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| Reviewed By: Taylor, Leicester on 28th Feb 2007 |
| Cruise Line: Thomson Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Thomson Celebration |
Sailed:
February,
2007 |
| Destination: Africa |
Age: 46-55 |
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We travelled on Thomson Celebration in February, leaving Birmingham on that snowy day that resulted in air traffic control mayhem but our journey was worth the wait on the runway for 2 hours.
We'd sailed on Spirit on the same Red Sea cruise in November 2005 and hoped that Celebration would be as good. It was! We were very impressed with the standards on the ship - spotlessly clean, excellent service from every member of staff, absolutely fantastic food and enjoyable entertainment. Throw in the best weather of the year to date and we think we had the perfect holiday.
We were celebrating my partners 40th birthday and my daughters 14th birthday too. The staff onboard made their birthdays really special and we even got Captain Alan Leech to pose for a couple of photos; he is the most approachable Captain we have met and a credit to the company.
The entertainment team worked very hard and although we had read bad reports about cruise director David Bradshaw, we found him to be very polite, professional and hardworking. Shows every night in the Broadway Show Lounge and cabaret, gameshows etc, before a late night disco in Liberties. Also, a great place to escape was Horizons bar with a smooth jazz band and perfect views for the nautically minded.
The food in both the Meridian Restaurant and the Lido cafe was excellent. Lots of choice and great service. Nice afternoon tea, sandwiches and cakes in the Explorers Lounge.
Very difficult to find any criticisms. We did the trips on our previous cruise so didn't bother this time but the ports (particularly Sokhna and Safaga) are miles from anywhere and not particularly pretty. Also, All Inclusive package is very expensive at £189.00 each adult and £99.00 for each child. Drinks on the other hand are very reasonable (UK pub prices or less) so unless you're intending to drink non-stop I would think twice before taking the package.
Cabins were great and relatively spacious with stacks of wardrobe space. We had an inside on deck 3 and were very happy with it. It was kept spotlessly clean and tidy and beds were turned back every night with a chocolate left on the pillow.
To summarise, this was an excellent cruise and we will definitely be sailing with Thomson again.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Meridian Restaurant - Six course A la carte every night and excellent choice and service. | | Entertainment |  |
| Africa show was very good.
No complaints about any of the entertainment. | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| | Staff | |
| Gio, one of the Senior Assistant Bar Directors was the nicest person you could wish to meet. Great at Cocktail making and magic tricks! | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Stacks to keep us entertained. | | Cabins | |
| Even this basic inside cabin was very good accommodation. | | Overall Rating | |
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