Tasty News on Thomson Cruise!

Sorry to all you foodies out there that think this may be a update on an another fantastic dining concept or another Super Chef linking up with one of the major cruise lines.

No need for these guy’s for today’s tasty news!

My update this week has some news which I think is much better than anything like that although I’m not sure all will agree. The cruise industry which I work in is vast and has so many cruise lines and ships constantly evolving and trying to out do each other. Sometimes in my opinion cruise lines change and not always for the better of the customer and I do wonder if the “it’s not broken why fix it” moto is ever contemplated. I know we constantly have new technology and can build  new things bigger and better but is that what everyone wants? I don’t think so, well not all the time anyway.

When I first started working in travel the systems were so very different to what they are today and we used a system called viewdata to search and book holidays, for anyone who has worked in travel you will have really fond memories of this. For anyone who never worked in travel this is an a analog system ( so that means it’s really old and has been around for ever ). One of the company’s who uses this still in retails stores and for company’s such as Cruise.co.uk to book on is Thomson holidays. The first ever cruise booking I did was a Thomson cruise booking on this system. Now that was a while ago and whilst I have always liked the Thomson product and have actively promoted this whilst working on the high street a change happened. Thomson decided that they wanted to cut out the middleman who had served them so well and drive as many people as they could directly to book online by offering them a cheaper price.

The old ones are the good ones the Viewdata booking system!

They forgot that we were the people who had been filling there ships for them by telling people that they were perfect for a first cruise or just a quick week away. They had loads of local flights from all over the country not just London like some of the larger cruise lines. They had great itinerary’s and cruise and stay options. Good early booking offers and great late deals, they were one of the first cruise lines to offer an all inclusive drinks package. They include gratuities in the price so need to tip. Everything was in pounds, It was all British with food and entertainment to suit. They had nice sized ships that people grew to love and became repeat guests, they would go on other cruises which mainly are a higher standard but would always consider Thomson if they had something they liked the look of.

The venue for really popular shows on Thomson Celebratio

It became harder and harder as retail agent to sell them as the cut commission paid and put massive online discounts on so you would find that we would give all the information and recommend the product. Customer would research a little more at home or on android phones in front of you and see a much cheaper online price and you would loose the booking purely on that basis but get thanked for you service. For a while that worked for Thomson but then as the cruise industry boomed and people have more choice than ever before on who to cruise with and where to, what standard they would like 3-6 star. Thomson started taking a hit, they did not have the support they had enjoyed before and they had lost all the knowledgeable staff who could or would fill there ships for them. Now whilst I would personally offer to a customer if I thought it was right for them I know a lot of the travel industry would always try and switch to something else, which is not the best way to do business for anyone.

So the fantastic tasty news I have this week is that after a long, long time Thomson have come back to a select few in the cruise industry and asked that we once again fill there ships for them and they will give us a fair deal if we do. This means that we are  now be able to give you our advice and expertise and the price that we have previously been held back from. So once again we can tell you all about the fantastic product they offer which is still essentially the same as before, with great service and value and local flights!  The ships have changed and got a little larger and newer but most of the people who have been on a Thomson cruise before would go with them again and I for one will welcome them back with open arms.

It is a Dream to be selling Thomson Cruise on an even keel again ( see what I did there! )

I did two booking for them last week and not only was the customer lovely I had so much fun going back on to viewdata to do a booking for the first time in a while.

If you are thinking of booking with Thomson then Cruise.co.uk really is the place to do it. We have all the knowledge in the world and the best prices on Thomson cruises too. I’m just glad I’m not still on the high street as they are still unable to get the prices that we can now.

Call me now on 0800 408 6152  or email me at [email protected] to check availability and prices