Thomson Celebration 22/2/07-1/3/07

**middy** · 03-05-2007, 12:24 PM

Flights were part of the package ( Thomsonfly) at Manchester airport we received tags indicating our cabin and security tabs, also booklet with information with ships tours. Flight no problem, food and service adequate.

Registration at sharm el sheikh very quick, issued with notifications symptoms of norovirus. Walked across to ship but gather could have taken bus if needed, luggage handled by staff from coach. On arriving at ship we were escorted personally to our cabin and shown our room cards etc.

We were in an inside cabin on deck 2, the one drawback was that there were two single beds and they are fixed so that they cannot be put together, ( Godsend for Chris though once I caught a nasty cold) The cabin is a fair size. No safe though , facilities were available at reception if needed. Hairdryer in one of the drawers. Bathroom has adequate shower, bars of soap and shampoo are provided. Television in room has several news channels. A bridge cam, cruise information channels, music channels and two film channels. Icebucket which was filled twice a day and glasses just right for the bottle of vodka we had brought with us, up till now Thomson does not have a policy stopping you drinking in your room.

Dining, There are 3 options, the Lido which is a buffet restaurant open 24 hours a day.In the bufffet all food was served by staff onto plate. They put little candle things on at night and there is always someone to fill up your water glass and your coffee in the morning. Outside on the Lido deck they have a pizza/ burger/pasta etc area which opens at certain times of the day.
Meridian restaurant. This is waiter service and opened breakfast/lunch/dinner.
we ate mainly in here, although they have no set tables, we managed to find our waiter Bong who served us so well last year, so we always ate at his table. By the end of the week we seemed to have the same people eating dinner with us each night. They were all lovely company.
Mistrals is the a la carte restaurant where you pay a £15 cover charge. We did not try this.
Could find no fault with the food and always seemed to be hot, the sponge puddings were to die for, never seen my husband eat so many puddings.

Entertainment, we tend not to do the shows music and dancing but from the videos we saw looked fine. We did attend the Comedians shows LLoyd Hollett, thought I recognised him he used to be part of the entertainment team on Thomsons a few years back.
We went to all the lectures given by the visiting lecturer which went into Petra, Egypt and the Pyramids. three lectures, enjoyed them but they were only short. They also had some really good documentaries about egyptian things which they showed on a screen in Liberties bar.
I learnt how to make peach flambe ( the tasting was good too)

As usual spent loads of time on a chair on the promenade deck (6) five times round = mile. They have Ashtrays boxes attatched to the ships railings which are emptied on a regular basis, and bar staff frequent along the promenade deck if you require drinks.

Day one in Aqaba we took the free shuttle bus into town and purchased the pop we needed for the vodka, managed to use our smallest note a five euro to purchase five 2.25 litres. Lasted us till the end of the cruise and we left one for the cabin steward.
Day two in Aqaba we did a ships tour to Petra, review can be found http://www.cruisingtalk.com/middle-e...port-call.html. On day five we did an overnight tour of luxor which I will write up later and post link.http://www.cruisingtalk.com/thomson-...ighlight=luxor Other days we just lazed on the ship.
The ship has two small pools and 2 whirlpools also a sauna.
There is a full size cinema, spent an afternoon in there watching the Da Vinci Code.
Overall had a great time, actually looking to go back either end of this year or begining of next. The ships staff are very friendly always have a smile and always greet you ,from the captain down to the deckhands. Several of the trips were long ones, when people came back in convoys they were met by several of the crew with backing of a guitar and drums, singing to keep them entertained whilst waiting to get back on ship, they also offered wet flannels and drinks too.
Oh forgot one thing that I thought was a lovely thought, on our trip to Luxor we did a night trip to Karnak, they provided everyone with a little fleecy blanket to put round your shoulders for when the temperatures dropped.
Disembarkation, the cases were tagged and plane boarding cards were issued on ship, cases were taken from room and not seen again until manchester. Sharm el Sheikh airport was well, the electronic boards were never updated and men would come around shouting out the flight numbers and gates, different.
Only downside was that as we stayed twice overnight in port and we were just down from gangplank we did meet a few mossies, I'm alright they don't like me but they love Chris,
So great time had and definitely would go again.

**middy** · 03-05-2007, 12:38 PM

knew I would forget something, on the sea day the entetainment staff did an afternoon play. Love in the mist. ( Comedy) Love their afternoon plays

**Ally** · 03-05-2007, 12:42 PM

Sounds like alot of fun, Middy

Good review, thanks for posting

John · 03-05-2007, 02:05 PM

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Great review.

**middy** · 01-05-2008, 01:11 PM

Have put in Luxor overnight link.