Dream future for cruise ship Europa

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The 1,506-passenger cruise ship Costa Europa is going to a new home – and getting a new name – from April next year, when the vessel will be chartered to Thomson Cruises.
It will be re-named the Thomson Dream, and as the largest ship in the Thomson fleet, will sail seven-night Mediterranean cruises from Palma de Mallorca to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Tunis.
The ship, originally built in 1986 as Homeric, was later stretched and became the Holland America Westerdam before being transferred to Italian line Costa in 2002. It will be sailing its final season for Costa this winter on 18-day itineraries from Savona to Dubai and back, via the Red Sea.
Thomson will be chartering the ship for 10 years, and the deal gives the UK-based company to buy the vessel outright after five years.
Thomson’s director of cruising, David Selby said: “Palma is ideal as a home port. Passengers have a short flight from 22 different UK airports and once there, it is ideally situated to reach a whole host of fantastically varied destinations during a seven night cruise. This latest addition to the fleet reinforces the importance of the cruise market to Thomson and our commitment to its growth.”
A standalone ‘Thomson Dream brochure covering itineraries for Summer 2010 will go on sale on July 16, with prices from £729 per person based on two adults sharing, including return flights and accommodation on a full-board basis. Plans for the Winter 2010/2011 season will be revealed soon.
Any passengers booked on Europa sailings after the scheduled transfer to Thomson will be offered an 11-day cruise with a similar itinerary on Costa Mediterranea, departing from Savona.
Costa may be losing one ship, but they have three more under construction, as well as Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica, which were christened together in Genoa last month.

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 6 July 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|11 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

11 Comments

  1. Traveler 9 July 2009 at 5:30 am - Reply

    I’ve cruised on this ship, and it’s amazing, no matter what cruise line it’s with. These ships are always transferring companies- no matter which one you’re on, a Meditteranean cruise should not be missed. I shopped around a lot and finally found CruiseCompete.com, you can look at all the major cruiselines adn request a quote.

  2. Tina Mcdermott 10 March 2010 at 8:43 pm - Reply

    As i am booked on the thomson dream ship in july i am very concerned at the crash that happened on the costa europa ship which was scheduled to be the thomsin dream ship from april. I think that thomsons should update us as to what is happening here with regard to repairs and future sailings

  3. michelle 15 March 2010 at 3:52 pm - Reply

    I am booked on Thomson Dream in July, I have friends who will be working on this ship and they are saying that everything is on track with the repairs

  4. Paul 23 March 2010 at 11:06 pm - Reply

    Michelle’s comment sounds as if it could be Thomson Cruises Spin. Where is Dream at this moment is it still in Egypt or has it been moved to Palermo. I’m booked on Dream in May and I am very concerned.

  5. Paul 23 March 2010 at 11:10 pm - Reply

    Michelle’s comments sound like Thomson Cruises spin. Does anyone know if Dream is still in Egypt or has it been moved to Palermo. I’m booked for May and I am very concerned.

  6. John Honeywell 24 March 2010 at 1:32 am - Reply

    Paul. I can assure you Michelle’s comments are correct. The ship was patched up in Egypt and is now in Italy for proper repairs to be completed. It will be ready to start sailing under the Thompson flag as scheduled in May – I’ve had my invitation to the re-launch, so you should have no reason to be concerned.

  7. Anton 25 April 2010 at 4:16 pm - Reply

    We sailed on this ship from Majorca to Barcelona when Thomson used it as a ‘rescue’ ship for those stranded due to the Iceland volcano carry on.
    That was on 19th April. It looked to be in fine form although I hope that your food will be better than the fayre that we had! I’m sue it will be for paying guests 😉
    Cruising isn’t my thing but if the constant queueing and matrix like rabbit runs that house the cabins then it might be for you.
    1400 people with that tiny swimming pool though? Hmmmm.

  8. Deborah Jary 1 June 2010 at 9:09 pm - Reply

    I have just returned from a cruise on the Thomson Dream, think it should of been called the Thomson Nightmare.
    Cabins and staff are great, food fab as for the ship well,leaks everywhere, constant smell of sewage inside and out, constant smell of the ships fumes. pump broke down which meant no water at all till next port. And even though we went all inclusive we had to pay for all drinks.You could pay £180 drinks package each(but how could anyone drink £360 worth of drinks in 1 week) and on top of that you still could not get a bottle of water, you pay extra again. one deck got flooded out, nobody in swimming pool as it was like ice, sun beds rusty and old. This was our first ever cruise, never again. Found out Thomsons are doing a refurbishment in October 2010, they should of done this before they started to sail.
    May 18th/25th 2010

  9. Stuart & Pat 6 June 2010 at 7:43 am - Reply

    Interesting! We had the same problem on the Destiny October last. The front end of the ship lost its toilets. Toilets full of sewage, cabins flooding with it. The ship & Thomsons were in denial all week. The food was awful. A terrible holiday on ship but great when off the ship. Thomson should admit they have some problem ships!!!

  10. As 8 June 2010 at 11:12 pm - Reply

    Got back today it was not what I consider a cruise from a TOP? holiday company, smell of sewage, diesel, no air conditioning, the ship springs up leaks from the strange places, ie during a show water began leaking from the ceiling, in short I was sold a dudd, whoever signed to say it was suitable for passenger service should be exposed and sacked! No apologies from customer services and I wonder how many customer questionnaires come to light?? Don`t even Dream about it!!!!!

  11. Tony Bilsborugh 14 October 2010 at 10:02 pm - Reply

    Well reading the above has me a little concerned we sail on 08/12/10 calling in Spain,Portugal, Mederia then sailing across the Atlantic.
    This will take 6 days to get across been taking Swimming leason just incase.

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