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Thursday 28th August 2008

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Pleasantly Surprised
Reviewed By: Jarvis, Preston on 22nd Jul 2008
Cruise Line: Island Cruises	Times cruised before: 1-2
Cruise Ship: Island Star	Sailed: July, 2008
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 46-55

Booked fairly late. Embarkation and disembarkation appeared to run very smoothly. Allocated cabin on Bronze Deck with twin beds and pull down bunk, very basic but cabin was kept very clean by cabin steward (dornjell). In my opinion the ship is looking a little neglected. (possibly due to being always at sea and earning money!). A lot of the fixtures and fittings could do with replacing ie: carpets, bed linen, furniture, sun beds etc. The stand in Captain (Stuart Horne) and his crew were very hands on, friendly and always about the ship to make sure passengers are being looked after. The excellent entertainment team, led by Cruise Directors Alan Scott and Mike Gibbons put in 100% to keep guests entertained with very good evening shows, competitions etc. Jongleurs Club comedians were very good. Managed to speak with Bob Mills comedian and tv host off the telly (nice man). Food is mainly Buffet style with a very good choice, only gripe is that the food was never hot enough and very limited vegetarian choices. Mainly ate in restaurant on deck 7. Very well looked after by Victor the waiter. Other places to eat were the 24 hr Beachcomber and Island grill for burgers, hot dogs etc. For a fee you could also eat at either the Steakhouse or Oasis Restaurants. The Public areas of the ship are kept very clean and tidy, but smoking is allowed in too many parts of the ship for my liking. The pool deck is popular, but very limited sun beds (unless very early) also kids allowed unsupervised in jacuzzis due to pool attendants not enforcing the rules. Shore excursions appeared to be very expensive when booked on board. We used public transport to get to Rome, Pisa etc for a fraction of the cost. During our week on board the weather was fantastic. Overall a pleasant surprise and value for money holiday. Many thanks to those who made our stay enjoyable.
Quality of Food

Entertainment

Shore Excursions

Staff

Children's Facilities	n/a

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Comment by Lamb, KIRKCALDY (25 Jul 08 09:35) about this REVIEW.

Re: Smoking in too many places on ship. The only places you were able to smoke which was one side of the pool, one side of the harbour walk bar, and one area in the Bounty lounge. All other parts of the ship were non smoking. I dont think this is too much to ask for smokers as after all they are also paying good money for their cruise too, so non smokers do have a choice where to go on ship smoke free. We have sailed with island 8 times and never found it a problem.

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Comment by Oliver, Skipton (10 Aug 08 10:38) about a COMMENT by Lamb (25 Jul 08 09:35)

Just returned from Star last night, and the Pub, Cocktail bar, and the Captains club were all unfortunatly smoking too! But we just stayed away form these areas and we didn't feel let down as there were plenty of no smoking areas.

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