Marella Celebration Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Greedy and indifferent Thomson management

Review for on Marella Celebration
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Shieldsduo
6-10 Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Oct 2014

We have just returned from the Thomson Black Sea cruise on the Thomson Celebration that should have visited three ports in the Ukraine – these unfortunately were cancelled owing to the current instability in that region. The alternative ports in Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia were not to the same standard or appeal and Thomson suffered huge losses in revenue and prestige as a result of their decision to go ahead with the cruise rather than cancel completely (as the Costa line did). This was a PR disaster for Thomson as many passengers booked early believing they would be visiting the Ukraine’s prestige ports of Odessa, Sebastopol, and Crimea and the average price per person was circa £2000. Two weeks after the payment deadline (when the holiday had to be paid in full), Thomson slashed the advertised price to less than half and it dropped to £700 per person at one stage. The internet forums were white hot as disgruntled paid-up passengers argued that the three changes in port amounted to a major change in contract and, consequently, should have resulted in a full refund without penalty. Thomson argued that it wasn’t a major change and suggested that the only way to contest this was to take it through the courts. How very cynical of this Company who forever states that their primary purpose is to listen to what their customer’s have to say; what a load of tosh!!!

It’s a standing joke that British passengers on cruises tend to discuss the price they paid at some stage. We have to say that this subject came up during many, many evening meals in the Meridian Restaurant where diners tend to share tables and meet new fellow passengers each meal. Some seethed at the top prices they paid without refund while others took pride in how little they actually paid. We got the impression from such exchanges that most of the passengers booked during the last ten weeks of sale at a considerably reduced fare.

As for the actual cruise, we enjoyed the ship and the ports and some of the excursions that, surprisingly, were good value for money and would have been hard to beat if you chose to use alternative local transports. This is where good planning came into play.

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