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“Been cruising before, but this was the first on time...”

written by cherilee on 07/01/2009

Good Points
Really friendly, helpful staff, good food and entertainment

Bad Points
Really tired looking furnishings. Horrendous checking in to get on the boat.

General Comments
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 the cruise itself. Basically the staff were extremely helpful and friendly, the food was good and the ports of call amazing. The entertainment was really good and our cabin was kept clean. The downside is that the whole ship is really tatty and in need of refurbishment. The corridors all had stained carpet and dirty walls and all the public areas were well past their best We had 4 days at sea and we could never get a sunbed. People were out at 5.00am putting towels out, but there were a lot of beds empty most of the day with only a book or towel on.

The majority of people were quite loud and liked a drink, some starting at 10.00am in the morning. Each to their own though and we found a little haven in the Captain's Bar, which was a small friendly, supposedly quiet bar which we used to go to. But after a couple of days that was overtaken by some louder people who didn't quite grasp that not everyone in the bar wanted to know their life history. But never mind, we still enjoyed ourselves and have booked another cruise, but on Royal Caribbean, where hopefully the women won't have tattoos all over their body, drink pints, smoke like troopers and think everyone wants to "have a laugh". Island cruises is ideal for people who like the Butlins culture, this is not a derogatory remark, each to their own, but it wasn't for us. The food, entertainment and staff were faultless..