We were on a Thomson cruise a good number of years ago now and just could not believe how much the standards have dropped. The food was dire, strange things on the menu and at times felt like a Butlins holiday camp. Small portions and of really poor quality. The staff were mostly Filpino and had very poor English. Smiling a lot is not enough I am afraid.
The outside cabin was tiny and badly needing a complete face lift. Clean but well passed its selling date. Everthing just seemed old, over used and tacky. A lot of senior passengers but nowhere to have a dance.( I mean an 'old fashioned' waltz etc) . They need to realise that anyone over 60 will get up and dance. There was a couple of good pianists and a group who we would have happily danced too but no dance floor. Plenty of disco music etc. Entertainment staff all very young and out of touch with the older cruiser.Spent a lot of the time sailing nowhere but sitting in the middle of the sea until the morning before going into port. I suppose it depends on your standards but for us it was a NEVER AGAIN ! Thomson you need to up your game or drop your prices.