This was our first and last Thompson cruise. After travelling around Europe over 30 years and staying in everything from smart hotels to vine pickers huts it was spectacularly the most awful week we have ever spent abroad. The cabin was scruffy - mouldy shower, cracking tiles, loose wall lamps and black curtains rather than doors on the wardrobe. No room to move once the two (different height and hardness) singles were pushed together. Lovely stewardess but there was no way she could have made this better.
We are good sleepers, and good sailors. But there was no chance of sleeping here. The ship banged and reverberated constantly with enough force to move you up in your bed till your head hit the shelf at the back. Asking to be moved was fruitless - I think the reception staff must get training to say 'What noise?' and look surprised - some other staff who also have to try to sleep in these conditions know exactly what we mean! After three nights we threatened to take our bedding and sleep in reception and at this point got a low deck cabin with constant engine noise for six hours and the only continuous sleep we managed in seven nights. According to Thompson we should have complained more while on board and they could have sent in a technical team to sort out the cabin while we were occupying it!
Other annoyances included - booking a window seat on the plane and not getting one, the absence of some advertised activities - tiny pool - loud and often amateurish 'entertainment' - school dinner style seating in the Island restaurant (beware 'Sir' will shout at you if you accidentally go back to the wrong table!) - intrusive photographers and drinks sellers, exorbitant excursion prices (it costs less than a quarter of the price by local transport) - lost luggage which took over an hour to find in Palma - OK we were there early but we couldn't wait to get off this boat! Oh and forget the 'happy couples' pictures in the brochure. The only way to have a private peaceful meal for two is to pay £30 a night for the Oasis supplement - which we would have done, it was the best thing on the ship, except that sleep deprivation doesn't really incline you to eat well . In spite of three unexpected changes of port in a week the places we visited were great but again would have been better had we had the energy to fully explore them.
Cabin 900 - Mouldy shower - cracked tiles, black curtains which make the whole place gloomy no wardrobe doors just bigh cutains so thick thet ther resrict the entrance - in the part of the ship that constantly bangs and vibrates during travelling - everything is loose because of the vibration and rattles. Not enough room to have a double bed made up because of the way the beds have to be pushed together beds not the same height and hardnedss so it is uncomfortable as a double. Window is so weathered as to look dirty. Frankly it was worse than the dilapidated ten foot caravan we had when first married!