Thomson Cruises, The Calypso

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.

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 sunglasses sitting on your pillow etc etc etc). Cabins are VERY small but have everything you need. Ship can be noisy on lower decks and the slightest swell makes it rock a bit too much for some peoples likeing.Once a month the crew have a well earned staff party around the pool. On our cruise 1 passenger complained about it (said that that was where he liked to have a quiet smoke). Because of this comment the staff party had to be held in the crew quarters. Whoever it was made that complaint should have been ashamed of themselves.

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.

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.

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 not out with reasonable expectations.

I am no expert on ships and how they respond to sea conditions. While I do not suffer from motion sickness, I do get apprehensive when the ship begins to pitch and roll. Some reviewers state that the Calypso is unstable and not good in rough seas. My experience is that when to sea was rough eg. in Black Sea, the Calypso performed remarkably well. It did move a bit in response to the swell once or twice. However, my experience is that larger vessels, claiming to be stabilised, were no better in a swell.

Crew

This is where the Calypso excelled for us. Nothing was too much trouble for the crew. From the cabin stewards through the entertainment and bar staff to the officers, they were all very friendly and helpful.

Itinerary

The Black Sea cruise was excellent. The Panorama in Sevastopol itself would have been worth the trip. Sailing through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus was truly an experience. Istanbul at night was worth seeing. Nessabar in Bulgaria was beautiful and even Constanta in Romania had its own charms. It is unfair to be critical of a country and people who have suffered so much yet still manage to welcome strangers.

The second week was what we expected, lazily cruising the Greek islands of the Ionian Sea. The Corinth canal was worth seeing; both the outward passage during the day as well as the night passage on the return leg.

Overall Thomson and the Calypso cannot be faulted. Found it much better than the P&O Sea Princess we sailed on last year.

If you are thinking of booking, do not hesitate.

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.

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.

Highly recommended

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 guide was interesting and informative and there was enough time to see everything you wanted. Apart from that we did our own thing and got the bus, metro or taxis to Athens, Knossos and Ephesus. Speaking to others who did the organised trips they were impressed with them all.

Our cabin was not huge, it was a superior outside plus, but was an adequate size. The only problem was we had to unpack in relays. What I did like was the light, usually hotel rooms are so dim you can barely read a book, but this cabin had several different lights so you could have it as light or dark as you liked. Also the heating was excellent and went from warm to cool in about a minute when you adjusted it, so the cabin was always at a comfortable temperature.

The food was superb, we ate in the Orchid dining room every evening, where there was a five course menu with lots of choice. We had breakfast and lunch or tea in the buffet and again found the food to be very good, lots of variety and well cooked. It seemed you could spend all day eating if you wanted and judging by the size of some of the passengers I think they did!

We did not go to any of the evening entertainment as we preferred to sit in the outside bar after dinner and watch the sea, but we saw some of the entertainers during the week and I was impressed with their singing and dancing skills. I was pleased that smoking was only allowed on certain areas of the outside decks and also the drinks were very reasonably priced, cheaper than our pub at home.

The best part of the ship was the staff, they were just wonderful They were mostly from overseas and they could not be helpful enough, they fell over backwards to assist in any way.

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 home.