Yeah, toilets not working, heating not working, air conditioning not working, water not working, constant smell of sewage on lower decks. Nothing to complain about there at all. You have been warned!

Ah, thanks for the positive response.

I have now been warned. And what am I to do given your warning.......cancel and lose 1300 quid.......because of no grounds for cancellation other than a few negative reports LOL !
I think I live in the real world, where I will take this cruise (which incidentally cost me only a little more than we were quoted for a weeks self catering in 2* apartments in Greece for the same week)

One gets what one pays for.......I have taken more luxurious cruises in the past....and paid a whole lot more.

Hopefully MY experience will be more positive than yours....as was those of my customers yesterday.

My brother came back from a cruise on Tuesday,I'm sure he said it was the Thomson Dream, he flew into Palma and visited Corsica,Rome and some other places.He is not easy to please as he usually visits 5 star hotels,but he was very ,very happy with all aspects of his holiday and said he would go again and recommends that we go too,hope this helps.T.

Thank you, yes it does help enormously!

Is it the correct cruise? If so he said that the beef wellington was to die for,the service was great,bed turned down every evening,chocolates on the pillow,he said wine was free by the glass but if you wanted a bottle it was charged.The waiter got fed up getting them free glasses and left the bottle free.He didn't go on the arranged excursions because they prefer to make their own way round,he also said that he only spent about £200,it must be a first for him as he is usually first at the bar ,and likes good restaurants.I really hope that you have the same good experience that he had,I will see him on Sunday if you have anything you'd like me to ask him.It really spoils the anticipation for the holiday when you hear bad reviews ,so ,fingers crossed for you!!!

Oscarben, the itinerary sounds the same, so yes, think it may well be the same cruise.....

All who have cruised with Thomson receive their magazine through the post. As previously said, there was a veiled warning that Thomson would not carry out any major refit or refurbishment on the Dream until October when it had reviewed reports by customers on the Med cruises. I'm sure that week by week improvements will be made to the service as the crew get to know the ship, but in a way the early cruisers have been the guinea pigs on Thomsons own admission.
Has anyone any idea whether Thomson have recruited the crew as they have on most of the fleet or is it part and parcel of the lease as on the Destiny which we personally believe is inferior in way of service?
Having cruised with Thomson numerous times we would have no hesitation in sailing on the Dream but would have avoided the first couple of months.
As to the all inclusive deals I think it fair enough at land resorts but it does seem to encourage excessive drinking and bad behaviour and personally we would prefer it to be scrapped in the close confines of ships.

As far as we were led to believe the crew were "leased" somebody told us that only about 20 folk on the ship actually worked for Thomsons, there was also a rumour the sailing we were on they were about 60 crew short, which would explain some of the poor service received.

As for a previous post which stated it was only a small minority complaining, not 1 person we spoke to was totally happy with the conditions! and we dined/eat with about 20-30 couples, and we sat with one of the entertainment team ( he knew the couple we were with sitting with from previous cruises) after he had finished his stint, and we had a pleasant couple of hours with him, and he agreed with what we told him, and that everyone was telling him the same. and how disappointed he was with things compared with other cruises he had done with Thomsons.
But I do feel all the teething problems will get sorted, ( we saw improvements whilst aboard) and the staff will get more familiar with whats expected of them.
We are not a moaning/complaining couple, but we do know when things aren't up to scratch, or are well below the standards required

I think my brother must have gone the week after you,he returned on 25th, he mentioned that there was not always enough hot water,but that he had a great time with no complaints,it was his first cruise and he will be booking more.

I have just returned from the Thomson Dream (Nightmare).
My first and last cruise, from minute one of entering my cabin i rang my travel agent.
It was the most discusting degrading holiday i have ever been on, anyone who says that Thomson Dream is great is not telling the truth or has no sense of smell.
The complaints were coming in by the 1000,s not one or two.
The sewage smell has been an issue for 6 weeks now, last week being worst than this week, plumbing was a big issue, when your on first named terms with the plumber you no theres a major problem, he was visiting atleast twice a day due to no water, then to much water, would not flush and then tiolet leaking, the problem was we had to walk a fair way to find another working toilet, most public toilets where in the same state as ours.
The ship is very shabby, badley in need of a referb.
I must admit that this week, things were running alot smother than last week such as staff plumbing, ect
Our room had been flooded the night before we arrived, there was a very large fan trying to dry it out, but the dampness smell continues today.
The AI package is still the same iam afraid, very limited, you even have to pay for a bottle water, i was told they were going to change it back to the full AI package but it was still the limited one when i left this morning.
One lady actually rang the BBC about the state of the ship that they came on board and interviewed her and many other passagers, i had gone of ship that day otherwise i would have loved to have been interviewed.
One couple was saying that a family on the 18th may was that disgusted with it that they asked to be transfered to a hotel in Palma and thats were they had there Holiday.
I have paid just short of £4000 for two, this AI luxuary holiday, celebrating my 40th birthday and wedding anniversary, should have been a holiday to remember, but i suppose it will be for all the wrong reasons.
Food was the best, and entertainment was out of this world, well done Stephen and all, fantastic.

Tip of the day: if you want a hot drink then take a kettle with you.

I was under the impression the AI package was now back to how it was across the whole fleet, you have always had to pay for bottled water with Thomson under the AI package, so what other restrictions were there??

Wine by the glass, own brand spirits, own brand larger, tea coffee and coca cola,.
I dont like wine but do like a sparkling wine, you have to pay £1.88 for a very small glass and thats when your on AI.
£3.50 i think non AI.
The AI drinks package is not as big as other AI deals, without having the Drinks menu with me i carnt tell you what you have to pay for and not, although i was going to pick one up this morning but could'nt find one anywhere.

I didnt realize that Thomsons charge for water, do you have to pay for all your cabin drinks aswell then, even though your AI?

I have just returned from Palma today (1/06/2010)and I can assure you there is still a smell on the Thomson Dream. Worst on decks 5 and 6 but still around elsewhere. Had apologies from Captain and Head of Thomson Cruises but its still there!!!!! If this had been my first cruise it would be my last. I can go along with some of the other complaints about the cold food, the staff were great and hard working but this ship needs scrapping.

Maybe they should rename the Thomson Dream to Thomson Nightmare.

They shouldn't be able to get away with ruining every ones holiday,let alone taking all their hard earned money.

Maryb

my mum and dad just back yesterday from their week long cruise on the dream- they are in agreement with lots and lots of people that it was a nightmare. the dream not fit for sailing and carrying paying passengers. the smell on board was awful, leaks throughout the ship, one deck had part of it's ceiling down one cabin completly flooded ruining a passengers belongings, food often cold, damaged soft furnishings, toilets in cabins not working people given robes so they could leave their cabins and use toilets elsewhere on ship, problems with temp of water, sensation of rocking and rolling even though water calm not a feeling my parents have had on previous cruises, at one point they were told not to complain as volume of complaints too high, not enough staff. these problems have been expierenced these problems since mid april. the ship was owned by costa europa (in feb 2010 it crashed into a dock killing 3 crew members) and is now leased for 10yrs by thomson. some people feel that the ship as advertised as the most modern and luxury surroundings and facilities should have had a full refit and refurb before it took paying passengers as it falls short of the description in the cruise brochure. my parents away to formally complain.

Hi all Dream cruisers
Its probable very selfish of me but i am getting extremely concerned about a holiday we have booked on this ship and i would obviously like things corrected before we go or i will cancel, the only advice I can offer when complaining to Thomson on something this big is to do it with a ‘class action' not individually as individual cases will take up to twelve months, but that will take some organising and will have to be done by someone who has experienced the problems first hand, from previous posts it looks like the media may be involved.
I will keep my eyes open for any developments
Good luck
Roger

Wine by the glass, own brand spirits, own brand larger, tea coffee and coca cola,.
I dont like wine but do like a sparkling wine, you have to pay £1.88 for a very small glass and thats when your on AI.
£3.50 i think non AI.
The AI drinks package is not as big as other AI deals, without having the Drinks menu with me i carnt tell you what you have to pay for and not, although i was going to pick one up this morning but could'nt find one anywhere.

I didnt realize that Thomsons charge for water, do you have to pay for all your cabin drinks aswell then, even though your AI?

I have seen a copy of the menu & it is the same as the rest of Thomson fleet. There are not only house spirits, but a good selection of named brands also, Gordons & Bombay Sapphire Gin for example. There is also an extensive cocktail list, the only ones that require a supplement contain either sparkling wine or cranberry juice and a full non-alcoholic list too. Hot drinks with a full selection of coffees (only coffees containing alcohol are extra). 3 white wine, 3 red wine & 3 rose wine by the glass are also available as is draught Heineken, John Smiths and Strongbow. From the full bar menu there are only 27 items that carry a small surcharge (usually £1.15). Water is payable at a supplement of £1.40 for 1.5l alternatively buy some whilst in port at 1 euro and bring back on board,Thomson don't mind. The AI package only covers you for drinks purchased at any of the bars onboard. Drinks from the mini bar or room service would incur a charge.

It would appear that the AI package is the only thing that Thomson are getting right on board Dream at the moment though!!

it appears that thomson's sent out an email to their agents in their shops stating that the dream was suffering problems but the email gave the impression that they were minor and almost all sorted the email was sent weeks ago. they were also told that this was the ship involved in a fatal accident. the agent that we spoke to earlier admitted that she would not be recommending the dream to people until all problems fixed she was very shocked when we told her about the issues. luckly she is in a small shop i feel for the thomson people in aberdeeen glasgow and edinburgh they will surely be dealing with many more complaints. several websites for holiday feeback all saying the same thing...the dream appears to be a nightmare in the last 6-8 wks

Felt compelled to write because as I'm reading the so called "helpful" comments above, I'm getting more and more cross. I went on the Thomson Dream from 25th May - 1st June. It was my honeymoon and first ever cruise.
You want the truth? Yes there was a smell - from my experience in the corridors. However, you could clearly see ALOT of crew members working around the clock to resolve it, the captain was keeping us fully informed and newsletters / letters were posted to the cabin very regularly. From what I saw, the poor girls on the customer service desk handled each customer extremely professionally and were very helpful.
As for the 1000's of complaints on the trip I was on.....??? Sorry, but that's laughable. There was a small minority stirring up trouble (and you could pin point these people a mile off). My question to these people, if it was that bad, why didn't you just get off the boat, pay to go home and claim the money back later instead of TRYING (and failing) to spoil a perfectly good holiday for everyone else???
I totally understand people being disgruntled if it was affecting personal toilets/cabins, but the way some passengers handled these problems was unacceptable.
The people I met (which were MANY) all had a fantastic time - certainly no complainers. The ONLY complaint we had were of the moaning sods that only seemed to smile when they were sulking.
Drinks Package - don't really understand all the comments, but I'll give it a go. I was on AI (free upgrade) from what I saw on the menu, the choice was vast. Just avoid the drinks with the * - there's still blooming hundreds of drinks to choose from.
Staff - EXCELLENT - each and every one of them. Especially Jonathan (who cleaned my cabin) and Aris in Orion Restaurant.
The only problem we had with the refurbishment of the ship is that there are not enough maps telling us which end is the front !!! It's over 20 years old, and Thomson have already said they will re-furb at year end. It was clean, comfy, and I could feel NO wave movement except on the one night of rough seas.
All in all, I can honestly say I had the best honeymoon possible. I would recommend the Dream to anyone and it has certainly not put me or my husband off crusing. In fact, we will probably book on the Dream again.