Dream cruise turns into a nightmare

NO going back . . . Chris and Denise fell ill on board the Thomson Dream cruise ship

A horrified couple have spoken of their ordeal on board a cruise ship as they tried to celebrate their anniversary.

Christopher and Denise Gleave, of Miriam Street, Failsworth, shelled out £3,500 for a two-week Thomson Dream Caribbean cruise to celebrate 35 years since they met.

But halfway through the holiday, they both suffered serious gastric illness with symptoms including diarrhoea and stomach cramps.

Despite medication and quarantine on the ship, the pair continued to suffer for some weeks after they arrived home.

Mr Gleave, a self-employed photographer, said: “When I’m not working, I’m losing out, so this situation has been a disaster.

“On the first night there was a fire in the engine room when we were 130 miles out at sea — they carried on with one engine. There was no refrigeration for the food, there was a terrible smell of sewage everywhere and the water was brown. Lots of people got off the ship because they were so ill — I can only describe it as ‘Delhi belly’. Everything about the trip was dreadful. We will never use Thomson again.”

Thomson claimed the ship was new and luxurious but it was actually 24 years old and sailing under a new name.

Lawyers are now urging owners of the ship to provide reassurance over hygiene procedures after being contacted by concerned passengers for the second year running.

Clive Garner, head of travel law at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Last year we had requests for assistance from over 400 passengers who travelled on this cruise ship, so to be receiving calls about cruises that took place this year is unacceptable.

“Passengers who have travelled on the Thomson Dream are furious that their luxury break has ended with them suffering severe illness having stayed on a ship that was nothing like tour operator Thomson had advertised.”

Thomson Cruises refutes any claims of hygiene issues on board its ship.

A spokeswoman said: “At Thomson Cruises, the health and safety of our customers is our primary focus and we are genuinely concerned to hear of any illnesses reported.

Thomson Cruises strictly monitors all the ships in our fleet to ensure that the strictest health, safety and hygiene levels our customers expect, are maintained.

“Over 15,000 passengers have travelled on the Thomson Dream in January, February and March alone.

“We are incredibly proud of our latest customer satisfaction scores, with 90 per cent rating the cruise overall as either excellent or good for food quality, entertainment and service.

“Thomson Cruises can confidently assure passengers due to travel on Thomson Dream over the coming months that not only will they receive the high level of service, entertainment and experience they would expect, but it will also be delivered on a ship that implements an extremely high standard of hygiene.

“We would be happy to address the issues raised by Mr and Mrs Gleave directly, however as they have decided to seek legal advice, we are unable to comment further.”