We returned from one week's cruise on the Thomson Dream on 22nd June, and felt we had to reassure anyone about to sail that they have nothing to worry about. Prior to our departure, I was extremely worried about the adverse comments which I had read about the ship - but happily these fears were completely unfounded. I don't doubt that some people might have experienced problems on earlier sailings, but if that is the case then Thomson's have worked hard to overcome these problems. There was NO smell of sewage and NO unclean areas of the ship. We did not see any blowers drying off wet carpets! We travelled with 3 other couples, and our party of 8 thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and none of us have any major complaints about our trip. We all had cabins on Deck 6 and found the cabins to be bigger than those on the Destiny (and on the Emerald before she was taken out of service). I have had a bigger cabin on the Celebration, but paid a lot more for the cabin upgrade than I did on the Dream. One of our party had a blocked sink in the bathroom on the 2nd or 3rd day, but this was attended to satisfactorily by the time we had returned to the ship that afternoon. We spoke to a couple who had had a problem with some water on their bathroom floor, and later than day it had been fixed and they had some fresh fruit and a bottle of wine delivered to their cabin.

If I had to complain about something it would be that the sunbeds need upgrading - a very minor complaint! We never had any problems getting a sunbed when we wanted one, although as usual on the day at sea the decks were very busy. The theatre shows and the lounges presented excellent entertainment and the food in the waiter-service Orion Restaurant was lst-class and served a wide choise of well-presented, appetizing food. We always ate dinner in the main dining room but used the self-service Sirens for breakfast and lunch if we were on board for lunch. Staff throughout the ship could not do enough for you.

Despite all of this, there were still some 'serial moaners' on board. Yes, there was the occasional toilet which did not flush in the public areas of the ship, but do people really think that on a ship which carries just over 1500 passengers, a toilet not flushing is a major disaster? Yes, there were melamine plates in the self-service restaurants, but I suspect this is a safety issue as many passengers took their food out to the pool areas. Read more