It was with some apprehension that we boarded the Thomson Dream on 10th August as, if some reviews were to be believed, we were about to spend a week on a floating cesspit, stinking of raw sewage and ready to sink as soon as it took to sea. However, we soon found that none of this was true and our week on the Dream was every bit as enjoyable as our other cruises with Thomson's.

There are some negatives, however. For a start this is not a five star luxury liner and anybody thinking it might be may be in for a surprise; it is a typical Thomson's cruise ship built in the 1980s with a dEcor to match. There is a slight odour of drains (or boiled cabbage according to my wife) in some of the corridors and I did notice a couple of signs advising of wet carpets here and there. There is a slight list to the starboard side as well, but this is a ship and one has to expect some movement on board. These are all minor issues, however, and you'd have to be either very fussy or very petty to allow these to spoil you holiday.

The food on board is generally excellent. The Orion restaurant is superb with waiter service and a good choice of meals that were always well presented. The waiters bend over backwards to ensure your mealtimes are enjoyable. There are two buffets on the ship: Andromeda and Sirens. The former is a bit of a bun fight and although the food is OK, the queues can be horrendous with people shovelling as much as they can on their plates before pushing through the crowds to find a seat. Sirens was smaller and better and converts to The Grill restaurant at night that carries a £20 surcharge. This seemed well used but as the food in the Orion is so good, I'm not sure what else you would be getting for your money. Drinks are reasonably priced and akin to those found in UK pubs. Cocktails at £3.70 were reasonable compared to many restaurants back home. Again, the waiter service is excellent Read more