Where do I even begin, This year I was fortunate enough to experience the best holiday imaginable. I booked my holiday through TUI for a two week carirbean cruise on the Marella Discovery 2. This was my first ever cruise and the price and itenary were incredible. The whole holiday was seemless from booking, to flying to arriving to resort to embark the ship. TUI and Marella staff were always on hand to help. We were greeted with the smiliest faces at Montego Bay where we were checked in and directed to board the Cruise. That night we were instructed and reassured on all safety procedures and given a guided tour of the cruiseship to find our bearings whilst our suitcases were delivered to our cabins. Everynight we recieved an entertainment planner for the days entertainment and events as well as an update on the days port, local information, weather for the day, currencys used and things to do. The cruise was all inclusive and having stayed in many 5* all inclusive hotels around the world the food and drink on the cruise may as well have been 10*. The variety, standard, presentaion and flavour were fantastic. There were many retsuarants to use and the only problem i faced was trying not too eat too much or picking where to eat. The staff on the cruise were the best team of staff i have ever come accross on my holidays. Everyone was so warm and friendly and really helped to personalise your holiday and go out of their way to make it special. In the mornings you would have a wake up announcement from Captain Chris and the Cruise Director Martyn who would start you day off with a lovely update on the weather outside, the port, when you could get off the cruise and overall a lovely start to the day. When you go on shore there are so many different things to see and do to experience the fantastic culture and sights. We always booked out excurions through TUI on the cruise and everything we did added value to our holiiday experience and was unique and great for getting out of the country what we wanted to see, do and experience. We never faced any issues with our cabin and never struggled for size. The cabin was cleaned twice a day and two sets of towels also. We were always left chocolates at night and the cleaners were lovely, always said hello when passing in the corridors. TV channels were fab, plenty of films and programmes to choose from and we loved that there were Marella channels to keep you posted with excursions. We always tried to tune into Cruise Director TV to find out whats been on and whats upcoming chilst on board. The pool on the cruise was a great size and perfect way to cool off on a hot carribean day. There was never any issues with sunbeds as there was deck 9 and deck 10 to lay out on. The entertainment team will keep you entertained with poolside games and quizzes as well as laying back to onboard bands and and talented voices to sing poolside. Waiter service aorund the pool was an added bonus as you didnt even have to move to get a drink. The entertainments show team, actor hosts and family hosts really made our holiday. They were all so friendly and always smiling and laughing. The level of enterainment on the Cruise is one of the most professional, talanted and sought after I have ever seen. The entertainment lounge and gameshows venue were always full and you could see from just looking around all of the guests were constantly happy and enjoying as much as us. A big shout out to the whole team and we really hope we get to see you on furture cruises. Your an assest to Marella and TUI and the way you interact and are constanly around your guests socialising and entertaining is incredible. we dont have children but even seeing the childcare team around the pool helping with quizzes and interacting around the cruise was also amazing to see. All of the staff want to inteact with the guests and really go out of their way to make their holiday. The cruise also has a jogging track, a virtual reality room, casino, climbing wall, minigolf, outdoor cinema, nighclub, shops and full spa just to name a few extras. I would 100% recommend a cruise on the Marella Discovery 2 for the best holiday you can ask for. Read Less

We chose this cruise as it was a back to back (Cuban Fusion and Mayan Treasures) both of which we loved the itinerary of. The dream is a lovely old girl and stands up to the test of time beautifully. we chose Thomson because of the All-Inclusive nature of the package. It was great to check in our cases at Birmingham and not have to worry about them again, as they'd be delivered to our cabin door. Our cabin was an outside plus (Mid-Ships, Deck 9) and was lovely. plenty of room, for clothes and our cases stored neatly behind the settee. Bed was made up into a double and was one of the most comfortable we'd ever slept in on a holiday. Our housekeeper Cristina looked after us with an excellent service. All the staff were some of the most helpful we've ever come across and are a credit to Thomson, The Dream and her Captain. Food was always a treat and there was something for everyone. We did however really really enjoy the "Kora La" Asian Cuisine restaurant. the food was to die for and of sizable portions too. The entertainment was plentiful, varied and of an excellent standard. our twice daily Captain's update was one of our highlights' as he made his announcements amusing. I could go on and on about our experience aboard the Dream, however I won't. All I'll say is try her yourself. you wont be disappointed !!! Read Less

Basically: Cuba has only moderately good roads; passable Chinese buses and long roads and distances. This is why it is fantastic to travel to Cuba by ship. You drive especially in the night and you have time in the day for sightseeing. The ship, the Celestyal Chrystal is a very good three stars - plus ship. After 41 years of cruising I can say that quite in comparison. If you are looking for a luxury vessel for a reasonable price, this will be difficult. In comparison (from cheap ferry boat to Queen Mary 2 in the "Queens" class I've already done a lot of cruises): great value for money and a nice ship. Pleasantly small; You feel partially "yacht-like". Ship well through and easy to walk through. What more do you want? We had a larger interior cabin (deck 3); It was relatively spacious with enough boxes and a desk. That the bathroom in this class is small, one must know and accept. The TV offers "exterior view" as well as ship and travel information; Unfortunately no outside temperature was displayed Friends were with us and had the newly built suite with balcony (deck 6). Very beautiful! And almost 5-star! In ship evaluations, three weak points were sometimes mentioned: quality of the meat, tightness of the buffet at the pool and long waiting times on "all inclusive" drinks. I can not confirm. Here the shipping company may have reacted: The meat quality is excellent; As at all the food is rich and tasty. There is a breakfast buffet in the restaurant and the top deck café; Lunch restaurant served or top deck buffet cafe; In the evening the same. In reviews it was criticized that the buffet is not 24 hours on duty; I found with these food amounts funny, because afternoon snack is also available! The "narrowness" of the buffet on deck I found not problematic, as it was only once during the trip the buffet as a BBQ outside the pool and the pool was locked. Otherwise, the buffet is at the upper deck inside and you can sit outside or inside and also the bathers have enough space. As for the "all inclusive" drinks, there is now the sun bars waiter, who can help and you can take the drink right away. Incredibly nice ship personnel; Both from the "ships crew", as well as from the restaurant service, bar service, entertainment team. In addition, a first-class professor was on board, who gave interesting lectures in English. The pool: well, adapted to the size. But you do not go on a vessel for swimming. Entertainment: an excellent revue theater on board; All great Cuban artists; Like a small branch of the Tropicana: dancers, singers; Show actors; Liveband etc. 5 different performances in 7 days! Very interesting lectures. The excursions - as always with cruises - quite interesting, although dependent on the quality of the respective guide. Cuba is a friendly and safe country. One can see much, especially In Havana on foot. Many interesting museums; Also the Museo de la Revolucion! Read Less

We don't like the huge ships. Coming from a small town, 3000 people is more than our cities population. My husband loves to sail. Star Flyer holds 170 passengers. We love the Carribean. Food was excellent. We found some of the passengers a little stuffy. One British guy was upset I was dancing barefoot on deck after dinner. We did meet a nice little group of friends we enjoyed the entire trip. Already booked for Thailand on the Clipper 2018. Hint...girls..long summer dresses work. Shorts and full,bathing suits for afternoon. Plenty of storage and hooks for drying clothes in the cabin. Bring conditioner. Food was European, a cheese platter was offered as a dinner course every night. Wine is 15.00 for a decent bottle. Everyone ordered a bottle of wine for dinner, and it would last a couple nights. No gaudy entertainment, just dancing on the deck and watching the sails flap in the wind. There were days when we had to power by engine...but we always left port with sails raised. Read Less

Thomson Dreamliner is a fantastic plane. Lots of leg room and free food and drink during the flight. But, what started well, ended badly. The Jamaican airport was hot, humid, crowded and queued. No where to sit, no air conditioning, no water and no where to rest in a confined corridor containing hundreds of people. Tempers flared after hours waiting to get to embarkation and some felt faint. A musical group from the island greeted us at the ship but the singer was out of tune and the musicians seemed fed up of playing it took that long for everyone to board. The buffets were always full of food and refreshments and the restaurant was great for an evening meal. However, the food was mostly overcooked, warm at best when eating and not very tasty in all the eateries. I did not like the fact you helped yourself to buffet with tongs. It would have been more hygienic to have been given the food by buffet staff. Despite the fact the ship had antibacterial dispensers throughout, many passengers ignored them. I had a bad tummy in the middle of the first week and was told by a passenger that the ship had had Noro virus aboard the week before resulting in the closure of the Jacuzzis. I was also by other passengers that many people were being treated for a bad cough, an outbreak which had been on board since December with antibiotic drips having to be issued for pneumonia and also that 5 people had died on board during this time. Myself and my husband both went home with a bad cough at the end of the cruise. One woman was badly burnt by a soot gob that had been blown from the ship's funnel. Many passengers had broken their arms whilst on board. Health and safety was an issue as I saw a crew member carrying two stacks of cups on his tray down a spiral staircase. Smoking was allowed on the decks which was very quickly extended to inside the ship and door areas by smokers who ignored the rules. It was hard to get away from cigarette smoke on the deck areas. We found it very difficult to get a sun lounger before 10am and these were hogged by selfish passengers all day despite the fact that they were not using them for hours. The ship had an overcrowded feel during the sea days and the days were quite strained. The behavior of some of the passengers was terrible despite their mature years. Tempers flared and a fight broke out over the use of a lift which carried on in the sun deck. There was a lot of foul language used by some of the down to earth types which did offend other passengers with their rudeness at times. Some of the deck flooring was bubbled and torn. The first port was La Romana. I wish I had stayed aboard the ship. We were transported by shuttle to the nearby town and was immediately bombarded by very persistent venders that were very intimidating. We all immediately got right back on the bus and returned to the ship. This port did not match the description at all. My favourite ports were St Maartin and Antigua. Shops were wonderful and there were many nice places to go. The Virgin Islands were a little boring as we had not been able to book a tour but on returning to the ship many passengers were disappointed with their trips here. One had gone to see whales and was told by locals that whales are a rare sight in April as they don’t arrive until June when the season for them starts. We did see some flying fish and dolphins on the sea days. Gibraltar is a nice place but there was very little time to visit more than one venue as the ship departs at 2pm and we had to be back on board by 1:30. We were talked out of using the cable car by the port taxi drivers who said that we would not have time to use it. The port inspector confirmed this when asked to back up the statements but on speaking to the tourist visitor centre they said we would have had plenty of time to use it. So I think we were conned into using them at a cost. To sum up, I personally quite enjoyed my time on this cruise but I know that quite a few other passengers were very disappointed and if rumors were correct some did not return at all. Read Less

This is the 4th time I have travelled on the Thomson Dream around the Caribbean and thoroughly enjoyed it. The flight to Montego Bay on the Dreamliner was a pleasant experience. The only issue was the waiting around for immigration at Montego Bay airport, but it was not a really big deal.I am a single traveller and booked the only single cabin on deck 7, which is aft. I only had to step out of my cabin to walk out onto one of the lower aft sun/viewing decks. The cabin was a very good size for one person, and was kept spotlessly clean. One of the main reasons for choosing this itinerary was to visit Cuba, and I was not disappointed, it was a fantastic place full of contradictions, from the Soviet style old buildings to the Latin influenced culture and buildings, and the local people in Havana were lovely. The Cayman Islands although expensive was a beautiful place, and Cozumel off Mexico was also nice. The Thomson Dream is a perfect sized ship, personally when I see these larger cruise ships come alongside they remind me of blocks of high rise flats, which are totally lacking in any character or personality. The Thomson Dream has character, yes it is old and a bit tired, but consider that you are at sea; and the same maintenance and order of things does not apply as when you are on land. Having spent 17 years in the Royal Navy (including nuclear and diesel submarines) and living and sleeping in all conditions, the Thomson Dream is the height of luxury. The ship is a vehicle to visit some lovely places. As for food - I have always eat in the buffet restaurants and have never found there to be an issue. There are plenty of sanitisers stationed at the start of the buffet (although there are some individuals who do not use them, and would be the first to complain if norovirus swept throughout the ship). During the first few days the staff serve the food, which is fine. The range of food has always been very good, there is something for everyone, if not you can always ask. Overall I found my experiences on the Thomson Dream to be nothing but positive. I have also travelled on the Thomson Celebration and had a good experience. I have already booked next years cruise on the Thomson Dream to do the Mayan Treasures itinerary. Read Less