My wife and I have just returned from a stay/cruise at Sandals Barbados and the Thomson Celebration cruise ship. We booked this separately because Thomson do not do a cruise/ stay with Sandals and I can see why. After a stay at Sandals you will never cruise with Thomson again.

Let me explain. Everything at Sandals was excellent and all in. All premium drinks, certain water sports, two or three trips out and even a free room safe to the extent that we didn't spend a bean in the resort. Not a penny.

Compare this with the Thomson Celebration. Now we hadn't booked the Royal Yacht Britannia but from the very outset the Thomson staff were squeezing us for money. I spent £15 on a cabin safe before we even embarked. Our stay wasn't improved by the pokey cabin, the inadequate cabin air conditioning, the lack of sleep from the constant noise and vibration of the ship (when one lady complained about the noise she was offered a set of ear plugs), the smell from the cabin bathroom and the ship toilets backing up. We complained about certain things but to no avail. Read more