This was our first cruise with Thomson and we had a marvellous time. The Celebration is an older ship but it has kept a lot of the ex-Holland America fittings. The crew and most officers are Filipino and the ones we spoke to had also come with the ship from Holland America.
We booked a suite as there were 3 of us. Ours was called 'Jacques Coustaeu'. All the suites were named after famous explorers. The layout was exactly like the Costa Europa suite that we had last year. Although all tips are included in the price, we left some money for our steward as he was particularly attentive. The only thing wrong with our suite was that the bedcover and sham pillows were very grubby and needed a good clean. But as we did not use them to sit or sleep on (they were removed at night) I was not too bothered.
The entertainment was excellent. We had pseudo shows from the West End Theatre as well as tv. The cruise director had a permanent smile on his face and was particularly talented, always taking part in the shows and doing some reviews of his own. He had a very good Victoria Wood solo sketch which was repeated twice on the cruise by popular demand.
All the passengers were British and Thomson just catered for british tastes really. The food was to die for, and a 24 hour buffet service certainly made us put on weight. All the usual fare was there as well as themed nights eg. indian, chinese, but it was not overwheming; you could just opt for burgers and chips if that is what you wanted. We used the restaurant on the formal nights and found the standard of service and food also excellent, but opted for the buffet most nights as it gave us the flexibility to get to shows easier. The afternoon teas are worth a mention as well - the cakes were fabulous.
They had a different quiz show from uk tv every evening like Weakest Link, Whats My Line, and Countdown. There was also a large, plushly fitted cinema (Holland America again?) with the latest releases and free popcorn provided.
The Captain was from Norway, spoke to us regularly on the tannoy system and had a sense of humour. There were several unusual events on this cruise and he kept us informed at all times as to what was going on. The first night at sea we were 'buzzed' by an unknown air force jet who had come to say hello; a crew member after injuring themself had to be airlifted off the ship by a Danish search and rescue helicopter, we were visited at sea by German Police helicopters after leaving Warnemunde (just being nosey), and watched a church burning down in St Petersburg (from the ship) with helicopters picking up quantities of water nearby to throw on it.
The ports of call were Aarhus, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Rostock). What was good about Thomson was that they gave port 'showcases' every evening before arrival to tell you what to see if you went ashore yourself. They gave public transport routes, what to see and not to see, prices of taxis, free maps etc. There was no compulsion at all to use the laid on tours, although many people were happy with these. The only exception to this was St Petersburg, where you had to join organised tours as personal visas were needed otherwise. We found the price of all the tours reasonable as well, approx |
