Rare insidecabin Posted January 23, 2008 #1 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Not a lot of traffic here so here is some info for those that do make it. Island cruises is part owned by RCI and First choice, they operate two ships Escape and Star, budget line aimed at the UK market, competition is Thomsons and Ocean Village. Best place for deals is the UK teletext pages 227,228,262. which is also good for all the cruise line deals that do not allow US booking for UK people. The low price point with flights is £299pw and the late booking are sold through the cruise lines own agent with the low prices in the week before sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBD Posted March 4, 2008 #2 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post your info,Great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitchman Posted March 22, 2008 #3 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Not a lot of traffic here so here is some info for those that do make it. Island cruises is part owned by RCI and First choice, they operate two ships Escape and Star, budget line aimed at the UK market, competition is Thomsons and Ocean Village. Best place for deals is the UK teletext pages 227,228,262. which is also good for all the cruise line deals that do not allow US booking for UK people. The low price point with flights is £299pw and the late booking are sold through the cruise lines own agent with the low prices in the week before sailing. Great info but i think RCI will loose all their street cred now. bummer! Stitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsipes Posted March 23, 2008 #4 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Great info, clears it up a little, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazbaz Posted April 1, 2008 #5 Share Posted April 1, 2008 RCI certainly will lose their street cred after our trip with the star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Posted April 1, 2008 #6 Share Posted April 1, 2008 How so, bazbaz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincslass64 Posted June 4, 2008 #7 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Not a lot of traffic here so here is some info for those that do make it. Island cruises is part owned by RCI and First choice, they operate two ships Escape and Star, budget line aimed at the UK market, competition is Thomsons and Ocean Village. Best place for deals is the UK teletext pages 227,228,262. which is also good for all the cruise line deals that do not allow US booking for UK people. The low price point with flights is £299pw and the late booking are sold through the cruise lines own agent with the low prices in the week before sailing. The escape and star belong jointly with RCI and Thompson Tui group since last october Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyladee Posted July 16, 2008 #8 Share Posted July 16, 2008 The escape and star belong jointly with RCI and Thompson Tui group since last october It's part of First Choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted July 24, 2008 Author #9 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Tui merged with First choice in 2007. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincslass64 Posted July 24, 2008 #10 Share Posted July 24, 2008 It's part of First Choice. As quoted from their website.Island Cruises is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and TUI Travel Plc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted July 26, 2008 Author #11 Share Posted July 26, 2008 OK more info and the key relationship that matters for low prices. Island cruises is the trading names of SUNSHINE CRUISES LIMITED (registered in the UK) Which was 50:50 owned by RCI and first Choice now part of TUI so Tui probably still have 50% A subsiduary of the above so also part of Tui is SUNSHINE CRUISE HOLIDAYS LIMITED(used to be textabroad) This trades as cruise1st.co.uk which often offers the best prices for Island cruises which is no suprise since they are Island cruises in all but name. (Based on current 2008 data I have) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimb98 Posted July 28, 2008 #12 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I can confirm your information on Cruise 1st is accurate, they have just quoted me a Med cruise & stay for £163 cheaper than Island. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redriva Posted August 3, 2008 #13 Share Posted August 3, 2008 I can confirm your information on Cruise 1st is accurate, they have just quoted me a Med cruise & stay for £163 cheaper than Island. Jim Hope you talked to First choice too before booking .. island quoted us £3888 for 4 of us for the 20 night transatlantic to Brazil in Nov 09... but went and asked first choice shop for a quote and they did it for £3492!!!! :eek: no prizes for guessing who we booked with :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimb98 Posted August 5, 2008 #14 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Did check with First Choice and they were same price as Island, although they did say they would pricematch any quote. Never understood why the customer has to do the shopping around then go back for a pricematch. If they said they would give me a saving I would have went back. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehacienda Posted January 24, 2009 #15 Share Posted January 24, 2009 OK more info and the key relationship that matters for low prices. Island cruises is the trading names of SUNSHINE CRUISES LIMITED (registered in the UK) Which was 50:50 owned by RCI and first Choice now part of TUI so Tui probably still have 50% A subsiduary of the above so also part of Tui is SUNSHINE CRUISE HOLIDAYS LIMITED(used to be textabroad) This trades as cruise1st.co.uk which often offers the best prices for Island cruises which is no suprise since they are Island cruises in all but name. (Based on current 2008 data I have) Cruise1st have updated thier website to show that it is wholly owned by Royal Caribbean. I dont think a song and dance has been made about this but may be a good place to start for a RCI bargain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cymro1953 Posted February 26, 2009 #16 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Cruise1st have updated thier website to show that it is wholly owned by Royal Caribbean. I dont think a song and dance has been made about this but may be a good place to start for a RCI bargain? TUI who own Thomsons and First Choice now wholly own Island Cruises. As part of the deal Thomsons incorporated the Island escape into their fleet and RCCL had the Star and they sold it to a Spanish cruise line. We were booked on the Star in April and so lost our cruise, but got afull refund. That is why we're on the RCCL cruise to the Eastern Med that was the nearest itinerary we could get to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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