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what to expect 1st time cruisers |
| Reviewed By: SCOTT, BRACKLEY on 27th Jul 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Island Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Island Star |
Sailed:
April,
2007 |
| Destination: Mediterranean |
Age: 36-45 |
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thought i would write a general reveiw of our holiday last year with island cruises it might help 1st time cruisers of what to expect. We flew from Birmingham airport to Plama the flight was ok we were greeted outside the airport by a rep, we joined a long queue but did'nt wait long to board a coach to the port. we arrived and were escorted to a large hall to fill in some forms and credit card details.(this is used to pay for any purchases on board the ship even for a packet of sweets!) we found it a very good system. we were given a nice cold drink while we waited in a queue for not to long.then just as we thought we were boarding we had to pose for a photo,not looking our best,i hate having my photo taken, but you soon get used to it as they take loads,but you can politely say no, it is after all a business and they want to make money. we where then escorted to our cabin we were in what i call bargin basement , but as we were only using the cabin to sleep in it was fine. it was bigger than i expected,it was kept very clean and tidy. you only had to ask if you had a problem,the cabin we stayed in was noisy about 5am every morning i think the kitchen was above it, we were offered another cabin but it did'nt bother us that much.we found the dining facilities onboard very good i felt there was something for everyone we liked to go to the waiter restaurant most nights which is included in your cost if you mdont like anything there you can always go to the buffet restaurant, which i believe was open 24hours! we did go to the posh restaurant were you pay a small cover charge it was excellent, but i could not fault the selection of food in any of the restaurants.the buffet restaurant did get a little busy at times usually when all the coaches arrived back from a trip, but thats to be expected.the staff on the ship were extremely friendly went out of their way to make our holiday special even the captain joins in the fun. on days at sea it can be difficult to find a sun lounger, but there was lots of other things going on, ice carvings, beauty demos my husband went to the gym while i was doing this. I went to the tour talks to get a feel for the ports of call, we could'nt afford to do them all, so after a chat decided on some that were a must incase we never went back.ie: mt etna in sicilliy, Rome was amust . some people prefer to go it alone and if you go to the right web sites their is info on that. The entertainment was fantastic the stage shows excellent last year they did grease, they also fly in some acts we had a fantastic frank sinatra impersonater he was well worth a look, although i'am not a big fan of sinatra i enjoyed the show. The other bars are worth a look there is a piano bar, caberet style bars game show bars etc. disembarkation was easy, the night berfore you leave you main luggage outside the cabin and it gets collected, make sure you keep out what you need to travel next day. after breakfast , we just had to wit until we were called to get off the ship then it was a matter of identifying our luggage taking it to the coach and off to the airport for our flight home, all fairly hassle free, my only complaint about the ship was that it did'nt have a ironing room, but i managed! I would definately recommend island cruises to any 1st time cruisers , cruising on a budget, once you've paid for your holiday you can still do things on a buget ONCE YOU'VE CRUISED YOU'LL BE HOOKED HAPPY CRUISING!!!
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| Quality of Food |  |
| WE TRIED ALL THE DINING FACILITIES, LIKED THE ISLAND RESTAURANT THE BEST | | Entertainment |  |
| ALL SHOWS WERE GREAT | | Shore Excursions | |
| A BIT EXSPENSIVE, BUT ENJOYED THEM FOR LESS HASSLE | | Staff | |
| EVERYONE VERY FRIENDLY CAPTAIN WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO MIX WITH GUESTS WAITERS VERY HELPFUL | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| YOU COULD ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING TO DO IF YOU WANTED TO FOUND IT HARD TO FIT EVERYTHING IN | | Cabins | |
| MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTED | | Overall Rating | |
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