We flew on BritanniaAirlines to Tenerife (South) from Cardiff on an afternoon flight Saturday, 9th January 2004 for the 7 day cruise. The flight was about half an hour shorter than expected.
On arrival at Tenerife, the airport was very busy, we had to wait on the plane for quite some time for the bus to take us to the terminal and then an hour or so to claim our luggage. The Thompson reps were great, although it was a bit difficult to find ours in the crowd.
It was dark by the time the coach left the airport, so we didn’t get to see much of Tenerife on the outward leg of the journey. It took about 40 minutes to reach the port, where we were met by another rep, and led into the dockside terminal where the first of our fun photographs were taken, followed by our security photographs and booking in before walking a short way along the dockside and onto the ship where we were immediately greeted and led to our cabin. Or luggage arrived in our cabin a couple of hours later.
At the end of the cruise we were able to check in during the morning at the quayside terminal and leave our luggage. This was an innovation on Thompson’s part, and was a fantastic improvement as it meant that on arrival at the airport we could go straight through to passport control. .
The Cabins
We had an outside cabin on deck 7 with two single beds and ample storage space including 2 spacious wardrobes, two
bedside cabinets, one containing the radio controls, and a long dressing table with a fluffy pouffe and drawers underneath containing the hair dryer and topped by a huge mirror. There was another, full length mirror on the back of the door. Electricity was one American 110v flat pin socket and a second, European round pin 220v socket in the cabin, we had no trouble charging our mobile phones. The lighting was good. TV had UKGold, ITV and Sky News, S4C2 Destination Services Information, 2 Ship’s Movies which ran 6 times a day. Films on offer included ‘It Runs in the Family’; Pirates of the Caribbean’; ‘Daddy Day Care’ and’ The Importance of Being Earnest’. There was also a view from the bridge, and towards the end of the week ‘Treasured Moments’ which was a professional video taken over the week and available for purchase for about £20.00. A telephone in the cabin was fine for contacting other parts of the ship, but ship to shore calls were really expensive, and began from the time you finished dialling whether or not you got connected. There was a razor socket in the shower room.
The shower room had a double mirrored cabinet and more storage under the basin. The toilet was a vacuum flush, the draft could take you by surprise if caught you at the wrong moment! There was plenty of hot water although the second day out ours was a nasty shade of brown, and we hoped this had nothing to do with the sewerage problems they seem to be having in the men’s’ toilets on deck 5. Used towels were changed twice a day, even when we hung them back on the rails.
Services
Room service was available, and reasonably priced, there was also a laundry bag and price list. Launderettes were situated on three decks.. The washers needed a £2 token from reception, powder, drier and irons are all free.
On leaving, cases had to be sealed with a paper sticker for security, and placed outside our doors by midnight the last night of the holidays, and cabins had to be vacated at 9.00 am the following morning. Hand luggage could be left in the card room where someone was on duty to look after it. We paid £30.00 for a day cabin on deck 4. The cabin was almost identical to ours only a bit narrower with a chair instead of the poufee. The towels seemed thinner too. We took the opportunity to look around a number of the other cabins on deck 4, they were all very pleasant. The deluxe cabins on deck 6 to 9 didn’t look a great deal different although some had double beds. they all had a bath as well as shower.
Getting around
The ship has 7 passenger lifts, a bank of 4 lifts amidships, two lifts aft and a single lift forward. We arrived too late to take the ship’s tour, but everything was very well signed, and, for the most part, we had no trouble finding our way around. One oddity was that taking the lift to deck 5, you had to go through the show lounge to get to the Lido Restaurant and deck party. We found our way through the show lounge blocked by closed notices saying not to enter during the show which meant that during showtime the alternative was to go towards the back of the ship on one of the other decks, and then descend.. By the end of the week most people seemed fed up with this and trooped through the show lounge whether or not the doors were closed which seemed a bit of a shame.
The Ship
There was a disabled toilet between the show lounge and Lido Restaurant, other toilets between reception and the Compass Rose Restaurant and more by the Horizons Bar and High Spirits. There might have been others, I didn’t see. The Spirit could definitely have done with more Unlike her sister ship, the Emerald, there were no toilets on the Lido Deck which could be a problem for some, especially during showtime as above.. Another problem arose on the last day of the cruise when people had to leave their cabins at 9.00 am and wait on the ship until late afternoon meaning there were even queue’s in the gents!
Restaurants
The Spirit has 3 restaurants. The Compass Rose had waiter service and open sittings, except for the Captain’s Party on Saturday evening. This meant that you usually got to sit with whoever came into the restaurant at the same time as you did. After a couple of days I noticed people hanging back, presumably waiting for someone they liked the look of to turn up, but we just took pot luck and were very lucky to sit with delightful companions at every meal. The Lido Restaurant is self service and open almost all the time for food and with 24 hour tea and coffee. It has a good choice of dishes including at least one vegetarian option. There was the occasional queue, but this wasn’t a problem, and we’d often take one course away at a time. We often took our meals outside and dined alfresco on Lido Deck, then go back for second helpings or to try something different, often going for a stroll before the next course. There was a small additional serving area on Lido Deck serving continental breakfasts, freshly made pizzas, fantastic burgers, hot dogs, salad and chips. There was also an a la carte restaurant L’Esprit, although the food was so good in the other restaurants we never got around to trying it out..
Entertainment
There are a number of bars, a cinema, show lounge and casino as well as a card room, internet room and library as well as a stage on Lido Deck where there was often a quiz or demonstration.
Shows were put on twice each evening and there were two midnight deck parties during our cruise, as well as a very popular midnight music hall in the show lounge. Elsewhere there was an ‘easy listening’ band who played around the ship. The singer had a tendency to finish on a very long, loud note which was quite painful. I thought I was the only one affected by this, but, during the Captain’s Party, I noticed several of the passengers who’d been dancing on the floor wince and cover their ears so it wasn’t just me! Another group played mostly in the High Spirits Night Club. They had a singer, but seemed to be mostly instrumental. There was also a very good pianist who played around the ship.
Other facilities included sauna and massage, beauty therapy, gym, sports deck, games arcade, teen area and kidszone, as well as two pools, the one on Lido Deck looked rather windswept, I never saw anyone using it but we’d often watch the water slopping from side to side with the motion of the ship, but the pool and Jacuzzi on Bridge Deck seemed a bit warmer and had more use. The Horizons Bar had a panoramic window facing forward where we had a fantastic view coming into Madeira late Tuesday evening. This bar is great for dedicated smokers and also served some good malt whiskies.
We had a choice of either joining the ship at Gran Canaria on Friday, or Tenerife on Saturday. A lot of people take the cruise and stay option. People we spoke to said it was better to have the first week in a hotel, because, not only did you get to join the ship earlier than people arriving on many of the flights, but also, however good the hotels were, they were a bit of a let down after spending a week on the SpiritThe itinerary is easily available so I’ve left it out, in common with all the people we spoke with we found the shore excursions overpriced, and mostly went ashore under our own steam. My only advice to anyone doing this would be to wait to see whether or not the port authority have decided to provide a courtesy bus before jumping into a taxi to the town.
Warning. Although the deluxe cabins and suites are on the upper decks they also got to feel more of the movement. The happiest people seemed to be on the lower ones. Some cabins on Deck 8 have restricted views because of the lifeboats. Deck 7 has a number of deck platforms outside the cabin windows. Unfortunately our entire holiday was affected by lack of sleep Our cabin number 129 had one and it was bad news. The main problem was that this deck was reached via a door adjacent to our cabin door. It was used very frequently, day and night, and used to slam shut with a very sudden and loud noise. Guess there might be a couple of dents in the ceiling where we jumped so much and so high! There was also a fluorescent light right outside the cabin window which shone straight onto my pillow, it was horrendous for country living people like ourselves. There was a seriously restricted view as well as having crew members working outside the window at all hours. When we asked for a different cabin we were told it wasn’t possible. so my advise to anyone who has booked onto Deck 7 is to make sure they don’t book one of these cabins.
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