Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com


Events at Sea by Thomson Cruises


The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen viewed separately by ship.





dd/mm/yy
Ship
2009
Incident
12.11.09 Ship unknown Bolton News (UK) reports a five-year-old boy who wears nappies because he has Down’s Syndrome was turned away from a children’s play area on a Thomspon ship. His parents claim staff told them he could not join in with fun sessions because he wore pull-up nappies. The mother said “I couldn’t believe it. Ethan is able to use the toilet but he does sometimes have accidents. If Ethan had an accident, it would not have affected the others because he had pull-ups on.“ The company apologized and said it wopuld investigate. The chief executive of the Down’s Syndrome Association, said: “It does not make sense and does sound like discrimination. The situation with the nappies could have been got around and arrangements made allowing the child to play with other children.” Child turned away from child centre
23.7.09 Thomson Spirit The Journal (UK) reports hundreds of passengers were afflicted with norovirus on a cruise in early May. A couple onboard are launching legal action after their holiday descended into chaos when the vomiting bug swept through the ship. Passengers had their boarding cards cancelled in a bid to contain the outbreak during the cruise in May. According to a passenger, “Hundreds of people were affected – the medical centre was inundated with people queuing for medical supplies and a large number of people were also confined to their cabins. It was absolutely horrendous. There was certainly a breakdown in hygiene standards. The ship in general was not clean, hot food at the buffet was cold, there were flies all over the food, toilets were not cleaned – the list was endless.”
Illness
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2008
Incident
25.10.08
Celebration
The Daily Mail reports that a cruise scheduled to depart from Liverpool has been cancelled due to bad weather. More than a thousand passengers were due to go on the four-day trip to Ireland, but Thomson Holidays cancelled the cruise after high gales were forecast for the Irish Sea. More than a thousand passengers have been left stranded and Thomson is refusing to provide refunds -- instead it has offered an 80% discount off future cruises. The ship had been due to visit Cobh and Dublin. Passengers on the starboard side of the vessel are faced with with a view from their windows of a huge pile of scrap metal at the Canada Dock processing plant. Passengers were given the option going home or to stay on the ship for the four days while the ship remained moored at the dock.
Cruise cancelled
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2007
Incident
7.8.07
Thomson Celebration
and
Ocean Majesty (Page and Moy)
The two ships collided in the Greanger fjord (Norway) on Tuesday afternoon at the two were berthing.  The damage is reported as slight with some lifeboats and davits taking the brunt of the slow collision.  There are reports online that passengers on the Ocean Majesty have been sent home as repairs would take three days..
Collision
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2006
Incident
23.10.06
Thomson Destiny (1)
Passengers report that the ship's toilets have not worked for three days and there has been no hot water for 24 hours.  A series of blockages in the plumbing system have been blamed for the problem; experts have been dispatched to deal with the problem.  See article here and also one here and here.
No toilets
26.9.06
Thomson Celebration (2)
A 39-year-old Filipino crew member died from injuries sustained in an accident when one of the ship's tenders was about to be hoisted onto the vessel.  The ship had spent the day anchored off the island of Guernsey and was preparing to sail for Southampton.
Crew Accident / Death
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2005
Incident
14.5.05
Thomson Celebration
Cruise canceled and 600 passengers flown home after the plumbing in 250 cabins failed. The 21-year-old ship left Southampton on May 8 for a 14-night cruise but major problems with a pump was discovered three days later, making some cabins and public toilets unusable. Passengers will get a refund and 25 per cent off their next booking. Toilets fail

Cancelation

(1) Thomson Destiny: ex-Sunbird (Sun Cruises), ex-Song of America (Royal Caribbean)
(2) Thomson Celebration: ex-Noordam (Holland America Line)
(3) Thomson Spirit: ex-Patriot (American Hawaii), ex-Nieuw Amsterdam (Holland America Line)