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The Shippletts
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21-06-2008 06:13 PM
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Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 74
My Profile
| I know lots of people have asked about what to wear but one quick question.... Can I wear my smart ish jeans in the seven seas on a normal evening if i wear a smart top with them??? I like to dress up but not every night if possible . Thank youuuuuuu 7 weeks 4 days to go
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nanabo
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22-06-2008 12:05 PM
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 566
My Profile
| I dont think so, if you want to do that then you can always go to the self service buffet. My hubby said he wouldn't dare, might feel out of place
BO
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My Latest Review: Jul 2007 Renaissance Harbourside Hotel, Vancouver (10/10)
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deco36
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23-06-2008 07:48 PM
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Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 15
My Profile
| yeah of course you can wear your jeans i wore my jeans about everynight in the seven seas resturant last year and nothing was said smart but casual have a good cruise you will love this ship
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mtek
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24-06-2008 10:53 PM
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Joined: 26 Jun 2007
Posts: 43
My Profile
| Hi, having just come back from 2 weeks on the Thomson Calypso jeans are acceptable (with as you say a smart top). However there will be plenty of people on board who will look down on jeans in the evenings - I saw this several times. Just ignore them. Jeans can be just as dressed up as a DJ or cocktail dress - it just depends on the top that is worn and the confidence (and lest face it - figure) they are worn with. On the Thomson ships I have never seen anyone turned away from any of the restaurants for wearing jeans except on the formal night. Enjoy your cruise.
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quizzer
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25-06-2008 07:13 PM
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Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 38
My Profile
| Hi Mtek are you writing a review of your cruise on the Calypso, ?.My wife and I are on that ship in July 2009 and would love to know more,ive read all the reports on here for the ship. .kind regards Quizzer
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nanabo
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25-06-2008 08:44 PM
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 566
My Profile
| Hi Mtek, lets know what the Calypso is like this year, we were on last year and I have heard their are some changes to cabins etc. We sail in two weeks and cant wait to chill out on deck. Has the price of drinks gone up in price? and can you pay for AI upgrade
bo
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My Latest Review: Jul 2007 Renaissance Harbourside Hotel, Vancouver (10/10)
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mtek
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25-06-2008 11:00 PM
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Joined: 26 Jun 2007
Posts: 43
My Profile
| Hi Quizzer and Bo. Will write a review as soon as I can get the time. At the moment its hectic at work. Quizzer I have some photos which I will send you but not as many as I would have liked as part of the cruise was blighted by the news that one of my favourite waiters from the Emerald (Panos - if any of you had cruised on the Emerald you might remember he worked with George who is now one of the head waiters on the Calypso) well poor Panos died during the winter in an unfortunate incident. I was very fond of him as he was a truly nice human being.
Bo - I have no knowledge of anything being done with the cabins. Mine was on the same deck as last year, on the same corridor and with the same cabin stewardess. They did have new bed covers and (I think) new carpets. All cabins are now non smoking but when I mentioned to Violetta that I was being very good and not even thought about smoking in the cabins she first pointed out the new fire detector system and the next day there was an ashtray in my cabin!!!
Food this year is better than last and there is a new Maitre'D who is a really nice guy - from Limassol in Cyprus. At first I thought he was rude and abrupt but as the days went by I realised that embarkation day is not the best for any of the staff.
A lot of the bar and dining room staff are the same and they even play the same tape on a loop in the sunshine bar. The executive chef is the same as are most of the front office staff.
Bo - you might remember Paris, the Chief Purser from last year - he had been bar manager on the Emerald and was on the Destiny some years during its winter cruises. He is back on the Emerald and the new bar manager is a nice guy but does not get involved.
The entertainment is (in my opinion) better than last year - I did not see a lot of it but the piano/violin duo and the group in the Captain's Club are a lot better - so much so that this year I actually did stop to listen to them for a few minutes whereas last year the only entertainment I encountered in the Captain's Club was as a result of being in the smokers corner at the casino.
There are more sunbeds than last year and even on sea days there was no problem in finding a bed even in the afternoon. I think this could have been because the weather was very hot when I was on and people had an hour or so and then retreated under the awning in the Sunshine Bar.
Last year I was aware that Paula in Destination Services did give a lot of information on doing it yourself in port but this year this was better organised in that on arrival there are reasonably informative leaflets in cabins on all the ports and the public transport systems. For example we docked in Aghios Nikalaos in Crete. On the Thomson website they advertise a trip to the former leper colony of Spinalonga. On the ship there was no mention of this trip but Paula pointed out the boats that ran independent trips and had recommendations as to which was best depending on whether one wanted a swim stop or not. That is progress.
In terms of dining one of the things which puzzled me this year was the very small number of people who ate in the dining room at breakfast and lunch. The extra breakfast items in the dining room such as kippers were no longer there when I was on the ship in June. Why bother if no one wants to eat them I suppose. I spoke to one of the waiters and he told me that the food budget per person per day is 5 euro!!!
The shops and the beauty salon were no different from last year but the photo gallery was. There is only one photographer and instead of printing out masses of photos which one has to wade through he only prints the embarkation ones and the others are on the computer. So you have to go up when he is on duty and scroll through the shots and if you want to order any he prints them straight away. A much better idea in terms of costs but it is not explained to passengers so some people did not get the photos they wanted.
The doctor is the same as last year and due to a number of medical issues on board which everyone got to hear about he is a bit of a hero and a number of women of a certain age showed signs of developing a crush on him.
What really annoyed me is that even people who had paid a lot of money for their cruise seemed to think they were being short changed. In Corfu it was raining heavily which was bad enough to start the moaners. But it got worse. There was some sort of public transport strike and all trips were cancelled. There was an RCI ship next to us and a Costa ship behind us and when the moaning got to a peak it escalated even further when it was clear that RCI had managed to get buses for its passengers. However I could hear the English announcement on the Costa ship confirm the transport strike. Yet people on the Calypso were suggesting that it was Thomson's fault because they (perhaps) did not pay the excursion company enough. This went on for the rest of the week.
In Santorini there was the usual announcement in the Cruise News that due to the number of ships in port at the time there would be queues for the cable car at certain times. From the upper deck I could see those queues at 10am just to ascend. Yet there were people I spoke to who said the Cruse News said the queues would be "from 12.00 to 2.30" and then moaned when they got back on the ship as is they were ill informed.
One negative. I was on deck 2 and a couple of cabins up from where I was last year. On several occasions I could smell what seemed like sewage from the shower drain. I did not complain as it was not that strong and with steam and shower gel etc it soon disappeared. However on a couple of occasions in the dining room for late seating my table companions said they could smell something like a "stink bomb". I did not smell anything but on one night a waiter was doing the rounds of the lower area of the dining room with an aerosol under a napkin and attempting to (discretely) spray an air freshener into the room. Unfortunately as he passed by our table he was a little too vigorous in his efforts. However it did not spoil any of our dinners.
Second negative. I do wish that Thomson would do away with the all inclusive. I had this but all I ended up with was tonic and gin rather than gin and tonic but also it seems to encourage a certain element on their ships who just want to drink their body weight in alcohol over the week (or two). Also I wish they would stop saying that tips are included. They could very well be paying a number of staff a lot in tips but on the last night the dining room was less than half full. It appears that a lot of people decided to eat in the bistro that night in case they were expected to tip their waiters. The opposite was true - one the last night I had to ask one of the waiters to go get the other one and the wine waiter in order that I might give them a little something extra.
This has nearly been a full review and I will post a proper one soon. Just to say that on the second or third night I considered cancelling an Island Star cruise to the Caribbean in December in order to return to the Calypso for her last two cruises of this season. Now I am home it does not look (work wise) that this will be possible. However I am already booked for 2 weeks in June next year and 9 days in October followed by the last cruise around Israel and Egypt. Thomson have leased this ship for three years so 2009 will be her last year with Thomsons. I love cruising on smaller ships and I know this one has her problems but when you (as happened to me this year) walk on board and a cabin stewardess is showing you to your cabin and another cabin stewardess is going back to her post and she looks at you and does a double take and then says your name and remembers you for 9 months before then you know you are almost at home. OK the cynical could suggest that she has seen the cabin allocation and is after a tip but on the second night waiting to go into the Captain's Cocktail Party (and looking a lot different from last year) Paula from Destinations Services who is managing the queue suddenly swoops on you and remembers (what was not a particularly significant night in Istanbul last year) then you really know that Thomson have got the service issue right. This has never happened to me on RCI, NCL, Cunard, P&O, Island or any of the other ships I have cruised on.
If Thomson lose the Calypso next year then they will lose a gem. Small (OK tiny), child free, personal service and could gain a cult following. For an answer to a post this has gone on far too long - sorry.
The drink prices I don't think have changed from last year - I have a price list somewhere so if anyone wants specifics then feel free to ask. I also have kept copies of the Cruise News and the excursion guides. Marie
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quizzer
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25-06-2008 11:53 PM
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Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 38
My Profile
| Hi Marie , its almost midnight ,i arrived home from a pub quiz and just sat reading your latest info,,first of all i'm saddened that a crew member you knew has died.But my goodness cannot wait for full review .it will be great seeing photos too . kind regards Quizzer
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