Cruise Lines

Of the four ships in Barcelona last week during the Travel Convention, the only one I did not know was Thomson Cruises' Thomson Destiny so it was good to have a few hours on board, eating - the food was very good and wow, what a lot of it! - drinking and even finding time for a quick look around.

It's an older ship, built in 1982, and the first thing that struck me was the big corridors. Very much the style in those days when cruise ships were so much simpler. Somewhere to eat, a coup[le of lounges and that's you lot. Oh, and you can have big corridors too.

It would have been interesting to see how big (or small) the cabins were, but it wasn't possible as they were all occupied.

Destiny is currently the biggest ship in the Thomson fleet - 37,773 tons and with room for 1,450 passengers - but that will changes in April next year when the 1,506-passenger Costa Europa becomes Thomson Dream.

But things could be changing anyway, even without the arrival of the new ship. Having done a U-turn and decided to keep the more casual Island Cruises as a separate cruise line, TUI's director of cruise UK and Ireland David Selby is keen to build up the brand.

Thomson Celebration and Spirit are sister ships and unlikely to be separated, and Dream is a nice fit with both as, like them, it used to be a Holland America ship. So apart from taking on additional tonnage, that leaves Destiny.

Don't expect anything to happen immediately though. Selby reminds me that Thomson took Destiny on in 2005, on a six-year charter so decisions on its renewal or otherwise have to be made before plans move any further.

But remember, you heard it here first.

Here are a few picture from the Destiny. I took the top one as I was so intrigued by the name. Klahoma lounge. I was even struggling to say it. Then I discovered that bit at the beginning was an "O"!

You can also see the Can Can show lounge, the amazingly wide corridor outside the lift and some of outside deck space. I was surprised to see a large - for British ships - casino. Apparently as long as you don't ask for big bucks, the Brits will give it a go.