We have sailed once on the Destiny and twice on the Spirit both owned by Thompsons.
In our opinion the Spirit has much better facilities.
The main drawback on the Destiny is that the self service restaurents location is rubbish in that it is open to the elements and when it`s cold you have to wrap up, what a pointless experience.
The self service restaurant on the Spirit is as well appointed as the waiter service experience.
There is also a cinema on the Spirit showing a differant film everyday and football if there is an important game on.
The canaries cruise which we did in January 2008 on the Destiny was much of the sameness in that as the name implies it does the canary islands, Maderia and Morocco.
The mediteranian cruises are much more varied as you are in a differant country each day with their differant cultures.
I thought the food was excellent on both ships as well as the cleanliness and staff.
My wife was taken ill on the last day of the cruise with either food poisioning or a bug.
We are still awaiting the outcome of correspondence with Thompsons.
I would not bother with the Destiny again but would use the Spirit and I wouldn`t do the Canaries cruise again for the reason stated earlier.
The entertainment is a sticky one, The staff put a show on every night but if you don`t like songs from the shows like myself forget it.
Surprisingly bar prices quite reasonable.
Trips expensive on both boats, you could easily double the price of your holiday.
Staff on both boats superb.
Rodz

This was my first cruise and it was GREAT i had not been looking forwood to this cruise i am in my 50 ish my partner had done a cruise befor said it was ok as we love the caribbean we had a week on land then on the thomson destiny staff all worked very hard.
ship was clean room was small but clean we had a cabin with a window that was nice.
when on holliday i think a good size bed is a must and the bed was small . As we only spent lest then sleap timein the cabin alll was great thank you thomson
regards trish & mick

We have just returned from a christmas cruise onboard the Destiny. We had a fabulous time, the staff bend over backwards for you and are so friendly!! Everything was great, the children loved the kids club, we loved the food, drink and entertainment. The cabin was constantly cleaned and tidied so we didnt have to lft a finger!! There would only be one critisim-the cabin for four people is very small with no option to upgrade. Our parents had a deluxe room which is very spacious, but can only take a maximum of 3 people. I think they should offer larger cabins for 4 people as i does get quite cramped when you are all in there at the same time! Other than that i would really recommend this holiday if you want to completely relax-the added bonus (probably the best part of the holiday!) is waking up somewhere new every day. This was our first cruise and we would definately do it again!!!

We only get the opportunity of going on holiday over the Christmas break due to work and decided to 'push the boat out' as this was to be our first holiday in 2 years. This was to be my first cruise and certainly my last with Thomson's. We paid to upgrade to a room with a port hole which cost £150 and were guarenteed a double bed, but that was not be, the beds were in an L shape and when we asked for the staff to change this we were told it couldn't be changed and that they were not going to try to accomadate this! As for the entertainment, well this is disguisting, it was all aimed at people over 65, 3 bars all playing either piona music or easy listening, there was nothing with a bit of life to it until midnight when the disco kicked in just for all the teenagers to emerge from wherever to listen to acid and garage music!! The other people we met on board all complained how bad it was and we even complained to the cruise direct Gavin Carol who just shruged and said he hoped we enjoy the rest of our holiday, no idea of how to cope with customer complaints. If you are unlucky enough to go on this boat I advise you take a flat pin plug adaptor as european ones don't fit in the cabins. When we mentioned this to reception they said we could buy adaptors in the duty free shop, so we went and the great news was that they do sell adaptors, european adaptors!! So we pointed this out to the reception staff and their great solution was to get ready in the corridors as they have round pin sockets!!! Great customer service for a £2000 holiday.
The ports we sailed into were atrotious with the majority of them being commercial.
I never complain but this was so bad that we have complained to Thomsons who have replied in a such as manner that we are now taking this up with ABTA, as are friends we got to know on the boat who were treated in a worse matter than us.
I have read the other reviews about this holiday and am gob smacked.
I will praise the restruant staff though, very pleasant and the entertainment they provided was 1000 times better than the trash they had in the Can Can (renamed Can't Can't)lounge!

Ship Cleanliness (To be reviewed.)
Ship Food:
Ship Staff:
OnBoard Entertainment:


HI, WERE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR CRUISE ON 2ND NOVEMBER...... WE HAVE HAD GREAT REPORTS ABOUT THIS SHIP AND WILL CERTAINLY WRITE A REVIEW WHEN WE GET BACK. I'LL ALSO ADD PICTURES WHICH WILL BE ADDED TO A WEB GALLERY. I'LL LEAVE THE WEB ADDRESS ON THIS PAGE WHEN WE GET BACK. WIPEEEEEEEEE BON VOYAGE.

this was our first cruise and did the colourful coasts 3 of us girls went and shared an inside cabin would book outside next time nicer to have daylight all the cabins are really quite pokey but you dont spend any time in there really clean we had a stewardess on floor 3 called natali she comes from bulgaria look out for her shes the nicer person you could hope to meet. All of the staff are really pleasant the entertainment team work so hard and after watching hotel entertainment these guys knock the spots of them. captains cocktail party is a must never usually dress up but is was so much fun.we ate at all the places the seven seas, pool bar and lido food is really good im now on a diet though.the chocolate buffet is the best amazing the only prob is its a midnight so we all went to bed feeling a bit sick. if you dont get off anywhere else maderia is the place to go we walked to the cable car rode up in it but then you can come down in the wicker taboggon thats hysterical . if you are thinking about crusing this is the one to do if you have already booked it have no fear you will not be dissapointed

A Special thank you to Gavin Carrol, ships cruise director. The cruise was fantastic, see you early next year. You can view some pictures and video footage by visiting www.davymagee.com

well, we have had a fantastic time aboard Thompson destiny having cruised with other company's before.
when we booked we thought "Thompson" and what a surprise we had we can certainly say this company has it right from the food to the staff to the entertainment we could not find fault with anything the staff really do go out of there way for you their is no stuffiness at all the formal evening is very enjoyable and not one bit over the top the nice thing about this sort of cruise is the choice if you don't like one thing then there's plenty of another to choose from thanks to Ricky our cabin stuard for looking after us and to Edward and his team in the seven seas restaurant and the matradie and his assistant demetrios for a splendid week thanks to all aboard the destiny and see you all again on the 1st of February 2008.

WOW!! just come back from the ship, after doing the colourful coast cruise. & we all miss it loads. It is our second time on this ship, and we have NEVER! been dissapointed. We plan to go again very soon. We all loved the entertainment, A special thanks to the entertainment hosts: KANE, JANE, PAUL, MIKE & RICH. Great fun & very friendly. All the staff work so hard, They could not be more helpfull. We were hard pressed to even want to get off the ship when it docked each day. We truley had a FANTASTIC!! time & and can't wait to go back.
:)

WOW! It gets better and better each time I travel on the Thomson Destiny. I cannot fault it one bit. I travelled on her in April and thought nothing would ever beat it, but this one blew my expectations through the roof.

The weather was fantastic, average daily temp was around 30-35 degrees, so nothing to complain about there! The ship is in good condition, and the guys behind the scenes work very hard in keeping it that way.

The itinerary was very good too, including Gran Canaria - the sand dunes in Maspalomas are outstanding and Madeira - beautiful gardens and flowers (and food). We also had a day at sea which was nice and relaxing and very, very hot! When we were sailing into Lanzarote, we also saw some wild dolphins jumping in and out of the water against the sunrise - something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

The show team were average. I think we were spoilt by the show team in April, as these guys didn't really seem to have that much experience, it was a shame though as that was something I was really looking forward to. They had only been on the ship a week though, so they might well improve as the weeks go on.

The entertainment team were amazing. Special mention to Kane Davies (asst. Cruise Dir), Jayne and Paul. They always go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and are always friendly. When I left, I felt as though I was leaving friends behind. The evening entertainment was good, with things like 'Mr & Mrs', 'Play your cards right', 'Miss Destiny' and 'Your kind of music' There was also a karaoke evening for passengers to sing (or not as sometimes the case was). There was also the daily afternoon quizzes around the family pool. My aim is to win one of these the next time I go onboard.

The live band on board were called Garden Party, and they are from Hungary. The don't speak much english, but they can certainly sign in english - much to their credit.

The Argo Trio were also onboard, usually playing music in the Clipper bar, and sometimes on deck too. They were fantastic also, and always happy to give you a smile and have a chat with you.

The food was exceptional. I normally had breakfast at the Lido Buffet aft of the ship. Theres lots to choose from, such as Pastries, Cereals, Fruit, Toast, and a fully cooked breakfast. Also, there are unlimited amounts of tea, coffe and fruit juices available, as well as chilled water. I had lunch from either the pool grill or the lido buffet, and one day we had a big BBQ at the pool grill, so that was fantastic too. Dinner in the Seven Seas Restaurant was out of this world. We had lovely waiters on our table - Fred and Diaz and Head Waiter - James. Also, Christian our wine waiter was very good - we never had an empty glass once! The food was so tasty and every night there was a different choice for people with different tastes. There was was choice this time than there has been before. Also, the desserts have got better - I'll leave that on to your imagination so I don't make your mouths water!

The cabin was adequate for what we wanted it for - sleeping/getting changed. We were on deck 6 inside and again, it cannot be faulted at all. The cabin stewards Alina and Aylona did an exceptional job in the cabins and made us lots of animals out of the towels. They both looked after us very well indeed. Another special mention to Wint who is another cabin steward on deck 6 and was our cabin steward in April. He is the most professional individual I have ever met. He is so friendly and very, very good at his job. he is always smiling and always there to help you or get something for you if you need it - so if you see WINT onboard on deck 6 - give him a big hug and hello from me.

I'm already looking at booking another cruise for April/May next year onboard Destiny - I have already booked to go on her in January 2009 to the Carribean!!

My advice is that if you are thinking about booking a cruise on Thomson Destiny - do it sooner rather than later, I am certain you will enjoy every minute of it and will not want to leave when the time comes.