Thomson Cruises has unveiled its winter 2017 programme that, due to customer demand, sees long-haul a focus with more ships based in the Caribbean than ever before and new ports of call added.
From November 2017, Thomson Celebration will move to its new homeport of La Romana, Dominican Republic, so that, for the first time in its history, Thomson Cruises will have three of its ships based in the Caribbean. All-inclusive ships TUI Discovery and new addition TUI Discovery 2 will join Thomson Celebration and will sail out of Bridgetown, Barbados, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, respectively.
Thomson Celebration’s move to the Dominican Republic means that Thomson Cruises customers now have more opportunities to team their cruise holiday with a beach stay, with Thomson’s 5T Sensatori Resort Punta Cana, which was a new addition for summer 2016, among the properties added to the portfolio. The addition of this tropical island retreat also means new itineraries, with Coral Islands and Caribbean Gems calling at exotic hotspots such as St Lucia, Grenada and Antigua, as well as lesser known gems such as St Maarten and Martinique.
Guatemala’s port, Santo Tomas de Castilla, is introduced on new itinerary Exotic Explorer on TUI Discovery 2, as well as Nassau in The Bahamas as part of repositional itinerary Atlantic Discoveries. Due to significant customer demand, the number of Cuban Fusion sailings on the new ship will be increased, giving customers more chance to explore Havana during its overnight stop.
Recently named ‘Best New Ship’, TUI Discovery will sail new itineraries Tropical Horizons and Seven Isles from Barbados, which include new ports of call St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Richard Sofer, Managing Director, Thomson Cruises, said: “We are really excited about the introduction of the Dominican Republic as Thomson Celebration’s base for next winter. This is the first time we will have had three ships in the Caribbean and that means we can continue to offer more choice and flexibility to our customers, who we know are looking more and more for holidays further afield.”
Thomson Airways flights now take Thomson Cruises customers to the Caribbean from Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, East Midlands, Glasgow, Newcastle and London Stansted airports, joining existing flights from Birmingham, Manchester and London Gatwick.
European Cruises
Thomson Dream will move to its new mid-haul homeports of Santa Cruz, Tenerife and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in November 2017 to explore the Canaries on itineraries such as the new A New Year’s Dream, which visits new port of call Porto Santo, as well as its New Year’s Eve visit to Funchal, Madeira, for its famed fireworks display.
Thomson Majesty and Thomson Spirit will both embark on their last sailings in November 2017 before they leave the Thomson Cruises fleet. Thomson Spirit will be based in Limassol, Cyprus, and will head off for the first time on the 15th November 2017, while Thomson Majesty will leave its homeport of Malaga, Spain, for its final sailing on 19th November.
The winter 2017 programme is now on sale. Free all-inclusive upgrades are available on selected cruises onboard Thomson Celebration, Thomson Dream, Thomson Majesty and Thomson Spirit, which set sail between November 2017 and April 2018. TUI Discovery and TUI Discovery 2 offer all-inclusive package as standard.
How likely would it be for Thomson to launch ex-Dublin flights in winter 2017 to meet the Caribbean cruise ships? i.e. Dublin – La Romana or even Bridgetown? I reckon it would go down well, as they do well on sales in the Med.