We have recently returned from a Canary Islands cruise on Thomson Majesty, 23-30 January 2015.
Considering the low amount we paid, it was good value for money. Flights and transfers were managed efficiently and flight times were not too painful.
We heard some moans about small cabins, but we were in an ‘inside plus’ cabin (designed for up to 4 people), mid-ships, on Deck 4 and had plenty of room and storage space in our quiet cabin. The six lifts were never too busy and Deck 4 was close to the restaurants, the entertainment venues and the gangplank!
We were not too pleased with the outside space though – the majority of lounger chairs were on Deck 11, with some on Deck 7, the Promenade Deck..There were none on Deck 10, the pool deck, only tables and upright chairs, with half of those made available for the many smokers on board….
On a sunny but breezy afternoon the Captain closed deck 11 for ‘safety reasons’ soon after we had just got settled in, for hopefully several hours, on our lounger chairs…….
We were left to wander the ship looking unsuccessfully for a sunny, quiet, cigarette-free outside area where we could sit and sunbathe.
The entertainment was more quantity than quality – with the 3 female lead singers in the Production Shows doing their utmost to ‘out-shout’ each other. In fact, much of the entertainment was far too loud – especially in the Royal Fireworks lounge, where the resident band were ear-splitting. Even some of the the quizzes, which were usually well run, were uncomfortably loud. We mentioned this to the Cruise Director (saying the passengers may be old but not necessarily deaf) & received an unsatisfactory response.
Also, passengers who had been on the ship the week before, on a different itinerary, told us that all the shows were repeated in their second week! Surely the team should be able to learn and perform some new shows for back-to-back passengers, especially as most of the backing music was not performed live. And even we had seen at least one of the shows 2 years before on the Thomson Spirit! We did enjoy the comedian guest entertainer, a comedian, and would have liked to see his second show. But it was scheduled – despite him assuring us that there would be no ‘blue’ jokes – at 11.30pm…..past my bedtime!
The food was mostly good considering what we had paid for the cruise, but the “cream” in desserts was dire (white, artificial slime) and the ice-cream in the restaurant had a strange elastic, stretchy texture.
‘Hot’ food at breakfast in the restaurant was only lukewarm and stood for a long time on the buffet.
Bread, rolls, cakes and sponge puddings were (unfortunately….) all very good – congratulations to the pastry chefs!
The itinerary had appealed to us before we booked this cruise, but Fuertaventura’s Puerto del Rosario was a big disappointment, with hardly anything to see or do there – it was rather forlorn and run-down. In Lanzarote we docked in the middle of nowhere (the new port apparently) and having been to Arrecife before we did not want to pay £5 for a Thomson shuttle bus into the town centre.. So we used the free shuttle bus from the dockside to the new Marina – quite pretty and an opportunity for “shopping”, something that all cruise passengers are assumed to want to do when they go ashore….not us though apart from the odd fridge magnet or postcard.
We very much enjoyed our day in Madeira, taking a shore excursion pre-booked with Cruising Excursions.com. There were only 4 of us in a minivan, with an excellent, experienced driver/guide, who said she actually preferred driving a coach….she was informative and friendly and we had a great tour.
La Gomera was another island we had not visited before – and we enjoyed our short stroll into and around San Sebastian.
Having booked this cruise in the hope of getting some winter sunshine, we were rather disappointed with the weather – too much cloud and wind -but obviously not Thomson’s fault!
