So here is my review of my first ever cruise on the Thomson Celebration (Mediterranean Sunrise). Obviously I have nothing to compare it with as I have never sailed before, but I have stayed in dozens of hotels worldwide so I will try to be as honest as I can. Sorry it is so long, there’s so much to say, but I have subtitled each section for ease of reference.
* Outbound Flight – We flew early morning from Manchester to Aqaba, Jordan and the 5 ½ hour flight was hassle free. We were only 30 minutes late taking off and they gave us breakfast an hour in. Complimentary drinks were plentiful and they didn’t dawdle when serving them either. All flight staff demonstrated great customer service skills, politeness and efficiency. We collected our suitcases quickly and the bus ride to the ship was only 30 minutes. My only gripe here was we hadn’t been told we were getting the meal and spent £25 on breakfast at the airport. That said we also ate the inflight meal (“coz we’re on holiday”, lol).
* Embarkation - Our first ever experience of the embarkation/registration process was like being on the boat ride in ‘Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory’, but in a nice way. It was all so very quick and well organised like a conveyor belt moving us from photograph taking, form checking, medical declarations signed, debit card registration, optional dining extras and handing us our cabin keys with great efficiency. Everyone was very ‘happy clappy’, we loved the excitement of it all and we came out the other side like kids in a candy shop. We went straight to our room to change into clothes we’d packed in our hand luggage and our suitcases were outside our room when we left it 10 minutes later.
Cabin - Deck 6 cabin 207 (Deluxe outside) – Was fab, very spacious and had lots of storage. The coat hangers (plentiful as I doubled up items on each hanger) are the type that unhook leaving the ring on the rail, so take your own if you want to hang clothes in the bathroom for steaming out creases. We had a mini fridge (stocked but it was chargeable so didn’t touch it), a kettle (Nescafe coffee and PG tips tea), hairdryer. We had 2 European plugs, 1 American and a UK plug at the back of the fridge. You have to search for plugs as we found 2 only after a good search. Our double bed was 2 singles pushed together so is was massive and the most comfortable bed I’ve slept on, with 2 good size comfy pillows each too. Steward comes in twice a day. He soon learnt our habits so never disturbed us.
Bathroom - Was compact, but practical, again good storage space. Loved that the cabinet door also has a mirror on the inside so when you open it, it doesn’t matter if it covers the mirror. These is body wash and hand soap provided. Plenty of loo roll in cupboard below the sink (that’s important to me lol). Towels changed twice a day if needed.
Palma, Majorca – Again we did our own thing here. There is a ‘Hop On Hop Off’ bus immediately off the ship here, but it has a long queue when everyone gets off the ship first thing. It costs 18 Euros per person with headphones and we did a full round trip taking pictures of sites along the way. We got off at the shopping centre and had some lunch at a local bar then walked back to the ship.
Cartagena, Spain – This is a beautiful town and you can do it yourself here. The main places to see are within a 10 minute walk of the ship. We saw the Amphitheatre, the Castle of Conception and the Bullring. The buildings are all amazing here. It was Bank Holiday so we were also treated to a parade by the local children in band uniform. Delightful. I spent nothing here as I’d inadvertently left my purse of the ship, but only realised when we went to buy a coffee and get some free Wi-Fi, lol.