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New Thomson ship prepares to set sail
Thomson’s new ship Celebration hosted the 25th Passenger Shipping Association annual dinner last night before entering service.
The vessel, formerly Holland America Line’s Noordam, carries 1,254 passengers and will depart from Southampton today on a two-night taster cruise to Guernsey.
This will be followed by 14-night cruise on May 8 to Bilbao, Lisbon, Cadiz, Motril, Gibraltar, Portimao, La Coruna, St Malo and Le Havre.
On May 22 it departs for a night sailing to Dublin, the Scilly Isles and Guernsey before repositioning in Newcastle on May 27 for a series of departures from the North East.
It is the first time Thomson has operated from UK ports with the ship sailing from Southampton, Newcastle and Harwich to Ireland, the Channel Islands, Mediterranean, Norwegian Fjords and to several cities in Northern Europe, over a five-month season.
Facilities on the refurbished vessel include three restaurants, five bars, two lounges, cinema, show lounge, two swimming pools, night club, casino, kids zone, health club/gym, an email lounge, library and card room.
Thomson has doubled its cruise fleet to four ships for this summer by adding the Thomson Celebration, sister ship to Thomson Sprit, and the Thomson Destiny.
Report by Phil Davies
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