Thomson set sail to the Middle East

When you book your cruise do you go more for the ship or the destination? With many of the newer ships which are launching and already afloat they are too big to do many ports of call, take for example the Oasis Class in RCI’s fleet at 225,000 Gross tons they are rather limited to what ports they can do because not only the size of the ship but the amount of passengers, would you want to try and get a tender with over 5,000 other passengers? I think not.

It is one of the things I love about Celebrity, they have mid-sized ships and carry less passengers than they could, and even the 2 new Project Edge ships which are still in the planning are actually smaller than the current Solstice Class ships.

However Celebrity are known for having some of the best itineraries, hence forth why they are so popular but for budget they can be rather expensive, although I think they are worth it, just to sneak in a little cruise somewhere Celebrity can push the budget over the top.

So you have to book a bigger ship to get a better deal and miss out on the destinations? Wrong! Why not try Thomson? They don’t have the big flamboyant ships, Ice skating rinks or surf machines (although this will change will the additional of the Thomson Discovery joining the fleet next year as it is Ex Royal Caribbean) but if you speak to a past passenger most will rave about the overall experience they have had, in surveys Thomson have collected onboard they receive high ratings on the entertainment and the food and overall cleanliness of the ships.

I must admit when I think about Thomson the best way to describe them is as a floating hotel.

Well it gets more exciting as Thomson have announced it will base of its ships in Dubai for the first time ever next year, this will join Royal Caribbean, MSC and Costa who currently base ships there, also it will be the first year that Celebrity will home port in the Middle East with the Constellation out of Abu Dhabi.

Thomson Celebration which holds a pleasant 1,254 passengers will offer two seven night itineraries from Dubai from December 2016. They are due to go on sale in November.

Not only this, it will also be the first time that some airports have had the option to fly to Dubai as Thomson will put 6 UK regional airports on, Cardiff, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and London Gatwick.

Both 7 night itineraries will overnight in Dubai and give you time to explore the city, you would also be able to back to back the itineraries for a long cruise. Arabian Nights and Cities of Gold are the two routes and will visit ports such as Manama in Bahrain, Doha in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates and Khasab and Muscat in Oman.

If you are a Cruise and Stay fan, Thomson will also have a selection of hotels so you can extend for a week in Dubai should you wish.

Managing Director for Thomson Cruises Helen Caron said: “At Thomson Cruises we know that destinations are one of the key deciding factors for our customers and our decision to set sail from Dubai will allow holiday-makers to see and experience more destinations than ever before. As Dubai becomes more and more popular for winter sun and incredible excursions, we know our customers will be as excited as we are to welcome this destination to our programme.”

So would you be tempted to dip a toe in the Thomson Pool to see Dubai?