Island Cruises, Island Star Reviews

shell2370's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Good Points: Staff friendly and well mannered. Food good and casual dress code. No set meal times but needed to eat 1930 to 2130 for Island Star Resturant.

Bad Points: Room filthy, not cleaned properly for weeks, empty cigarette packet under bed, we do not smoke, needed slippers as carpet filthy and flip flops in shower and bathroom the photos are horrifying . Disgusting and not acceptable for a Christmas and New Year Cruise. Smoking on board. Poor entertainment. Trips expensive and not value for money. Always being rushed and only had 10 minutes to enjoy waterfalls and 20 minutes at the volcanoes. Paid adult prices and could have child price entrance fees under 16. Old and tatty ship with out of date entertainment and casino . Poor effort for Christmas and New Year, we wish we stayed at home.All the kids were bored all the time on board and used the lifts and stairs as playthings much to the annoyance of others. Toilets old and not maintained during disembarkation. On boarding, no toilet roll, dirty and smelly toilets.

General comments: What a disappointing Christmas and New Year on the Island Star. Only one deck party in 15 nights, poor entertainment and like a 2 star floating hotel. Party of two adults and two teens, most evening entertainment for adults only and teenagers bored from start to finish as most of the teen zone did not happen and take place. Trips of the ship 3x the cost of local tours of the Caribbean. Tours cancelled and still waiting for a refund three weeks later. A very poor effort for Christmas with one small tree in guest relations and one even smaller tree on ship, a poor atmosphere and hardly any effort put in by the Islands Star. New Year a little more effort with balloons and hats and party below deck but NOTHING for the children of all ages to do. A very tired and worn out dirty smelly ship that is going to be the Thompson Destiny 09 so beware this is not a cruise that I would wish you on for the holiday of a lifetime. Shopping is a joke as prices dearer than the UK. With only two small shops and some tables put out like a car boot sale. The casino is full of old American slots that have seen better days and the kids arcade zone costs £1.00 for 20 seconds of gaming a complete rip of f games also years old pac man ect. Cans of coke at £1.45 and cocktails at £2.60 upwards. Nothing else to do on ship except swim and jacuzzi if you do not mind ruining your swimwear in the chlorine which was way to strong and stained all clothing and hurt your eyes. Use the spa most treatments are from £45-100.00. The Gym several cycling and running machines, weights and balls. Expensive for personal trainer. What a nightmare from start to finish and we are looking forward to Islands Star reply to our 10 page letter of complaint & horrifying photos. We flew with Thomas Cook and even the aeroplane was tatty old with a glass mirror stuck with duck tape, the seats we were in we even had to hand hold the TV which is difficult when disabled.Still no reply or refunded trip as of 21/1/09 appalling customer service and yet you take the payments instantly!

cherilee's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Been cruising before, but this was the first on time Island Cruises. We did the Caribbean 15 night cruise in December 2008.
After a 10hr flight we got to the port and sat in the heat for an hour and half before they let us off. No one knew what they were doing. We then had to queue in a shed for another hour and half before we actually got on the ship very late, and there was no-one to show us where to go, and our luggage didn't arrive in our cabin until 11.00pm, so not a good start..
Now to th ...

j rintoul's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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This was the best experience of my life and I have been abroad a lot, you just cant beat this everyone on this boat were top drawer no kid. 7 days was not long enough. True bliss

gaelden's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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1st cruise, 2 adults 2 teenagers. On entering our cabin for first time, it stunk of sewage. At every port bad smell of sewage and diesel. Food in beachcomber was barely warm, coffee and tea was in a plastic cup. Entertainment wasn't all that good. Pestered a lot to buy drinks, soon learnt to say no. Ship looked tired and worn out decor. We paid thousands for this cruise, to be honest, never again, most certainly not on the Island Star.

Guest's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Just got back and had a wonderful time - quite a pleasant surprise as it was our first cruise. Quite a broad spectrum of people on board, from various backgrounds......suspend your preconceptions and enjoy it, we did, and absolutely loved it.

Andy Pettitt's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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2 adults and 2 kids had a great week. Arrival and check-in was smooth - no hanging around. Cabin was kept spotless with clean linen and towels. Plenty to do for the kids who enjoyed the shows. Didn't go on organised trips as this would have been very expensive for 4 but made our own way around in the ports with plenty of local info available on ship and in the ports.Food was generally OK but the "themed" nights were disappointing as they seemed frightened to be really authentic with spicy foods ...

markandheather's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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We were first time cruisers and having booked we then looked at the reviews! With some concern we set off and have to say that the whole process ran VERY smoothly with very limited queuing. We were pleasantly surprised by the whole experience and have included some detail below. For mass catering the food was VERY good - plenty of choice and good quality - and the Island restaurant (formal seating for buffet service) was just right for an informal atmosphere. We were always asked if we wanted ...

Lyne's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Dirty, smelly, stained carpets worn out towels and sheets, plastic plates and cups, unprofessional senior staff including the captain, rude waiting on staff. I am so disappointed with the Island Star and this stressful low standard excuse for a cruise.

J Wilk 7's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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We took cruise on Island Star from 30/8/08 to 07/9/08 for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Could not have had a better time. We would definitely go again.

itbytes's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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This was our first cruise and we all enjoyed it so much we can't wait to go again. The "cashless" system on board was very well thought out and worked very well (although it is very easy to get carried away spending!) The staff were always friendly and helpful and the rooms were kept spotless - we especially liked the "towel animals" our steward left us each day. I couldn't get over how much the ship was cleaned. The captain was very down to earth and joined in a lot of the fun. There was al ...

Guest's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Our first cruise and wasn't disappointed at all, the crew were fantastic especially the bar man at the Sailaway bar 'top deck'. Food choice was vast and plentiful. Would highly recommend this ship to anyone! Great all round

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No more to say just fantastic. Every think was just fantastic, this is our second trip on the Island Star we sailed on the 16/08/08 returned on the 23/08/08.
from start to finish it was as I said fantastic.
Cant wait for our next trip.

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Top holiday, couldn't have asked for more. Absolutely everything was great. I'd recommend to all.

MadMod's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Fantastic holiday on the Island Star cruise, loads to do on board for adults and children. Different places to eat to suit all tastes and huge range of food available 24/7. Great places to visit even if the excursions were a bit pricey. Spacious cabins. Staff couldn't do enough for you and were very polite.

Only one problem, towels left on sunbeds all day long - the bar staff did try to remove towels but got a barrage of abuse from the guilty parties.

herbinator's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Fantastic, the staff were all very helpful. The food was good and a great choice. The entertainment was great every day and evening. Plenty to do for the kids. The spa was a godsend. Hair straighteners didn't work in room. The rooms were very spacious and airy. Good choice of ports and excursions, although we thought Messina was a bit boring, Barcelona was great for all the family, boys went to football stadium and girls went shopping, overall a fantastic holiday cant wait to go again.

PETER2512's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Very pleasant and helpful staff, cabin very clean, food very good. Even though on Sapphire deck room very noisy from deck above, thought roly polys were doing a turn, not funny between midnight - 4 00am though, (don't stay in cabin 1025, half expected to see Samuel L Jackson on reception desk when I complained, if you've seen the film room 1408 you will know what I mean). Otherwise very enjoyable 1st time cruise and still booked for next year but in a different cabin

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For a first time cruise we couldn't have picked a friendlier ship. General cleanliness was very good. Food there was a varied choice of menu and if there was something that wasn't on menu, i.e Chicken nuggets for the children the chefs would cook it especially for you, a great help for picky children. All in all crew very friendly and they always put that little bit of extra attention to the children on board to make them feel special. Nice Touch!!!

firsttimer's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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On the one night of poor weather that we had whilst on the Island Star, the Captain showed his experience and altered course and adjusted speed so that we hardly noticed the storm. The Shore excursions are a bit expensive and I am glad to see they have dropped Palermo for next season as we found it absolutely filthy and not recommended. Favourite stop was Mahon. The quality of entertainment in the Bounty Lounge and the Ocean theatre was first class, although as a non smoker I could not enjoy the ...

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Arrived home Saturday 12TH July 2008.
Everything on the Island Star was great, everything was so well organised, staff were excellent and very friendly, lots of information given if you wanted to go off on your own. Food was superb and entertainment was very enjoyable even for my two. Would definitely recommend the islands Star for a great holiday.

terrythe tap's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Disappointed with entertainment in main theatre. After 1st week act should change so you don't see the same in second week.