollars today.

The ship Casino, although very small compared to new ships, hosts quite a lot of action each evening. It probably fair to say that us Brits are not as enthusiastic casino players as the American's are, but we are slowly learning.

'High Spirits' is an alternative show lounge and offered a live band/cabaret and a disco of an evening. Although a rather functional room in appearance, it is just the right size to create a great atmosphere. It could be difficult after the late Broadway show, as many passengers would gravitate to it.

There was a large Cinema with proper raked seating. It showed new release movies three times per day. Even fresh popcorn was available. It provided a nice alternative to sitting in your cabin watching the TV.

The 'Broad Street' shops were reasonable in number and sold the normal cruise fare of T-shirts, watches, jewellery, perfume, spirits and cigarettes etc. There is of course the obligatory photo gallery. The onboard photographers are particularly enthusiastic. The photographs are sold for at least £9.99 although not always of the highest quality in terms of composition or printing. Although there is no obligation to buy, most people do. A cruise video/DVD is also available for £19.99.

The 'Beauty Centre' is located on deck four. As with all older ships, it was limited in size and facilities, but proved very popular. 'Oceans Health Club' ' was quite small too, with limited gym equipment and massage. For the fitness conscious the ship had a wide wrap around teak promenade deck (5 laps equal one mile).

There were four small self-service laundry rooms onboard, equipped with washing machines, dryers and irons. These are always popular with Brits. These were free to use but a small charge was made for the washing powder. A cabin-collection laundry service was also available.

On deck five at the bow, there was 'Browsers' a space which combined small internet room (chargeable access) and Library/reading room.

The ship never seems too overcrowded and absorbed her 1250 passengers well. The deck space was good although there may have been competition for the sun loungers, if everybody decided to sunbath at once. The promenade deck had proper wooden steamer chairs, although white plastic furniture was in use on the Sun deck and Lido areas.

There were two outdoor pools and two whirlpools. The pools were small by modern standards. The sports deck had a large netted area for ball sports and the decks had the traditional favourite 'shuffle board'.

The 'Lido Restaurant' (buffet) worked very well and had a right and a left entrance with duplicated food on both sides. Queues of more than a handful of people were rare. A crew member always stood at the entrance ensuring that guests sanitised their hands with the anti-bacterial fluid. Although not the widest choice of afloat, the food was simple, wholesome and firmly rooted in the culinary British tradition.

The hot food was always served by staff, although you could have portions as big as you liked. For lunch, a range of breads, salads and cold meats were always available. There was always a hot soup and half a dozen hot dishes such as beef, fish, chicken, hot dogs, burgers, curry, and Asian options. Carved meats such as beef were available daily sometimes served with brussel sprouts, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. As well as a full range of cakes and pastries, a different hot British style 'sweet' was provides, such a treacle pudding with custard. There was also an ice cream bar, particularly popular with the kids.

What you did not find was American favourites of sushi, shrimp, lobster tails, ribs and prime rib- but I did not hear any Brits complain about the food.

There was a complimentary self-service tea and coffee station which was available 24 hours. There was a good variety of tea bags and both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. Iced water was also available. All other beverages had to be paid for.

Bar prices were generally the same as UK pub prices. Stella (Larger) was available on draught by the pint at £2.40p. Bottled beers, such as Budweiser, were generally of a similar price. Soft drinks, such as a tin of Coke was a little overpriced at £1.25 in my opinion. Thomson do NOT add a 15% service charge to drinks as many cruise lines do. Thomson do offer an all-inclusive 'beverage package'. All adult members of your party must purchase it, however it does exclude certain premium branded drinks. They occasionally sell it at a discount, but normally it is only good value if each member of your party drinks more than £25's worth of alcohol per day.

The buffet was a true Lido with doors which opened onto the stern of the ship, with plastic tables where one could dine on deck, overlooking the pool. Pizza and burgers were also cooked and served from a small 'Terrace Grill'. There was also a Lido bar which served this area. Unfortunately this deck area was popular with smokers.

The Lido food was truly 24 hour. Breakfast began at 5.00am and merged into lunch, then dinner, then midnight buffet, then the late night menu, through to 5.00am again. One evening an Indian style curry night was offered, a British favourite, which proved very popular and always tastes best after a few pints of Larger. There was also a Gala 'Chocolate' buffet one evening for those with a strong constitution.

In the evening for dinner, table cloths appeared in the Lido Buffet and candles in glass tubes flickered (well electric candles anyway), a very nice touch.

The Compass Rose Restaurant was a single deck room, but was spacious compared to some dining rooms onboard other smaller ships. I particularly noticed that there was good space between all of the tables and chairs. There were windows along both the port and starboard sides. It operated a 'freestyle' type of system. You could simply dine whenever you liked between 6.30 and 10.30 pm. It worked well as there were rarely any queues (NCL take note).

The waiter service was very efficient and unobtrusive, in fact it was better than I had experienced a few years ago onboard the QE2 in her Mauritania restaurant.

Thomson's dining room fare is very British and often simple in style, rather than being particularly exotic or cordon bleu. However once again it was actually better than I had experienced in the QE2's 'M' grade and certainly on a par with Olsen's, RCI's and NCL's. However it does not try to compete with the five star lines in terms of quality or presentation. never-the-less no one complained and most passengers probably felt that they were getting exactly what they had paid for, if not considerably more.

The soups and salads were simple and tasty. For main course, beef, duck, gammon, turkey, salmon and pork were all featured, as well as a daily vegetarian option. The deserts featured British favourites such as Christmas pudding and a Butterscotch pudding, mince pies and ice cream.

Before going, I had heard horror stories that Thomson passengers turned up for dinner wearing jeans and baseball caps, however I found this to be untrue. Although not as formal as some ships, the guests generally dressed reasonably smartly every night, particularly the women. There was one official 'formal' dining evening night which required men to wear at least a suit and tie. All other nights were designated 'smart'; men were asked to wear full length trousers and a button style shirt.

One minor complaint is that shipboard announcements, from the cruise director 'pushing' the onboard entertainment, occasionally interrupted our meal in the Compass Rose restaurant. Thomson obviously assumes that we do not read the daily 'Cruise News' sheet, delivered to each cabin.

Sirocco's A la Carte Restaurant was a small alternative dining room, at the back of the Compass Rose, occupying the starboard flank. It often required advanced booking. It carried a supplement of £15 per person and I am told that the food was very good indeed. However, I have always been very reluctant to pay a supplement for food on a cruise ship, when there is so much free food around.

Being an older ship, there are no balconies onboard the Spirit. There are some suites on the upper decks, and although nice, these are nowhere near as opulent and spacious as top suites found on newer ships, apart from the 'Presidential Suite' .(There is no equivalent of this suite on the Thomson Celebration).

There are eight grades of cabin, grouped in four varieties: inside, outside, deluxe and Suite. Excluding the Presidential Suite which is a one-off, the cabins range from range from a modest 144 square feet to a reasonable generous 294 square feet. The larger cabins are on the upper decks. I booked a deluxe outside cabin which at the time only cost a modest supplement on top of the 'standard outside' cabin fare.

The suites have all been refurbished with décor designed by UK TV's Linda Barker. The remaining cabins fixtures, fitting and furniture generally still had a 1980's feel about them, although our cabin had a 19inch CRT TV and Fridge/Minibar which are later additions. The carpets, beds and soft furnishings were certainly newer too. However the cabin chairs and a dressing table stool, which look original, are starting to look a little worn. Reupholstering them would be a nice way to preserve them, although I assume that it would be cheaper to simply replace them. The air-conditioning on older ships can be a little inconsistent.

I stayed in a deluxe cabin, located on deck six, the promenade deck, and had two square windows. The disadvantage of this was that people regularly walked past, so drawing the curtains was essential for privacy. In addition it was difficult to actually see the sea across the wide teak promenade deck. never-the-less I enjoyed the natural light and the spaciousness (208 square feet) of this grade of cabin. It was also located only a few decks away from most of the 'action', with most public rooms are on decks 4, 5 and 6. Similar grade cabins on the deck above (deck 7) had their view partially obstructed by the lifeboats.

My cabin had two single beds, but they had been put together as requested. I must say that although I'm not tall, the beds did feel a little on the short side even for me. The wardrobes and draw space was very good, but I did have to request extra coat hangers, which I often do onboard ships. Although there were a number of lamps and light fittings in the cabin, the lighting is never adequate in almost any cabin, on any ship, or land based hotel for that matter. Do the designers really think we want to get dressed and that women want to apply make-up and prepare their hair etc. in subdued mood lighting?

The bathroom was a little dated and worn. However it was more spacious than many standard bathrooms on modern ships. It had an almost full-sized bath with shower attachment and curtain. Unfortunately the water pressure was quite low, and the water had the habit of ending up on the floor. never-the-less a shower was very welcome after a long day's excursion. There was a sink and the standard ear-popping type of toilet. Surprisingly for a budget cruise, a full range of bathroom products were supplied including shower caps. Although not branded products, they were of good quality. Two robes were also provided in the room (possibly linked to cabin grade) along with pools towels.

Our cabin had an adjoining door to the next cabin. Unfortunately this dramatically reduced the sound insulation and I was able to hear much of what the noisy family of three in the next cabin said and did for the entire cruise. An additional word of warning; the cabins on the lower decks of all older ships, especially the ones located aft often suffer from more engine noise and vibration than those on the upper decks. This is the case with Spirit.

Although Thomson has suffered toilet malfunctions and other plumbing problems on their ships in the past, I am pleased to say that the plumbing worked well on my cruise.

The breadth of the entertainment onboard this ship was a revelation. It's wider than 'RCI's' for example. In fact I've only seen Cunard offer such a wide range. Thomson managed to incorporate all of the cruise traditions into an action-packed week, where as some other cruise lines have actually dropped some of them. We had a sail-away deck party, a Captain's cocktail party, a 'Gala 'Chocolate' buffet, daily midnight buffets, baked Alaska parade, a wide variety of high and low-brow entertainment , a Christmas carol concert, and a crew show.

The entertainment troop was responsible for the majority of the entertainment. They consisted of a bunch of mainly young people who were all enthusiastic and competent singers and dancers. Thomson work their entertainment team harder than most because they put on 'flesh and feathers' (song and dance) shows in the main show lounge twice per night, for six of the seven nights, unlike other lines that may only offer two shows per week, relying on guest entertainers. In addition at 11.30 each night, members of the troop would sing in 'Liberties' an alternative cabaret venue. The songs performed ranged from pop, MOR, Motown to opera.

One small complaint is that the entertainment troop always sang to taped music and NOT to a live band, unlike onboard most other ships. However I suspect most of the audience did not even notice.

There were of course the normal offerings of bingo, vegetable carving, karaoke, napkin folding, wine-tasting Mr & Mrs game show etc. which took part on a daily basis around the ship. However for those seeking a little more culture, the troop also delivered two afternoon plays during the week. There are enrichment lectures on offer onboard some cruises.

There were three talented bands onboard, which played live classical, pop and jazz music, in various bars and lounges. The disco was held in 'High Spirits' each evening and 'got going' at midnight each evening. Unlike other ships I have been on, there was never an evening where it was poorly attended with no dancing taking place.

Thomson's guests are almost exclusively British and more friendly than most. Passengers from the North of England are particularly well represented. Thomson cruises are very popular with families, the middle aged and elderly. In fact the age mix is probably more diverse than those aboard many cruise ships serving UK passengers. I met people from all walks of life onboard Thomson ships, including those in manual occupations, Teachers, an accountant, several P&O regulars and a ex QM2 passenger. I have not witness any problems with rowdy kids or rude or drunken adults.

The one thing that all the guests had in common is that they did not want to spend a small fortune on taking a cruise.

From April 2007 the Thomson Spirit will be offering fly-cruises, in the Mediterranean, form Palma, Mallorca. From May to Sept she will be cruising to the Baltic States and Norwegian Fjords from Harwich, Newcastle and Southampton UK. In October she returns to the Mediterranean.

Please see the Thomson web site for full details.

Cleanliness and Health

Virtually no other ship review has ever considers those passengers with a sensitive sense of smell, so this is a first. Well I can report that the ship never smelt old or musty, but clean and fresh. The ship never smelt of sewage or that nasty diesel type smell that can permeate some other older vessels.

The crew were meticulous in sanitizing the corridors, carpets, public room furniture arm rests, door knobs and hand rails with anti-bacterial spray, each night. When the cabins were vacated they were sanitised including carpets, wardrobe doors and other touchable surfaces. In fact I have never witnessed such a thorough job

Additional Charges

Unfortunately although Thomson offers some excellent fares, especially of-season, they do charge for facilities that other cruise lines provided free of charge. In some cases these charges do not become apparent until you begin the on-line booking process (in my case). When you initially look in the web site, the basic price does not include these charges up front. Although the service that have charges are 'optional' as such, you may well feel that they are a necessity to have.

For example, Thomson cruises are often sold in a package with a 'Thomsonfly' flight. Now these are no-frills type flights, with minimal leg room; a mere 28 inch pitch. As the flying time from London to Egypt is around 5 hours this is 'long haul' on a plane more suited to a one or two hours short haul. Thomson flights do not have a 'fist class' section, all seats are the same, but they will sell the seat with extra leg room, such as fire emergency seats, for a supplement. On our outbound flight to Sham El Skeikh (Egypt) three fire exit seats were left empty, on an otherwise full flight, because I assume no one had paid the supplement.

Thomson actually impose a charge £12 per person if you wish to sit together. I find this charge particularly mean. Should guests REALLY be asked to pay to sit with their friend, partner or relative? If they don't pay, do they deliberate slit you up? Thomson also charges £12 per person for a hot meal. So that's £6 each way, for a 'plastic' meal which would be overpriced at 60 pence. A range of other drinks and snacks is also available onboard for purchase, all of which are of course a little overpriced.

Onboard the ship Thomson has a range of charges for room service. A continental breakfast costs £4.50, for example. The cabins do not have safe deposit boxes, like on most other ships, but these are available at Reception at a cost of £12 for the week. Once again I find the latter particularly mean, as unlike room service, a deposit box requires very little staff labour.

Although you can book a cabin 'grade' on-line, if you want a specific cabin number, you have to phone them (how bizarre in that in this high tech age) and pay a supplement of £30.

Even if you do incur some of these addition charges, a Thomson cruise can still be considerably cheaper than most of the other cruise lines serving UK passengers. The good news is that Thomson boasts that their aircraft food and leg room will improve later in 2007.

Summary

It is often claimed that Thomson get such good reviews simply because many of their passengers are cruise 'virgins' and know no better. Well, I can now firmly dispute this myth. Thomson gets such good reviews because they offer a very good product that is great value.

Thomson does not operate big new state-of-the-art ships. However Thomson is not really about the 'hardware', their speciality is clearly the 'software' i.e. a friendly, well organised service and a great onboard atmosphere.

The Thomson crew are some of the friendliest and efficient that I have experienced on any cruise line. Thomson has 'no tipping required' policy, therefore their crew are proof positive that it is possible to achieve high standards of service by good management and training, without resorting to the more primitive 'carrot and stick' method of working for tips.

If a Thomson cruise had been my first cruise I would have been 'blown away' (impressed). Even though I have cruised for a number of years, I am still very impressed with what Thomson gives me for my pound. Thomson provides many extras that you would not expect from a budget cruise.

So you can forget all the negatives that I have mentioned in this review. I could find these on any ship. The Thomson product is more likely to "exceed your expectations" than the cruise lines that boast they will, while charging you twice that fare. As long as you realise that you are not paying for a five star product and are not going to get one, you should be very satisfied. Needless to say a Thomson cruise has proved to be the cheapest I have taken, certainly the best value and one of the more enjoyable.