Cruise Lines

So how many of you watched Thomson Cruises being savaged by Watchdog on Thursday?

It was a damning indictment of Thomson Dream, but I would make two important points.

One: I am told the film was made in May or June, so surely they should have gone on board before airing the programme to see what passengers are saying now. But maybe that wouldn't have made such a good story (and did they really miss the fact the ship was in that fatal crash at Sharm el Sheikh?).

Two: Since the programme was broadcast, I have read plenty of reviews from past passengers who said they had a great time on the ship. Which just proves you only ever hear from people with negative things to say.

Not that I am here to be an apologist for Thomson Cruises.

My own observation for the Telegraph when I was on in April, just after it entered service for Thomson, was that it was "neither glitzy nor glamorous, nor indeed luxurious as suggested in the brochure".

It's that same old cruising malaise. If it's a cruise ship, it must be luxurious. Actually it's not. The ship is more than 20 years old and sailing for the cruise arm of a mass-market tour operator that specialises in good but budget holidays.

The same cruise line that once told me it's acceptable to charge passengers for using the security boxes at reception on its ships because the type of people who book with Thomson are used to paying for them on its land-based holidays.

It was also quite wrong for the "Thomson agent" in the film to say the ship was five star. She had no idea what she was talking about so gave the answer the caller wanted to hear to make a sale and earn commission. Such behaviour gives all travel agents a bad name.

However, taking Thomson to task for calling Dream their "new" ship was nonsense. It is Thomson's new ship. It just happens to be an old new ship (plenty was written about it being chartered from Costa Cruises before Thomson took delivery for those who could be bothered to look).

Since when have cruise lines proudly announced, "we're buying an old ship"?

In a press release announcing Adonia last December, P&O Cruises said: "The new ship will be named Adonia". This "new" ship launched in 2001 as R8 for Renaissance Cruises, became Minerva II for Swan Hellenic and is now sailing as Royal Princess for Princess Cruises.

In fairness also, managing director David Selby always said they would not be spending any money on the ship until the dry-dock in November. Whether that was a sound decision is another question.

Thomson Cruises' response to the programme was surprisingly low-key.

"Thomson Cruises is naturally sorry to hear that some of our customers did not enjoy their time on board Thomson Dream this summer. The fuller picture is far more positive, however. Throughout the summer the majority of our customers have told us that they enjoyed a fantastic holiday with us.  For example, 94% of customers rated the experience as good or excellent at the time Watchdog's team were onboard.

"The report has brought to light that there may have been some retail staff who may have misinformed customers, and for this we would like to apologise.  

"We accept that there were some challenges following the ship's introduction to our fleet in April of this year. The Captain and his crew did their utmost to resolve any concerns our customers may have had at the time.  Any outstanding concerns have been or are being looked at by our customer services team on a case-by-case basis.

Have you been on Thomson Dream recently? Was Watchdog fair. Let me know what you think.