Thomson Cruises, part of the Anglo-German TUI AG group, has unveiled plans for its brand new ship, Thomson Discovery, including a whole host of new dining options, a sleek new design and the announcement of its entertainment and hotel providers in order to modernise the fleet and the on board customer experience.
Customers on board Thomson Discovery will have eight dining venues to choose from, including two new signature restaurants – Snack Shack and Gallery 47 ˚. Located on the pool deck and themed around brightly coloured, iconic British beach huts, Snack Shack is a fun, ‘festival-style’ eatery serving grill foods such as quesadillas, and nachos during the day and popcorn and cocoa on film nights.
The second signature venue is Gallery 47˚, located in the upstairs of the main restaurant, this venue will serve contemporary Italian food, as voted for by over 4,000 customers.
The ship’s exterior will also receive a brand new look and feel, guaranteed to turn heads in port. The dynamic wave design accentuates the sleek hull profile and echoes aircraft livery which also uses a wave design.
Also announced is the news that PEEL Entertainment Group has been awarded the contract for on-board entertainment on Discovery and The Apollo Group has been awarded the contract for the hotel provision. PEEL has been the live entertainment partner since the launch of Thomson Cruises in 2003 and together with Thomson, they have grown the award-winning programme into a product which is much-loved by passengers.
The appointment of The Apollo Group on Thomson Discovery follows its take-over as the hotel supplier on Thomson Dream and Thomson Celebration in November 2014; a move that saw customer satisfaction go from strength to strength. Apollo are well-versed in hotel operations and their dedication to excellence has seen them supplying innovative hotel services in the cruise industry for over 40 years.
Managing Director of Thomson Cruises, Helen Caron, said: “I’m really delighted to start unveiling our plans for Thomson Discovery as we are now just six months away from the launch. A big focus of our strategy is to modernise our on-board customer experience. On Discovery we’ll be offering our customers more choice and balance so they can really personalise their cruise with us. I’m confident the new signature restaurants, together with other exciting on board features, will delight our current cruise customers while attracting new ones too, especially families.
“The contracts for both suppliers will also play a key role in delivering the modernisation and pushing the boundaries of the on board customer experience push the boundaries of the on-board experience, with agreements for new shows and modernising and making changes to food and beverage offering for customers to be announced as Thomson Cruises delivers its modernisation plans.”
Based in Palma from June 2016, Discovery will be the largest in the fleet with a capacity of 1,830 across 915 cabins – almost 40 per cent of which will offer balconies. In addition to the extensive dining choices, the family-friendly ship boasts an outdoor movie screen, rock climbing wall and eight bars and lounges.
The new ship’s summer 2016 itineraries – Highlights of the Mediterranean, Cosmopolitan Classics, Mediterranean Secrets and Magic of Spain – will take in some of the most popular European spots, including Naples (for Pompeii) in Italy and Barcelona and Cadiz (for Seville) in Spain and customers, particularly families, will be able to make the most of the programme with Saturday sailings and flights from 19 regional airports across the UK and Ireland.
Thomson is continuing to fulfill its ambition of expanding the portfolio of destination-intensive itineraries with the announcement that Thomson Discovery will depart from its new home port in Barbados for winter 2016 offering customers an all new ‘no sea day’ Seven Shores Caribbean itinerary. Ports of call include Bridgetown, Barbados; Fort de France, Martinique; Roseau, Dominica; Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe; Castries, St Lucia; Kingstown, St Vincent and St George’s, Grenada.
