We have been on about a dozen cruises, including several on Thompson, but have to say this was the least enjoyable ship and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Our cabin was very noisy – firstly, looking for a scraping rattle in the ceiling showed that this was an ongoing problem as wedges of cardboard had previously been inserted. We reported this to our cabin steward, and an attempt was made to alleviate the problem. However it became so irritating by the second night that at 4 a.m. we complained and were moved for the rest of that night to another cabin. Work on the ceiling the following day lessened the problem, but did not completely stop it.

The engine vibration was always unpleasant, but the noisy docking at Toulon was unbelievable. Apart from the side thrusters, there was what can be best described as having a jumbo jet running its engines on the floor above, together with the sound of water – they were either pumping something off or onto the ship. Went on for about twenty minutes. Read more