Thomson Cruises, The Calypso Reviews

besafisher's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Good Points: Good tours and guides to the places mentioned, and for us at least made the whole experience worthwhile. Generally friendly staff, waiters in particular. No complaints about ship's cleanliness.

Bad Points: Engine noise in cabin (deck 3); cabin old fashioned and in need of cheering up; understaffed in restaurants and bars - (30 minutes to get a cold starter?); needed to go looking for bar staff sometimes. Restaurant meals sometimes unimaginative; and why was the lower, main area of the restaurant so noisy? Talking point for many was the disappointing quality of the lectures on the Crimean War and the Ottoman Empire which could have been so good and informative - suffice to say in the final one, about forty in the audience had been reduced by walk-outs to about twenty by the end. CNN seemed to be the only comprehensible satellite tv channel, which in an important week for British football clubs in European competitions was a disappointment.

General comments: We went on this Calypso cruise for the itinerary - the Crimea and Istanbul, so we got what we wanted, but we have to say as experienced cruisers, that on-board was a disappointment, and as someone else said, Thompsons can (and do) do better. The fact that the ship wasn't built as a cruise ship shows at times, for example the theatre is a single storey room with no raked seating, and the stage is at the general floor level. A fair bit of live music around the boat, which was no bad thing, although the ever present musak (wailing pop music for passengers nearly all over 60?) was difficult to escape. Daytime entertainment was of the bingo, quiz and "Mr and Mrs" variety (but thankfully no ice carving or napkin folding demonstrations!); evening entertainment was around but we saw little due to its lateness after our second sitting meal, and our lack of enthusiasm. But many enjoyed it. We understand that this is the ship's last season, but it is to be hoped that this particular Black Sea cruise survives in a newer ship.

angela roberts's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Calypso is a very friendly ship, good food, FANTASTIC entertainment. I have a dairy allergy and the staff went out of their way to ensure my food was safe. We did the Eastern promise cruise, so no days at sea. Ports of call were all amazing. We took 3 organised tours, guides really knew their stuff and were well worth the cost.A nice "extra mile" touch is the surprise left in your cabin, your towels made into animal shapes (a monkey hanging from the ceiling or an elephant wearing your sunglas ...

dibden's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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A lot of noise in the back part of restaurant and menu not that exciting. Bistro a big let down. Entertaiment hit or miss. Only good think about this ship its adult only. Come on Thomson you can do a lot lot better with the Calypso it may be small but you need to give it style, great food and a touch of class, you can do it make her stand out from the rest of the fleet.

fletchta's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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All the staff gave their all, especially the entertainment team who were brilliant. Food excellent, cleanliness superb & great entertainment. The ship was served by friendly staff who were always anxious to please. Fantastic value for money.

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Package
Myself and my wife were on The Calypso Crimean/Ionian cruises beginning on 07 July 2008. The flight from Newcastle and the transfers could not be faulted. Thomson did a good job.

Ship
We had read some reviews and had some reservations about the ship. They were completely unfounded. It is small, friendly and as good in terms of service, food and entertainment as any other we have been on. The cabin we had was a bit small but commensurate with the overall size of the ship, and certainly n ...

David R's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Our second cruise and without doubt the best. The Calypso is a great little ship, the crew and entertainment staff are fabulous. The food was good. Our cabin was a reasonable size, clean and well serviced. Being on a small ship you soon get to know the staff and other passengers. We cruised the Greek Islands for 2 weeks and saw many larger cruise ships, some too big for me. My wife and I, and other passengers we spoke to all agreed that we would rather be on Calypso than any big cruise ship.

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We love this small ship the The Calypso, it is so friendly. The entertainment is second to none, the crew cannot be faulted and the food is superb. We have just returned from our second cruise on this ship (our sixth with Thomson) and we definitely want to go again. Superb holiday. Could do with some handles on the drawers.

The Teanbys's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Highly recommended

MaryBantick's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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This was my first ever cruise and I chose the Calypso partly because of the interesting itinerary and partly because it was adults only. I was very impressed with everything, it was absolutely brilliant. On this cruise there was one day at sea then we moored every day at a different interesting port where there was lots to see and do and you were not stuck with just wandering around shops. We only went on one of the organised excursions, the trip to Lindos in Rhodes, which was very good, the gui ...

The Teanbys's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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If that was all we could find to complain about, the holiday must have been very good - the tours were well organised. The bar prices were reasonable, although some draught English beer would have gone down well!
The food was good and plentiful with excellent service.
This was our first cruise and we went with no preconceptions, the ship was well appointed and though the word 'plush' could not be used it was very comfortable, all the staff were hard working and friendly and made one feel at ho ...

George antigua's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Overall, an enjoyable experience though we were disappointed about the altered itinerary and have contacted Thomsons since returning home. Calypso is a tiny ship - but we were prepared for this - and the cruising experience as very different from that on a larger ship. There are advantages though! Getting on and off the ship at ports of call is quick and easy!

snelgrovek's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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The overall feeling about this holiday was that the ship is a lot smaller than we thought it would be, and although you could describe the Calypso as a cruiser you have to stretch your imagination. Why Albania has been included in the port of calls we cannot understand. Although there is a small beach area and shopping just outside the port, you will see why Albania is classed as the poorest country in Europe if you get off the ship. The journey up the Corinth Canal was something we all enjoyed ...

tonyjudy's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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A delightful 10 days, although The Calypso is one of the smaller boats. We would happily recommend this to others.

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Although ports of call were to be commended, this ship was unstable and not fit for cruising. On complaining to the receptionist on board ship, she entirely agreed with all our comments.
I would not recommend this ship under any circumstances.

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Inaugural Cruise for Thomsons

"Ancient Empires" - 31 March to 7 April 2007

INTRODUCTION

"The Calypso" was built as a car ferry in 1968, converted to a cruise ship in 1994. She has a flat bottom, and at just over 11,000 tonnes she is a third of the size of Celebration or Spirit. She rides badly even in slight seas. Compared to Celebration/Spirit, cabins are small with limited storage space (135 - 244 sq ft, cf 150 - 296 sq ft), although according to the "Berlitz" guide the smallest cabin ...