Just returned from Christmas and New Year on the Dream. During a disappointing cruise on the Dream in September we were assured by the Housekeeping Dept then that the many problems that we were experiencing would be rectified and that 'all the stops would be pulled out' for the Christmas cruise which we had already booked. Oh. Dear! From the moment we landed in Montego Bay on the 23rd December, this went from bad to worse. We landed on time and were advised by the air stewards that once through immigration we would be taken to the coach and on our way to the ship within minutes.In fact we stood in a queue for over 2 hours and 15 minutes waiting for coaches. We were the lucky ones, some people waited over 3 hours. We were in a long corridor, with no air conditioning, no water, no information and NO THOMSON REP. to explain why there were no coaches to transfer approx. 900 people to the ship. When we got to the Cruise Terminal we were offered a small plastic cup of water - no apology for our long wait - nothing. The next day after I presume hundreds of complaints the Captain stated that he was contacting London to see what had gone wrong and offered all those affected £50 on board spending.We never received an explanation for the chaos. One of the problems during the September cruise was the poor condition of the cabin towels and linen. The towels were very thin and in some cases threadbare, with holes and frayed edges. This December we had the same problem. After a visit to the reception things improved but we still had a thin duvet cover with a tear. We were told by a very embarrassed Cabin Steward that they didn't have enough linen to change the beds for every cabin half way through a cruise and she was meant to rehang towels instead of changing them. Our shower curtain was stained along the bottom edge with mould. Although some of the toilets had been refurbished since September some were dreadfully shabby and on the last day al least four were blocked. On two occasions the water supply to the basins etc.,was turned off for maintenance. This happened on the final day of the cruise when people were hoping to freshen up for the journey home and had hired rooms for £35 only to find that there was no water. Each day we received info about the ports of call but when we docked at Falmouth in Jamaica the daily news gave us information about Falmouth in the South West of the U.K.!! Some of these niggles smack of sloppyness but most of them stem from a desire to cut costs. The main problem on this cruise was that scores of passengers became ill with dreadful hacking coughs - a feeling of weakness and unable to keep warm. Some stayed in bed in their cabins for a few days and all around the ship the sound of choking coughing could be heard. My brother in law was treated in the ships hospital receiving treatment for a chest infection and after three days of treatment (and a hefty bill) flew home on a planeload of fellow cruisers coughing for the whole 8 hours of the flight. The public rooms, i.e. restaurant, lounges, theatre etc., were freezing cold and although the staff were asked if the air conditioning could be turned down were told it wasn't easy to do. Lost of people sat with cardigans,or shawls to keep warm or avoided the cold rooms altogether. It was felt that the unpleasantly cold surroundings may have contributed to these infections, I have seen from other reviews that other Thomson Dream cruise passengers have had similar outbreaks during recent cruises.

There was also chaos when leaving the ship for the flight home with three plane loads of passengers again waiting for coaches. The Thomson staff were completely out of their depth. Most of the people we spoke to were adamant that they would never go on a Thomson Cruise again. We are of the same opinion. This is not a Platinum cruise. However, it must be stated that as usual the cabin stewards and restaurant staff were very attentive and worked hard.