We boarded the Dream on 8th June 2013 in Palma for a Mediterranean 7 day cruise. We were very open minded on what the ship was going to be like as we had previously been with Louis and Royal Caribbean. We had paid extra 550 pounds for a premium cabin but we found that it was far from premium. It was very dated and generally grotty, not what we would expect from a Platinum Premium room. We had to purchase ear plugs so that we could sleep as the air conditioning was so noisy and could not be slowed down or switched off.

We went to dinner in the Orion Restaurant which has a nice ambience but the food was not very hot. We then went to the sail away party around the pool which was quite nice. While we were sleeping in our cabin, the pools and jacuzzis were drained and a letter pushed under the door informing us about the Norovirus which was on board. This is a bit late to be informed when you are out at sea for two days! They remained drained all week, then the Library and Gym were closed. Not good enough Thomson's..If you advertise these facilities which we have paid for, then they should be available especially when they knew that this action was going to be taken, as we had spoke to people who had the same problem the previous week. After we have returned from a day out we would normally spend the rest of the day in the pool and jacuzzi.

The staff appeared to be constantly cleaning handrails and tables to stop cross infection but the lift buttons were always covered in fingermarks. When something is purchased the same pen was passed from person to person to sign the receipts! Read more