Marella Dream Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Having cruised with Thomson's before I knew what to expect, unfortunately time has not necessarily been kind to the experience. Whilst the captain and his crew, bar staff and entertainment team were excellent overall, there was a noticeable decline in the service standard. Waiting for 45 minutes to be served a drink was not uncommon. Receiving cold food was also not a one off issue.....even when we were on the Captain's table!
The change that impacted the most was the adult pool which, prior to us boarding, was changed to a family pool without notification. This meant that there were now 2 family pools and no "adult only" pool. Not only that but Thomson's delegated all responsibility for behaviour of children to the parents, a lot of whom were happy to leave their children unsupervised whilst they went off to the bar. This then left a free for all state were the children were playing football in the Jacuzzi dive bombing in the pool, whilst smaller children were with their parents, basically what you expect kids to do but definitely not were you expect them to do it. Part way through the cruise they announced that the pool was now an adult pool again but as no one from Thomson's monitored this it was totally ignored. So children continued to be unruly, running in and out of the restaurants in their soaking wet costumes. It felt like a 70's Butlin's camp at times (apologies to Butlin's fans).
A huge failing on Thomson's part -
Cabin Review
Let's just say....it's a little tired, rooms are a bit shabby, cracks in the toilet and sink, stains of unknown origin on the walls. You have to request a change of bed linen because they won't change it....how do we know this....more stains of unknown origin, that's how!
Tip No.3
The bathrooms have dispensing soap at the wash basin and shower so save some weight in your measly 20kg allowance and use their soap.
TV has Sky News and BBC news as well as a few movie channels and other general channels....but you're not there to watch the telly are you?
You have to pay £25 if you want to use your safe....It's like going back to the 80's with the "Elles Belles" Hotels in the Carry-On movies charging you. You have paid enough for the holiday and the safe is in your room so why have to pay more?
Tip No.4
You can use American or European adapters as they have 1 socket for each in your room.