This was my first cruise as bit of a treat for my 40th. We had cabin 832 which was in the middle on bottom deck. Some other passengers had issues with not having hot water but I had no problems at all. The walls were thin so we could here the neighbours but the beds were comfy and actually had more room than I was anticipating. As with everything on the ship it was dated but for a 30yr old this spirit is holding up pretty well and was spotless. The food was plentiful and there was a really good variety. Whilst on-board we tried the sit down restaurant and lido buffet and the food was consistently excellent. The staff were amazing. From beginning to end everyone was very friendly. Not all of the shows / entertainment options were to my taste but everything I saw was well executed and the entertainment staff worked their socks off, William in particular was a little gem. The itinerary was changed at the last minute and we were not told until we were actually on the coach just after arrival. This wasn't a problem but due to bad weather later in the trip we missed out on going to Beirut which was the destination I was looking forward to the most and instead we had 2 days in Limassol, which is not a 2 day destination but couldn't be helped. The pools were tiny which I didn't realise and were defiantly to small to swim in and didn't look very enticing, while on board I didn't see a single person using them. On the whole I had a great time and will defiantly be cruising again. Read Less

As someone who has travelled quite a bit I always dismissed cruising as for "old" people. However my good friend for many years mentioned that he was thinking "mmmmmmm-maybe". And so we decided to give it a try on a short cruise. So we booked the 5 night "Odysey" cruise in April 2015. We were 2 couples,the drinks package was thrown in but we added the balcony as an extra. All my clichés were blown away,it was fantastic! The staff are a delight,always happy to do all they can for you. Food great,cabin lovely and organisation spot on. I've come home with nothing but praise. Thankyou Thomson but especially your staff -treasure them Read Less

It was me and my wifes first cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff stood out the most as they made you feel like you was on holiday. They were always helpful,smiling,funny and exceptionally attentive. Constantly attending to all your needs,fantastic staff from the waiters to the cleaners they made this cruise special. We upgraded to a de-luxe cabin which wasnt very modern but was clean and functional,i wouldnt describe it as de-luxe. But everything else was bang on. Lots of good entertainment,the comedian was called fergal foggerty or something like that and he was fantastic,and ive seen john bishop,peter kay etc and this guy for me was better. Food was fantastic in lido and the globe and the barbys great. We also met a lot of great people on the cruise and we became goods friends with them all. The whole trip was spot on and if anyone can find reason why they didnt enjoy this cruise there either to snooty to appreciate what is on offer or they need to see a doctor and start taking some form of personality tablets. If you seriously look for flaws you will always find one. As i said our cabin was ok but it doesnt spoil anything. Get on board and enjoy !!!! Read Less

Never been on a sea cruise before, but wanted to go to Jerusalem and this cruise sailed from Cyprus so I didn't have to fly and was cheaper than an airfare. On the good side the crew were excellent on the whole and very friendly. This is though very much Benidorm on a cruise. If you love eating continuously and drinking and lying on loungers within inches of each other this is for you. It is essentially a ferry with cabins and food included. Horizons bar and the Sirroco restaurant (£19 supplement) are very nice. The cabins are ok and perfectly adequate and so are the ensuites, even in the inside cabin. However, on one occasion I was drenched by pitch black water whilst in the middle of my shower and from others' conversations I was not the only one, also the shop seemed to be constantly being painted so paint fumes and wet paint all over the place. When in Ashdod port it is an industrial port and noisy and dirty, add in the paint etc on the ship and it was rather like holidaying on a building site. Although this cruise was very cheap there are a lot of extras which mount up. Drinks can be bought on a package, for £225 for a week. If you don't drink constantly like us then you would find that hard to get through, also you can't have just any drink you want, a lot of brands had supplements on top! We did however, find that once on board there were other drinks packages which were more sensible. 5 bottles of wine plus 4 bottles of water for £69 was excellent and had a very good choice of wine. Also the Virgin Cocktails £27 for 10 plus 5 soft drinks wasn't too bad. Between us this was all we had apart from maybe another 5 drinks so we saved an awful lot of money by not paying the £225 when booking. Also used the spa, they do deals once you are on board, but I would personally say don't make the mistake I did and get your haircut, I now need to get it cut again to try and remedy the mess. The other thing about this cruise is that although the cruise is very cheap, the excursions are very expensive. It was much better on the days that we did our own thing. Also on the trip they take you to a shop for half hour or so which wastes time. Do not buy from these shops as they are expensive compared to others. When in Ashdod port buy from the duty free shop portside, you will get Hava dead sea products for a lot less, one of the ladies from the Dead Sea trip was quite upset because she had paid so much more at the shop on the trip. An expensive lesson learned for her. So all in all, a cheap ferry style cruise, cabins ok, food ok, trips no so good, crew excellent (most of them). I went expecting a ferry and pretty much what we got, if you want anything else not for you (or me). Read Less

This was my first cruise and it exceeded my expectations. The journey from Manchester to Cyprus was longer than expected and having to then queue to get on the ship was tiring. The ship was outdated in its style, but was very clean. I had an inside cabin on level 1. The room was cleaned twice daily and was big enough for a week. Next time I'd pay for a porthole to enjoy the daylight. Be prepared to shake like mad in your room, the vibrations are very strong and after a few days you do get used to it. The staff were much friendlier than in a traditional hotel and made me feel very welcome. The food was good to excellent for every meal in the waiter service restaurant. Having to sit with fellow travellers was interesting and we enjoyed chatting to people about their experiences. I paid £200 over the week for drinks and shop extras for 2 people. I had prepaid for trips - we went to Panoramic Jerusalem and The Sea of Galilee. The former was great in the morning with lots of things to see, but by the afternoon it felt like we were wasting time visiting a shop and eating a long lunch. The latter trip was less visually interesting (none of the charm of Jerusalem), but it did feel as though we visited more places. Israel was the highlight of my trip. The other ports in Turkey and Crete looked great from the boat, but with variable weather and it being low season were dull to walk around so I'd wished that we had booked excursions. The day at sea was relaxing with great weather and sunbathing. I went to deck 10 for full sun, but we were packed in like sardines. The final day was horrible - we left our cabins at 9am and didn't leave for the airport until after 4pm. The toilets had long queues and began to smell horrible. Next time I'd pay extra for an earlier flight. Before the cruise I was worried that it would be full of 'booze cruise' type of customers and out of control children, luckily these guests were few and far between. An enjoyable experience overall. Read Less

This was our first Cruise which we found very disappointing..... although Clean and tidy with most of the staff being friendly and helpful....THE SHIP WAS VERY SHABBY. The Cabins (we upgraded to a window cabin (£150 wouldn't bother again) were adequate with plenty of storage and a hairdryer in the bathroom which was a bit of a problem as could not be used when friend in the shower..... Shower curtain on wrong side of shower so if wet , when you used the toilet you got wet clothing that side.......otherwise Bathroom not too bad.....The Self service restaurant (Lido) had normal basic All inclusive type food.... Nice but basic..... The Compass Rose Restaurant had better food but nothing special and not worth bothering to dress up to go in each night. Waiter in Lido cleared his throat and spat in bin....but otherwise great staff. Compass Rose Restaurant if you don't mind your food thrown at you at times then you will be ok!!!! Had to pay £15 for the use of the safe in room this is not refundable so quite expensive. We upgraded to all inclusive for £69 before we left and felt this is well worth it but you still have to pay for water (1.80 euros) so we bought ours in the ports for the next day which were mainly 50cents. The entertainment is very Cheesy and although it got better towards the end of the week it was more like what you get in a holiday camp. Trips were expensive.....mainly £40 to £50 each with Israel trips £50-60 and then £96-£98 and then £228 for an overnight stay. ANTALYA.... we walked off the boat and did our own thing.... lovely place lots to see and do and felt safe to walk around (we were 2 ladies) MARMARIS.... I walked off the boat and went round this place on my own felt very safe and asked people for directions and all were happy to help. Very clean and tidy and had a lovely Castle to go and visit. CRETE..... I went on a trip to Spinalonga (leper Island) £45 for the distance we travelled and the boat trip I think was very expensive.... you could buy a guide on the island and do your self... but a great day out. DAY AT SEA.... we used the spa,,,, although they had discounts all very expensive like we expected I had Reflexology which was nice but although booked at the spa we had to go to another room ON the top deck which was all a bit of a mess and no one knew we were going there ... Unable to get a deckchair as we had been in the spa. ISREAL we docked at Ashdod which we had been told was a working industrial port and that to get off the boat we would have to go through their customs....this we did and was quite quick.... I think if you went out on your own that you would of needed a taxi but I can't confirm this... NAZARETH ....Lovely coach picked us up and there was about an hours drive before we went to the River Jordan to the baptism site, Then on to the Sea of Galilee..... we had a beautiful day ... expensive but think this would be the best way to see everything. JERUSALEM Another nice coach as again we had about an hours drive before we got to the Mount of Olives, and the Gardens of Gethsemane.... we then went on to Jerusalem.... this was going to be a long 2.5 hour walk.... although not hurried at the Wailing Wall the rest of the day seemed to be click of the camera and move on.... (not a place to go to in Summer as it was 33 degrees that day and very crowed).you need a guide but you could get these privately and if I ever go again (which I would love to) I would do so either on my own or with a private guide so that I had more time. We were NOT allowed to shop in Jerusalem and so was very disappointed... Guide said we had to shop in Bethlehem as you paid tax in Jerusalem... but if I want to buy a gift from there I want to buy from there not anywhere else and you can claim the Tax back at the boat...... BETHLEM Very very busy but I think it would be any time you went. Beautiful churches but was only shown one shop to shop in and they were very expensive with nativity sets starting at £60 for a very very small one... we did however find some magnets and smaller items but these were 5 dollars which worked out at about £3.50 each..... I would recommend this trip although expensive but you do have to keep up as they move fast be good on your feet as you have to queue which will get worse the busier the place gets and of course having to get into Palestine was a bit of a faff as our Israeli guide could not enter Palestine.so had to swap guides for this part of the trip. OVERNIGHT SAILING TO LIMASSOL We woke to be in Limassol where we were to stay for 4 nights..... As we went to breakfast we were asked by the cabin lads if they could strip oour beds ,,, we were happy for them to do this ... but when we got back they had re made the beds ready for the next customers and we had not yet moved out, we were told don't put anything on the beds and don't sit on them... when asked "who slept in my bed before I did" I was told they have to do it for quickness later , I wonder who's skin had shared my bed as they cleaned the cabin after all this...... We were then charged 2% off our Debit Card which was dealt with shockingly and we ALL had to queue for approx. 2 hours to get this back...... this could of been stopped but wasn't. We were then told we could not get our bus to the hotel (also in Limassol) until 14.30pm. so I went off to the disembarkation office to see if I can get Taxi to the hotel with another couple.... I was told you are no longer part of the cruise you will have to go to the reception... when I said there was a 2 hour wait to see anyone I was told sorry I can no longer help you. In any case the room is probably occupied and you wont get in.. I said there must be a luggage room and I was told no there wouldn't be,,,,, so we had to wait till the bus. We arrived at the hotel at 15.50 to be told we could of gone earlier that they had a luggage room we could use..... hence to say we had lost a day of our holiday waiting around and we only had 4 nights here at the beautiful hotel. Then we were told we had to go to the meeting the next morning as we had not been to Cyprus before... another half day missed..... what I can say about Limassol is that the old town is beautiful but the rest of it is quite rough with unkempt shops and many of then closed and boarded up.... if you can stay in Pathos although very British you would have a better place to stay with more things to do... All in all... I found the boat to be more a GLORIFIED FERRY and not a cruise liner.... not a place to have a Celebration.... and if you have been with other cruise companies you will be disappointed with this ship,,,,, unless you used it as 2nd or 3ed holiday in year like a lot of the people were doing, I would also like to point out that the Customer Services of Thomson are rubbish and see you as a Number and not a person.... we had other problems with this cruise from the start (private) but the customer services don't want to know and I am going to have to take to ABTA next.   Read Less

Went on this Boat 2/04/2014 -9/04/2014 The Ship is Clean and Tidy BUT Very Tatty... Cabin still same as above except we had up graded to a WINDOW £150 EACH.... Not worth the money......Entertainment very basic and cheesy.... did get slightly better as the week went on..... Reception staff took 2% off our Debt card (all of ship) so had to queue for 2 hours to get this back..... this was not organised well and could of been solved with a announcement and another desk provided so that reception was still free to sort out other problems. 2nd night we were there we went to the Compass Rose Restaurant ... where the table asked for more Cheese biscuits... these were brought to us and thrown on the table and told not to ask for more!!!!! On the day of leaving we had to be out of our room by 9.15 which was fine.... so we went to have breakfast.... was asked by the cabin lads if they could strip our sheets while away ... we agreed but when we got back they were re maid for the next customers and we were told NOT to go near them.... we were still not fully packed.... when I asked "who had slept in my bed before me" I was told it was for quickness later....... we were then told that we could not disembark to our Hotel in Limassol (where we had docked) until 2,30pm.... I went to the embarkation office to ask for a taxi to the hotel.... to be told that we were no longer part of the cruise and had to go to the Reception where people were still trying to get there 2% put back on there card, and that they would say the same we could not go to the hotel as the room would Probably be in use..... I said I was happy to put my case in a luggage room and was told they would not have one..... so hence to say we lost a day of our Holiday on board where we did not want to be.... we went to have lunch and waste some time only to have one of the staff clear his throat and spit into the bin next to us....Once it was time to get on our bus... my case was no where to be seen... I had to go through all the cases that were going to the airport but there was no Thomson rep there to help or question... once found we boarded the bus to find that there was too many people on it but the rep had no list of names and so we set off.... after a delay trying to find out who it was.....we arrived at the hotel and booked in at 15.50pm only to find that we could of left our luggage in a holding room and hotel would of been happy to see us earlier..... we were only there 4 nights so that was one day ruined.. then we were told we had to go to the meeting next day as we had not been to Cyprus before.. another half day lost...... complete and utter chaos from start to finish.... on top of this we were given £50 on board spending as we were suppose to go to Egypt but had to go to Turkey because of the trouble (fair enough no problem) but this was never given to us.... So all in all..... Clean but Very Tatty Cruise liner , if you have been with other companies you wouldn't want to use Thomson Spirit unless it was a 2nd or 3rd cruise of the year (like many on the ship).... Not for a Celebration, that you don't mind disorganisation and holiday camp entertainment. DO NOT expect great after care from Thomson Customer Service's as you wont get it.... They don't care , once they have your money that's it, your a Number not a person! we are trying to get the £50 and compensation for the days lost but told.... "Sorry you had a holiday and we will sort it for the next person" NOT GOOD ENOUGH THOMSON IF YOU WANT REPEAT CUSTOM. Read Less

I don't normally write reviews but enjoyed this cruise so much that felt I really wanted to this time. We embarked at Limassol very quickly, but as we live in cyprus and made our own way to the port maybe it helped. We paid a little more for a cabin on the 4th deck and was glad we did, much easier to reach the restaurants/bars etc from there. The cabin was absolutely fine - 2 single beds in an L configeration, and kept exceptionally clean by our steward, Ana who also made lovely towel animals for me each night. I found the pillow to be a little hard for my liking so just mentioned it to her on the first night, about 15 mins later she appeared with 2 lovely soft fluffy ones! We ate in the lido every night and really enjoyed the food, only issue was that on theme nights which seemed to be almost every night there was not too much choice of english food. This didn't bother us but we noticed on the indian (curry) night it was quite quiet as though quite a few chose the compass rose. I fell in love with the afternoon teas with lovely little sandwiches and hot scones. We also sometimes ate outside at the lido pool side snack type area - again all good. The best thing by far was the staff who really all seemed to enjoy their jobs. The entertainment team were unbelievably professional, putting on some fantastic shows twice very night and all showcasing their talents. We're now booking for next year, a different itinery but same ship, we loved her. Read Less