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“devistated i waisted my money”

written by terry06 on 29/11/2015

I have just returned from the worst holiday I have ever had in my life had this is the first holiday I have had with Thomson. As there were so many things that went so drastically wrong I will try to simplify this as much as possible.

* The first problem I saw was with another passenger who was trying to change the time of their dinner reservation just for two people but she was very directly told that she had plenty of time to get ready and the crew member just walked off. I was shocked at this and pointed someone out who appeared more official for her to speak to and it was then resolved immediately.

* The second problem was arriving at the captain’s dinner that we were invited to. We arrived at 8.30 just as the letter instructed. Also the lady I saw earlier in the day arrived all smartly dressed and very excited as this was meant to be the nicer restaurant on board. We were refused entry and told it was full we stood to the side and debated what to do and then to our astonishment, another couple came to the restaurant and was allowed in. I was outraged by this so I confronted the man on the door who told me they had reserved a table. The point I wish to make was that we were all given a reservation as shown on the invite posted into our cabin. He said there was nothing he could do as another elderly couple walked in without a tie I might add; he then told us to go to the four seasons’ restaurant. I personally felt that this was age discrimination. Our group were aged between twenty eight and thirty two. We all smartly dressed. It was disgusting how we were treated but in the end had a lovely meal and tended by a lovely waiter elsewhere.

* Thirdly, with regards to the Moroccan experience excursion that we joined was more of a dangerous experience. The information provided prior to booking this trip did not in any way indicate exactly what we would be up against. We felt it was a waste of money and felt

unsafe and uncomfortable in certain situations. For example, we were taken by coach up onto a mountain side where as soon as we disembarked, the locals came charging towards us with their camels and items that they were pushing to sell. We were annoyed with the tour guide who did not warn us about this and as far as were aware we were going to enjoy taking nice photos of the views and castle etc. Instead we were unable to feel comfortable to do so as were being followed constantly by these locals. We noticed how some fellow tourists felt rather scared and jumped back on the bus. I managed no more than twenty steps before I was surrounded by three men. My tour guide was nowhere to be seen luckily my partner came to my rescue and we ran back to the bus in anger. After this lovely encounter we were taken to a show, part of it was very good but in between each act the performers charged down on horses and opened fire. The elderly people jumped each time and I could hear them all saying how they wanted to leave, their heart was racing but they were too scared to get up. One couple where holding hands tightly each time the horses came near, they were white by the end of the whole ordeal. We were then taken to a market I was dismayed by the state of the place. The tour guide just held up a sign saying

Thomson cruises, who then said to stick together and follow me. We walked around in an awful rancid market full of vegetables, life stock and tatty items that were of no interest to us. This lasted for around half an hour to then be told we have 15 minutes to shop then get back on the bus to return back to the cruise. I just got back on the bus not only did I feel sick from the stench, I was furious that I had wasted a day. I was later told by a guest on the cruise that in the past he was spat and swore at him because he refused to give money to a man hassling him in a similar situation to my first point. They won’t take no for an answer which is what ruined the whole experience. Surely Thomson should look into this as we personally felt so awkward by being put in this position. Perhaps this is a culture difference but if I was given as a warning on the brief summary prior to purchasing this experience, I certainly wouldn’t have booked it.

* Finally our last issue was the swimming pools on the top deck of the ship. In one word, ‘Freezing’!! They were not heated pools by any means even the hot tubs were more like cold tubs. I am a keen swimmer back at home and am used to low temperatures at the local leisure centre but this was something else, it felt like iced water! I noticed how each time everyone went in, their faces were in a state of shock as to how cold the pools were. For that reason I couldn’t pick up the courage to go in it at all, I could barely put my feet in just to feel I had some contact with it at least. Again this is something Thomson should really re-evaluate because people want to feel relaxed and enjoy themselves whilst swimming and not look horrified!

By this time I really wanted to get off the boat luckily I had one more night so I tried to enjoy it the best I couldn’t the food was lovely as always the staff were always so helpful giving great service but this was about to come to a dramatic end.

The return flight

We got to the airport to be told just before getting off the bus that our flight was a bit delayed but just check in as normal so we did. We were told that we were going to be handed food vouchers for the inconvenience of the delay caused which we could collect at the information desk at 8pm. We

were taken down into departures where there was one café open, people were trying to find out what was going on. We wanted to know what was the cause of the delay but no information was given, people were told to sit down or they would call security, the two girls that where on the desk where rude and soon disappeared to be replaced by a man who clearly didn’t want to be there either.. I was by this point incandescent with rage. We sat down and waited an hour nothing happened the café started to close we were then told we were going to receive a ten euros voucher you can imagine how much that will buy you in the airport departure lounge. We were also told while receiving the vouchers that the café closing in half an hour so all the passengers queued together to receive our gone off baguette and warm coffee. We all waited and we were all tired and started looking for answers ourselves as there was no one to talk to. Some people wanted to go out for fresh air including myself we were told no one can leave. So we were all locked in down stairs with no means to withdraw cash from anywhere in the departure area. Children and the elderly were really cold and the elderly got what cloths they could and wrapped up warm. We all got together to try and use the limited Wi-Fi to find out what was going on we found out our flight was delayed till gone 4am. The café remained open I the early hours of the morning luckily there were two staff who kept it going but they looked very tired by this time .I started to feel very unwell and needed to take our medication and its important to have a good meal before taking these tablets but was running out of money. I managed to get another role and some very expensive water. People were very low by this point there was a elderly lady crying opposite me at about 2 am the tv screens displaying the flights expected arrival and departure times changed. We finally had confirmation of flight time. We were left all night alone people had no money there were babies in that lounge I hope you can see how disgusting this really is. The aircraft finally came and picked us up we boarded they wanted to charge us for food and beverages. Not many people could buy one as they spent what they had left in the very expensive cafe. My mouth was so dry by this point I put my hood up and just cried this had been the worst experience of my life not just for ourselves but watching all those elderly and children suffer. They didn’t even offer a free cup of tea I heard passengers saying they felt they deserved. What sort of company is this?? Some passengers where angry most where so beaten up by this time that we all just gave in and stayed quiet about the situation

The original flight time was expected to depart 8pm getting into Bristol at 00:10am approx. Instead we departed around 5am arriving at Bristol around 9.30am. In the letter that was handed out to us on arrival, I couldn’t believe how they said our delay was 8 hours and 51 minutes when we had been in the airport from 6pm the previous evening! Not to mention the fact that by the time we landed we were so exhausted we then had to face a three hour drive back to west wales after the whole ordeal was over! So in the end, from the time we vacated our cabin on the cruise in the early morning on the 24th October, we had been awake for over 31 hours! I had to be in work on the 26th