The Island Star is a very clean ship and I was pleased to see people making use of the hand cleanser whilst using the restaurants. The cabin was bright and roomy but oh! the noise, we were on Diamond Deck like the previous cruiser. One night I was convinced the cabin was going to flood as there was the sound of running water all through the night. Went to complain in morning but was told I should have sent for someone during the night (fair point but the reception staff couldn't think what it was - yeah okay!!)

I was very disappointed with the entertainment it was pretty basic and I agree that the Thomson ships excel in their entertainment (although their ships are not so good in other areas).

The food was wonderful with plenty of choice the salads were very fresh looking and scraps of food were replenished regularly. Clean utensils and tables.


I would probably like to sail on this ship again but unfortunately we had to cut our holiday short due to family illness. The staff were extremely helpful and booked us flights home from Marseille and arranged a taxi to take us to the airport. They were kind and caring so thank you for that.

The very early reviews for this ship were not favourable but this was probably due to teething troubles which you usually get with any new venture.

Things we liked:

Cabins we had a balcony and a junior-suite on Platinum. This is the ‘new’ part of the ship (was an observation deck when she was the Horizon) and the cabins were spanking new. They missed a trick with the balcony on the junior-suite which was of normal balcony proportions (about 4 feet deep) and there was about 20 feet of deck between the balcony rail and the edge of the deck.

Staff were very friendly and efficient. Captain got involved. Cruise director was very good. Cabin attendant was the best we’ve had in five cruises.

Casual cruising – worked really well and meant that you don’t need as much luggage.

Steakhouse – we ate there twice. Good food, great service and ambiance. Shame about the supplements!

Drinks were reasonably priced. Pint of Stella £2.55, short/mixer £2.85, cocktail of the day £1.85, wine of the day £8.65/bottle, wine list was small but cheap – most expensive red was a Rioja for £13.

Bike tours – we only managed to do one, in Barcelona but what a buzz!

Entertainment was pretty good. Passengers talent contest was good – we had some talent aboard.

Things we disliked:

Food – the (top deck buffet) Beachcomber was fine. It’s comparable with almost all the other cruises we’ve done. Food tended to be cooler than it needed to be – the complaints about cold food are well founded. Choice was ok (although on ‘theme nights’ eating outside the theme can be tricky – for example on Indian night there was not much for non-curry eaters). We ate here for most breakfasts and lunches.

The Island Restaurant is a waste of time – why have two buffets serving largely the same food. The only difference is that in the Island Restaurant you are shown to your table and have cloth napkins! The food is cold here too. We ate in the Oasis once – it was fine and what ‘dining room’ dining should have been (without the price premiums).

Kids club – another total waste of time. You have to book your kids in for activities during the day and this is the only time the club is open. Each activity lasts between 30 and 60 minutes on average and so as a consequence you end up waiting around for the activities to start and finish rather than enjoying the holiday. You weren’t allowed to leave your kids in the club whilst going ashore. Kids club staff weren’t really interested.

we recently booked a holiday on the island star as a first cruise,not knowing what to expect, and we need not have worried...
we had a wonderful time,the weather was fantastic,the ports of call were so different and so much to explore...
the staff and cleanliness of the ship were also excellent quality and they all work very hard day and night to meet our customer needs.
the entertainment was enjoyable and something happening for all ages all over the ship,the cruise director Rob boyd was very funny and always made us laugh by having the audience in the palm of his hand..
Guest entertainers consisted of a comedian and a fantastic singer from wales called Eve Sherratt,what an amazing voice!also great dancers and great shows!
we would definately reccomend the island star to anyone planning a crusing holiday..
our only minor complaint would be in the restaurants,and the beachcomer buffet as the food was a little cold.. but otherwise.. a fantastic holiday!

Just returned from the Mediterranean Spirit cruise and have to say as first time cruisers how impressed we all were. We had cabins on Coral deck (5) towards the front of the ship. Very quite and found that we had more room than we expected. Had a excellent cabin steward who did the most amazing creations with the towels. Even on my birthday we came back to the cabin to find balloons, towel creations and a greetings card.

We ate in all the ships restaurants and overall found the food to be very good. The Island Restaurant was our favourite especially with children. The Oasis is our favourite choice for formal dining.

We found the entertainment on the ship to be excellent with a range of artists including a magician/illusionist. We particulalry liked Andy Martin who has wealth of talent and Eve Sherratt. The ships own entertainment team were also excellent.

We went on several excursions and although some may seem expensive we felt it was the best way to see the sights. We went to Mount Etna, Pompeii, Pisa which where all quite amazing. One thing we wouldn't do again however, is a full day trip as we did on our first day and found it very tiring especially with children.

The ships crew, from the captain downdwards were all so very friendly and welcoming at all times.

As per previous reviews on the Island Star the cleanliness was excellent with staff always seeming to be cleaning.

Well would we go again...........you bet we would and we have already booked again for next year. We found the whole holiday to be a fantastic experience with sailing around nearly 1600 miles of the Med, seeing amazing places together with a vast selection of entertainment on the ship.

We would definitely reccommend Island Cruises !!

We sailed on the Island Star from 19-26 August. Flight left Glasgow on time at 0655. Breakfast was good – omelette, sausage, hash brown and beans. We disembarked at 1050. Collected the luggage then we were directed to an Island Cruise rep who gave us an envelope containing credit card authorisation forms and luggage labels with our cabin number. Boarded the coach which only took 10 mins to reach the ship as there was little traffic. Checked in at the cruise terminal and we were onboard just after noon.

We took the ship’s tour to get our bearings. There are several Cyber Hubs with prices starting at £4.50 for 30 mins. There is a well equipped gym and a spa. There is a library well stocked with books and board games. There is no self service laundry onboard.

The ship sailed 2½ hours late due to the late arrival of the Manchester flight.

Cabin

We had booked an inside cabin on Coral Deck, Deck 5, and were delighted when we were allocated an outside cabin on the same deck. Cabin 5006 was one away from the front of the ship and was very quiet apart from one night when we could hear a group of people chatting at 3.30am in a cabin next door. We spoke to people who had cabins on Bronze deck at the aft of the ship and they couldn’t sleep for the vibration of the engines. They said it was so bad they couldn’t even hold a conversation.

Subi, our cabin steward, greeted us on arrival and apologised for the smell in the cabin although there was none. He said the previous occupants had been smokers. When I said I was a smoker myself he asked if I wanted an ashtray. I was surprised at this as I had read previously that smoking was prohibited in cabins.

He only did the basics, no towel animals and nothing more than folding the duvet twice a day and replenishing the towels, although he forgot to leave enough towels on several occasions.

The cabin was bright and quite spacious with two double wardrobes, one with 8 drawers and a safe, two drawers between the beds, a dresser with two drawers and mirror above, a table and two chairs. The bed had a duvet instead of the usual sheet and bedspread.

The shower was the largest we’ve had on a ship so you didn’t have the shower curtain wrapping round you. There was a hairdryer attached to the wall which was pretty lame so I suggest taking your own if it’s dual voltage as all the sockets in the cabin are 110v. I have used my straighteners in other 110v sockets and they have heated up enough to use, but not on this occasion so I suggest dual voltage or cordless gas ones. There was a shower cap, soap and shampoo provided, but no shower gel.

There is a mini bar (no fridge) with prices the same as in the bars. There is also a TV and a radio.

Bars/Lounges

There are several bars onboard including the Pub, Captain’s Club, Bounty Club, Cocktail Bar, Sailaway Bar, Mirage Bar and Harbour Café which all had smoking areas. There is also the Sundowner and Ocean Theatre which are non-smoking.

A 50ml measure of spirits was £2.65, a dash 40p, a 250ml glass of soft drinks 70p and a pint of soft drinks £1.75. A pint of Stella was £2.55 with Boddingtons £2.40, bottled lagers were £2.30-£2.60. A glass of wine started at £2.25. Cocktails were £2.85-£2.95, although there were two cocktails of the day at £1.95 each. There was a bottle of wine of the day at £8.95. Cans of soft drinks were £1.40.

Daytime Activities/ Entertainment

In addition to demonstrations of napkin folding, ice carving and spa seminars, there were participant activities every hour such as carpet bowls, bean bag boules, bagatelle, deck quoits and table shuffleboard. Prizes included a china mug, baseball cap, bookmark, key ring and pen. There was also bingo every night in the Bounty Club and Team Trivia where the points were accumulated and the winner announced on the last night. There is a Pilates class every day which has a £5 charge. The snowball bingo on the last night is held in the Ocean Theatre and doesn’t start till 11.30pm. The snowball was £1250.

In the Ocean Theatre there was a production show on two nights, a comedian Ollie Spencer who we didn’t think was very good, a singer Eve Sherratt who was OK, a magician, a talent show and a variety show. We weren’t impressed with the entertainment. One of the female singers was screeching instead of singing which put us off It was OK, but Thomson’s is much better. There were also game shows such as No Deal or Deal, Mr & Mrs.

In the Pub there was a female duo called Saffire would sounded quite good, Kevin Kerslake on the piano and Andy Martin who sang and played the guitar and was pleasant to listen to.

There were Deck Parties on two nights where the captain and officers danced to “Is This The Way To Amarillo?” which was quite funny.

I have given the entertainment 3 stars as I felt the show team and the guest artists in the Ocean Theatre could have been much better.

Restaurants

We ate at the Steakhouse three times and this has to be booked in advance and can only be booked the day before. It carries a £24.99 supplement which gets you two steaks and a bottle of wine. There is a choice of 10oz sirloin, 12oz ribeye, 16oz T-bone or 7oz filet mignon. There are also lamb chops, salmon, etc on the menu. There is a cold buffet for starters which included smoked salmon and pate and a choice of dessert including strawberry cheesecake and vanilla crème brule. The service was impeccable although we did have a wait for the steaks.

The Oasis restaurant also has to be booked in advance, but we didn’t try it as we didn’t fancy anything on the menu, which varies. There is a supplement for most things on the menu such as lobster thermidor at £9.95, fillet steak at £7.50 and poached salmon at £6.50.

The Beachcomber is the 24 hour restaurant on deck 11 which is buffet. We enjoyed it for breakfast and lunch, but not for dinner. The Island Restaurant is also buffet, but you are shown to a table and your coffee is served to you. It also has tables set with a tablecloth, glasses, cutlery and cloth napkins. There is a carving station and pasta station where the pasta is cooked fresh for you.

The Grill was OK for a quick burger or hot dog during the day although we only used it once. There are daily Chef’s Specials such as minute steak or chicken.

I have given the food 3 stars based on the buffet restaurants. I would give the Steakhouse 4 stars.

Ports

We visited Messina, Naples, Livorno, Toulon and Barcelona. We just got off the ship and had a wander round as we had visited most of these previously. In Toulon we took the little road train which cost €5 and took 45 mins to go round. It stopped at the beach, but people we spoke to said they couldn’t go into the water as it was full of jelly fish.

When we left Naples, Captain John Brocklehurst stopped for ½ an hour off Stromboli so that we could see the volcano erupting.

The ship docked within easy walking distance from all the ports with no need for shuttle busses.

We enjoyed the cruise although it is not the best one we have been on. We preferred Thomson’s and Airtours from the budget end of the market. Perhaps we are getting more picky with this being our 11th cruise.

Would I sail on this ship again? Yes if the price was right. We paid £589 including an upgrade to Coral deck which I though was an excellent price for high season. However I do prefer table service to buffet dining.

We sailed on 19th August for 1 week. Flight OK - No delays.
We booked the Island Star last year whilst on board the Island Escape. I was so excited especially since it was supposed to have been refurbished. However on boarding the vessel and taking a tour of the Ship I found myself very dissapointed. There were very few areas which appeared new. The Beachcomber and pool area tiled floors had tiles missing and the perimeters were not very clean at all.
The sunloungers were filthy and broken.
Our cabin was on the Diamond Deck (6115) although we were very pleasantly surprised by how spacious it was the cleanliness left a lot to be desired. There were 4 of us in the cabin and only 3 beds were made up. We had to ask our cabin steward twice before he actually made up the bed. Then for the rest of the week we were only gven 3 towels each day even though he knew there were 4 of us. There were no animal towels which is a lovely touch when cruising.
The noise from the engines at night was so bad we couldn't sleep. (make sure you book one at the front of the ship as we were told that there was no noise there).
Now to some good points.
The food was lovely with a good selection in all restaurants.
The Steakhouse was excellent we visted twice it was so good.
The entertainment was quite good and the entertainment team worked very hard. All of the staff & crew were very pleasant and approachable.
Apart from the negatives in this review we did have a grear holiday. Would we cruise on the Island Star again - Yes if the price was right (and we had a refurbished cabin at the front of the Ship).

Myself 51 and my husband 52, decided to try Island Star having cruised on Ocean Village 3 times,as the Itinerary on the Island Star for the two weeks we wnated had differnt ports of call. We we were not disapointed with the ports of call.

We could not find fault with the cleanliness of our cabin, 1033 but as the cabin is directly under the Jacuzzi there is a noise all day, Guest Relations did have a free cabin on deck five and we were going to move but when we realised that when they switched off the jucussi later in the evening the noise would stop we deicded to stay. We thought this would be ok but at 4 oclock one morning, (I think it was the third day) they started to do some work on them, and the noise was terrific. We spoke to Guest Relations again and were told we could be moved to another cabin, 1065 for our second week, which was great, again cabin staff were fantastic. Dont know if it was due to the type of caibn we had but there was a fridge in the dressing table in both of them which was a surprise as reading all the other reports before we went, people had commented on no fridge. Both of the Cabin Stewards we had made animals with the towels.

Food was good, we ate in all the restaurants including the Steak House twice and the Oasis once.

Entertainment was varied, and not always to our taste but we did enjoy many of the different acts. The day time entertainment was also very varied and you had the choice of whether you wished to join in, same with the events taking place in the Bounty in the evening. Our first week we spent a lot of time in the Captains Club, and were kept entertained by "Valeri" behind the bar. For our second week he was working in differnet places but would always take time to speak to you and entertain with his "majic tricks".

Overall we like the ship, and would probably go back but on a differnt itinary.h

Nervous about going on a cruise,braced myself for the first time booked up to go on the 'Island star' The Riveras' well there is no other type of holiday I would consider now it was fanastic from begining to end.We flew from Luton straight to Palma were the rep met us, she took us straight to the meeting point for all people going on the cruise,luggage was put on the coach and we did not see it again as it was taken straight to the cabin which we had been allocated. We treated ourselves first time away without the kids so we went on Golden Deck with a balcony Chandran was our cabin steward he was our wonder man room cleaned and tieded twice a day beach towels clean everyday, and bathroom towels dressing gowns provided.(BIGGEST AND ONLY PROBLEM THE HAIR STRAIGHTNERS DONT WORK) how sad am I but us girls know that can be a problem get some braun gas ones if your desperate.
Well trips were very expensive and us being a bit lazy we did our own thing local buses so cheap.Got off at Liovorno and had a nice walk around the town loads of really cheap nice shops and then we strolled back to the ship at lunch time be prepared to come back a size bigger, food on all day and so good.
Staff wonderful always laughing, helping, clearing and making you feel so comfortable Captain John Mcneil certainly has a great crew
At night did not know where to go first you can eat when you want, sit with who you want, choose a time to go to the show early or late, casino, piano bar, pub disco. couldn,t do it all will have to save up again.
I even survived a gale force 9 wind but good ol'captain made the decision and took us to minorca instead and that was really a very nice stop as the the weather was to bad to dock in France we put our seabands on and they worked a treat.
Eveeryone we spoke too really enjoyed themselves and we would not hesistate to return as soon as we can again Thanks CAPTAIN John MCneil for a great holiday.

It took me a lot of persuasion to get my husband to go on a cruise, as it was our first holiday without children I thought it would keep us busy for the week. Little did we know we would come home needing to have another holiday to recover from this,and I mean it in a good way!

From stepping on the plane at Manchester to stepping off a week later everything was excellent. It was the best holiday we have ever had and Island Star and its staff deserve every credit.

The ship was lovely, clean, well organised, staff lovely - couldnt do enough for you and would go out of the way to speak to you.

We ate in all the restaurants but we loved it in the Oasis again the staff couldnt do enough for you.

We spent most evenings in the Captains Bar as we found it very relaxing after the busy days we had doing the tours, all the tours and resorts we visited were excellent. It was a great bonus going to Menorca and managed to fit in a glass bottom boat trip that dropped us off next to the ship!

Needless to say we have already booked for next year with a weeks stay to recover from the cruise. We are taking our son and his friend knowing they will love it, and we are being joined by friends that we made on board!

Like so many other readers of this site we were concerned at the poor reviews during the first few weeks of the Island Star cruises. We travelled on 8/7/06 on the Med Spirit itinery,which we had done before on the Island Escape. This was our tenth cruise in four years and without doubt the best of the lot. From start to finish everything was perfect, we had a L shaped outside cabin on Coral Deck which was kept spotless by Angelina who we hardly ever saw. Our cabin was very quiet with a large window more storage space than we needed.
For the first time on all our cruises we never went to a restaurant but enjoyed the fantastic buffet which had a different theme each night, the choice of food and its quality was excellent.
The shows we saw were very good the cruise director Rob Boyd was like having Eddie Murphy on board for the week he was hilarious, The guest singer Eve Sherratt was one of the best we have ever seen, and would have paid top dollar to have seen her in Las Vegas.
As always trips can be costly, but our half day in pompei was worth it. After Sicily Captain McNeil parked up by Stromboli at night we then had a fantastic free firework display due to minor eruptions from the volcano. The Captain was unique he always went out of his way to speak ,took part in various fun activities and appeared highly regarded by both passengers and staff. I could go on a lot more but in conclusion a first rate value for money cruise and we will back on the Star in September.