The Pier // Cruise Ships // Mid-Size Ship // Thomson Destiny
Originally built for Royal Caribbean International, the ship was sold to MyTravel/Sun Cruises in1999 which pulled out of cruise vacations and ship ownership in 2004. It is now the largst ship in the Thomson Cruises fleet (on chrter until 2011). The all white ship now refurbished is smart looking with nicely rounded lines, sharply raked bow and a single funnel with a cantilevered wrap around called the ChartRoom (a fine place from which to observe the world around and below you).
Thomson Destiny is best suited for adult couples, singles taking their first or second cruise and families with children all seeking a modern but not glitzy ship with a wide array of public lounges and bars, a middle-of-the-road lifestyle with food andentetainment that is quite acceptable rather than fancy and a British ambience.
Thomson Destiny in Sta. Cruz, Tenerife on December 1, 2011. Photo: Dex Sularte
| CruiseLine: | ThomsonCruises |
| EnteredService: | December 1982 /May 2005 |
| OriginalCost: | $140million |
| Builder: | Wartsila (Finland) |
| Formernames: | Sunbird, Song of America |
| Gross Tonnage | 37,773tons |
| Length: | 214.88m |
| Beam: | 28.40 m |
| Registry: | The Bahamas |
| Passengers: | 1,611 |
| Crew: | 540 |
| NavigationOfficers: | International |
Extracted from the Berlitz CompleteGuide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2010 http://www.berlitzpublishing.com/
Thomson Cruises’ first foray into cruising was in 1973 when it chartered two ships, Calypso and Ithaca (Ulysses Line). It was not a success and the company withdrew from cruising two years later. The company started again in 2002 after seeing rival tour operator Airtours operate ships sucessfully. Unlike Airtours’ Sun Cruises, which no longer exists, Thomson Cruises charters its ships instead of owning them outright.. The company operates cruises for the whole family aboard its small fleet of ships. It also operates sub-brand Island Cruises, with just one ship for the ultra-casual market. The onboard curreny is the British pound and basic gratuities are inluded. The company owns its own airline, Thomsonfly (part of the TUI avel group).
