Cruises - Passengers sue holiday company over 'cruise from hell'

Passengers sue holiday company over 'cruise from hell' (http://www.independent.ie/travel/travel-news/passengers-sue-holiday-company-over-cruise-from-hell-3097617.html)

IT WAS a Christmas cruise that promised a "touch of luxury" and "devilishly delicious cuisine".

But for many the reality was dirty cabins, filthy swimming pools and food so bad it left them ill with gastroenteritis, it has been claimed

A group of holidaymakers are suing the travel company Thomson for thousands of pounds after they claim the week-long trip on the liner Celebration turned into a “holiday from hell”.

They are claiming damages after alleging that their cabins were smelly, the food and drink was terrible and the dining rooms and decks were infested with insects and birds. The passengers, who paid £1,000 each, also claim that the children’s swimming pool was contaminated with human waste.

I wonder what their comments would be if they had been on the Carnival Splendor or Costa Concordia

The group of nine passengers claim they became ill after the swimming pool became contaminated with faeces, birds landed on outside tables, insects were present in the dining rooms and bars, and food and drink that was unsafe for consumption was served.

Kids pools often get "that way", birds are always landing on outside tables (how do you keep birds away from outside tables?) and I've seen a few flies in dining rooms and bars (including barflies) on many cruises.

And it's pretty unsafe to eat all the food and drink they give you on a cruise.


Thomson isn't a big cruise company over here in the States. Sounds like a pretty lousy cruise, but for 1000 Euros for a Christmas time cruise you shouldn't be expecting Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, or Carnival quality.

Thomson isn't a big cruise company over here in the States. Sounds like a pretty lousy cruise, but for 1000 Euros for a Christmas time cruise you shouldn't be expecting Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, or Carnival quality.

Tui/Thomson may not have tons of visibility in the U.S. market but they are a very big EU tour company that operates four cruise ships including the one in question, the MS Thomson Celebration which in a former life was the third Holland America ship to carry the name Noordam sailing for them from '83-'05 so I don't feel it's unreasonable for passengers to expect a higher level of quality from such a big company for the £1,000 paid per person.

Oh, I know they're big over there -- seen their ships in port alongside the ones I've been on.

I just have lower expectations for conditions on a nearly 30 year old ship than I do on a 3 year old ship.


Edit to add: This doesn't excuse poor treatment by shipboard staff or management, of course.

Not so long ago, I was offered a position as Chief Officer with this company. I did quite a bit of research, and spoke to other people who worked on these ships, and eventually decided it wasn't worth my reputation, career and life to work on them.
It seems dramatic, but the reality is that the company operates the ships on the very bare minimum, and these ships don't meet the newbuild safety standards that exist. Passengers love old ships, but from an Officers point of view, they are hellish (including the QE2 before it was retired).
Unless major money is spent on ships, they begin to struggle after just 15 years of service, and cabins more regularly become flooded by corroded pipes bursting and the potable water tanks become harder to maintain and result in discoloured water.
If the ships were that good, Holland America Line would not have handed it over to Thomson.

a trip from hell is better than going the other way!