ISLAND STAR - BEWARE!
Review of Island Cruises Island Star by IML54 (16 Oct 06)
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Overall Rating


This was our 4th cruise having previously been on Island Escape (once) and Ocean Village (twice). We enjoy the "informal" style of these ships. There is a real issue with some of the cabins on Island Star and that is vibration....excessive and unacceptable amounts of it. The first cabin we had was on deck 4 towards the rear of the ship. When the ship travels at 10-14knts....which is most nights ...the vibration in this part of the ship is far from "normal". No cruise ship is silent....but they dont normally vibrate to the extent that glasses fall off tables and the ceiling panels shudder. Island Star does. The problem only exists in the area stern side of the aft staircase but there are large blocks of cabins on decks 4, 5 and 6 in this affected region. We were moved to a cabin on deck 5 midships for our second week and there was no problem with that. My advice is to pay the £25 fee to pre-book a cabin and under no circumstances should you go beyond the aft staircase. In our first week we had 4 sleepless nights...literally....some other passengers took bedding and slept in the lounges. Island Star are well aware of this problem but still sell these cabins as though they were ok...they aren't and people should be advised of this. The plus points are that the staff work their socks off and provide very good service. The food was good in both choice and quality however anyone who likes to have "scalding" food should avoid buffet style dining regardless of its location. The Steakhouse and Oasis restuarants are well worth the extra with the Steakhouse the better value of the two. Some good ports of call....we were on the Isles and then the Rivieras itineraries. Excursion prices are high (as always) and its well worth doing some homework and going it alone. For example Civiavechhia to Rome on the train is very straightforward and costs 9euros return as opposed to about £35 if you take the excursion bus. Overall.....Island Star still needs a fair bit of money spent on it.....some of the sunbeds are way past their sell by date.....the vibration problem would have ruined the holiday is we had not been able to move in the second week....cruise again....definitely...Island Star....highly unlikely.

Quality of Food	Service	Entertainement	Childrens' Facilities
Cabins	Spa / Fitness Facilities	Shore Excursions

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