Flew back from Puerto Plata aboard Thomas Cook Airlines A330-200 G-OJMB. The flight took off five minutes early. Seated in the two seats behind me were two Polish guys and across the aisle in the centre section were their wives and another Polish lady. These passengers thought nothing of being loud and plain obnoxious, drinking Vodka which the lady across the aisle kept hidden from the crew. It was like a game to them, at one point I turned and made eye contact with the woman plying drink to her spouse but she did not seem to care that I saw what was going on. They became louder and even though we had ample legroom they seemed very restless in their seats, much to our own discomfort. In the end I could not endure the flight like that any longer, they obviously were not going to pass out from alcohol intoxication and this was a night flight back across the Atlantic, so I went to the galley and informed the crew who I must say were fantastic. They took action straight away and found a family member on the opposite side of the cabin to translate and it got a bit heated but eventually they handed over the drink and finally they shut up and went to sleep. I have nothing against other nationalities but there comes a point when you think common decency comes into it.

Besides this I thought the legroom on this aircraft was great, again Thomas Cook has finally come into line with First Choice and Thomsonfly with the long-haul product. The In-flight entertainment seemed to lack the music channels again but we had The Golden Compass, The Water Horse and Becoming Jane as movies. We bought some snacks before the meal as we were starving and it was reasonably priced. Our meal was beef which was hot and tasty. Green Pepper Pate and crackers with cheese which was really nice was also served, along with a muffin for dessert.

We had three bouts of turbulence during the flight back, this slowed down any service, which meant the cabin lights stayed on most of the way back till the crew could complete various tasks. The in-flight map showed us arriving about 25 minutes ahead of schedule which was good and as it turned out very accurate. Just before landing the crew passed out a hot breakfast which although it was a nice touch I felt it could have been better. No bacon or sausage, just two tiny hash browns, a mini omelette and some beans (which I hate) Nonetheless it was nice to be offered a little something.

I would highly recommend Thomas Cook for long-haul. I don't however do the same for Manchester airport, who kept us waiting 1.5hrs for our luggage. at 6 in the morning and 7 aircraft in, it was hardly rush hour.