Island Star Review - Caribbean Dec 18th-Jan 2nd

[whatsthatshopcalled]

Law books fun?? I wouldn`t know as I haven`t read any. Megan loves reading though, whatever it is. I am sure she will be reading lots of mags along with a couple of books. You are right Ange, travel is great education, our Daughters have been very lucky. I had the camping/Butlins holidays and even they were educational! This is your first cruise also, I am sure that we will all have a great time away. The Caribbean - England do I need to say anymore x

[UK.Girl]

I did a fair bit of criminal law and enjoyed that !

Don't know about you but we are enduring non stop rain at the moment - garden flooded! hey ho ! We are leaving our two behind this time - our eldest is off to Wales for 10 days while our son house sits - great when they get older!

 

Looks like there is a bit of rain in the caribbean at the momnt !!!!!!!!!

[buzzyannie]

Hi I was on Island Star 1st - 15th January. Had a great time. The ship is a bit tired looking but the food was fine and the staff are great. I had GHD straighteners and they worked fine with an American adaptor. They took a bit longer to heat up that's all. Hope you have a good time. x

[UK.Girl]

Thanks for that !

 

Can you tell us what the weather was like - all the island forcasts show cloud and rain !! was it really like that?

[buzzyannie]

Hi It was pouring in Barbados when we arrived which we didn't expect! It was still really hot though. Apart from that first day in Barbados the weather was great but we had some very windy days coming back from Panama to Aruba and we were about 8 hours late arriving in Aruba. The captain said it was about force 8/9. It certainly was quite 'bouncy'!!! A lot of the staff said the previous 2 weeks had been really wet so maybe we were just lucky. I came home and booked another Caribbean cruise for Jan 2010! You'll be hooked on cruising. Have a great time. x

[UK.Girl]

ooh - thanks for that was hoping you were gonna say it was dry !! The forcast shows rain every day ! ah well just have to swim a lot - wont notice it then !

[Bannman]

Hi It was pouring in Barbados when we arrived which we didn't expect! It was still really hot though. Apart from that first day in Barbados the weather was great but we had some very windy days coming back from Panama to Aruba and we were about 8 hours late arriving in Aruba. The captain said it was about force 8/9. It certainly was quite 'bouncy'!!! A lot of the staff said the previous 2 weeks had been really wet so maybe we were just lucky. I came home and booked another Caribbean cruise for Jan 2010! You'll be hooked on cruising. Have a great time. x

 

Buzzyannie,

 

From reading your message it sounds like you were on the Latin Caribbean cruise. We are due to go on this cruise on the 26th February, with a couple of (80+) relatives. Could I bother you to give a quick report on how you found the cruise i.e. the ports of call and any reccomendations on what to see and/or trips to take.

 

This is our first cruise, and from reading reports on other sites, we are a bit concerned as to what to expect. Any advice would be helpful.

 

Cheers,

 

Bannman

[buzzyannie]

Buzzyannie,

 

From reading your message it sounds like you were on the Latin Caribbean cruise. We are due to go on this cruise on the 26th February, with a couple of (80+) relatives. Could I bother you to give a quick report on how you found the cruise i.e. the ports of call and any reccomendations on what to see and/or trips to take.

 

This is our first cruise, and from reading reports on other sites, we are a bit concerned as to what to expect. Any advice would be helpful.

 

Cheers,

 

Bannman

 

Hello Bannman

 

Yes it was the Latin Caribbean we did. We picked it for the itinerary because it covered such a wide area and different places.

 

You get an Island Chat delivered to your cabin every evening which tells you about excursions the next day and activities on the boat. There is quite a lot going on usually. You also get a leaflet "Your Guide to ....." wherever the ship is stopping the next day. It will give you info about local taxis and advice on what to and not to do.

 

In Barbados there are beaches very close to the cruise terminal and loads of taxis to take you. There are also a lot of shops at the cruise terminal.

 

In Curacao we walked to the shops, about 5 mins. It was a Sunday so a lot were closed but there were market stalls open and bars/coffee shops by the water.

 

In Cartagena we did a ships tour as it seemed the easiest thing. We did "Best of Cartagena" which covered a lot in a short space of time but it was quite rushed and there was quite a bit of walking.

 

In Limon we did the Tortuguero Canals which was good. We saw howler monkeys, sloths and massive iguanas. Again this was a ships tour.

 

In Cristobal we went to see the Gatun locks which was interesting as there was a ship passing through. Not much walking.

 

In Aruba we got a taxi at the cruise terminal to take us to a beach and got a local bus back. There are loads of people to help you and advise you what bus to get etc. The locals are great.

 

In Trinidad we did a ships tour "Triniday Highlights" which was to Maracas beach on the North coast. We enjoyed it but the road was really windy and 1 person was travel sick on the bus.

 

At all the cruise terminals there will be taxis and local tour operators and they'll do whatever you want but we felt that sometimes it was just easier, if more expensive, to use the ships tours.

 

I think now that we know what to expect we would be braver next time!

 

The ship itself is very friendly. I would say the average age while we were there was 60ish. There were many older people with wheelchairs, walking sticks and an electric scooter. The company is not spending any more money on Island Star so as things run out they are not being replaced. I was served Brandy one night in a plastic tumbler because there were no clean glasses! This was the worst thing that happened though. The cabin was fine, carpet a bit stained, but nice and roomy. Clean towels every day sometimes looked slightly passed their best but they did the job.

 

It depends what your expectations are. We went expecting the worst and were very pleasantly surprised.

 

We found the food fine but we are all easy going with food and eat pretty much eat anything. There was always plenty of selection and the Beachcomber did an afternoon tea with scones, cakes, pastries, cookies which was always popular.

 

If Island Star was staying with Island Cruises and getting a makeover I would cruise on her again. I enjoyed my holiday. We have booked Explorer of the Seas for January 2010. Have caught the cruise bug!!

 

If you want to know anything else pplease ask.

 

Buzzyannie

 

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

[Bannman]

Buzzyannie,

 

Thank you very much for taking time to give such a prompt reply and comprehensive report.

 

My wife and I have been looking at different web sites and reading books, to try and get an idea of what would be appropriate for our relatives. I was in Barbados last year on holiday and was considering hiring a car this time, to show everyone in our party the island, rather than take a trip. Do you know if there are car hire firms based at the port?

 

The one thing that everyone wants to do is see the Panama Canal. Did you take the tour from the ship for this? If so was it good?

 

Finally, some of the reports on other sites say that smoking is bad onboard. As we are all non-somkers, can you let us know how you found it?

 

Thanks again,

 

Bannman

[buzzyannie]

Buzzyannie,

 

Thank you very much for taking time to give such a prompt reply and comprehensive report.

 

My wife and I have been looking at different web sites and reading books, to try and get an idea of what would be appropriate for our relatives. I was in Barbados last year on holiday and was considering hiring a car this time, to show everyone in our party the island, rather than take a trip. Do you know if there are car hire firms based at the port?

 

The one thing that everyone wants to do is see the Panama Canal. Did you take the tour from the ship for this? If so was it good?

 

Finally, some of the reports on other sites say that smoking is bad onboard. As we are all non-somkers, can you let us know how you found it?

 

Thanks again,

 

Bannman

 

Hello again

 

I honestly can't remember if there were any car hire places at the cruise terminal but it's really quite big so there may well have been.

 

We did go to the Panama Canal. It was a ship's tour to the Gatun Locks. It was really interesting but on the way back we spent ages driving around some old USA army bases and houses. I would have preferred longer at the locks and less driving around the army base. There was a tiny shop at Gatun Locks and a cold drinks machine which a lot of people bought drinks from but when we got back on the bus the guide handed out bottles of cold water to everyone!! I don't know how easy it would be to do your own thing here. It was one of the places that came with warnings - don't walk anywhere get a taxi, don't wear jewellery, stay in groups etc.

 

The smoking only bothered us once and that was in The Pub. The Pub is very popular in the evenings with bingo and games and we only went there once. Elsewhere we didn't really notice the smoke.

 

When we were on it the ship was full and on sea days the decks did get busy and there was a sunbed shortage. We were lucky to get 2 between the 4 of us. By lunchtime though the sun decks started to get a bit quieter.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Buzzyannie

[Bannman]

Buzzyannie,

 

Thanks again for taking time to reply, your comments have been helpful and reassuring - I am now looking forward to our first time crusing :)

 

Cheers,

 

Bannman

[Dartsteve]

Hi Bannman,

 

Just to add to Annie's comments about the smoking, you will soon realise where to sit and where not to sit to avoid the smokers.

 

In the pub, sit in the bar/dance floor area as that is the non-smoking area.

 

In the Bounty Lounge, sit on the left-hand side.

 

My Port/Starboard side stuff is useless :-), but you will soon realise which side is the smokers side on the pool deck.

 

Regards.....Steve

[cuthbertkid]

Can anyone confirm whether we need to have yellow fever injections for the latin caribbean cruise?

[buzzyannie]

Hello We were advised by our Health Centre and a website I looked at ( Can't remember which one) that as we were visiting Costa Rica after Cartagena/Colombia we did require a Yellow Fever certificate before we would be allowed entry to Costa Rica. Costa Rica will refuse entry to visitors who have come from certain countries and Colombia was one of them. So we arranged to have our Yellow Fever immunisations at a cost of £180 for the 4 of us and guess what? Nobody mentioned it in Costa Rica!! Everyone just walked off the boat straight into tour buses/taxis etc without a mention of Yellow Fever Certificates!! Typical.

[Brit-lady]

HI Dartsteve,

Thats a great review you posted after reading negative reviews on other sights am now looking forward to our cruise......we sail on 12th feb on the eastern carribean cruise first time for us so didnt know what to expect.2 days and counting:D

[queensburyqueen]

Hi Steve really enjoyed your report We're sailing on the 26th on the Latin Caribbean cruise , been on the Ocean Village 7 times (did a similar cruise last Feb ) so fancied a change of cruise ship does sound similar to O/V but disappointed no fridge in cabin ! Is there a kettle in cabin can't move without cup of coffee first thing We're on the Coral deck

[buzzyannie]

Hi Steve really enjoyed your report We're sailing on the 26th on the Latin Caribbean cruise , been on the Ocean Village 7 times (did a similar cruise last Feb ) so fancied a change of cruise ship does sound similar to O/V but disappointed no fridge in cabin ! Is there a kettle in cabin can't move without cup of coffee first thing We're on the Coral deck

Hello

I did the Latin Caribbean on 1st Jan and also stayed on Coral Deck. Sorry there are no kettles in the cabins. Most people just went to the Beachcomber which was open 24hrs to get coffee/tea to take back to the cabins. Early in the morning the lifts were full of people with coffee/tea, toast, etc that they were taking back to their cabins! I loved the countries we visited - different to the usual Caribbean ports of call. Hope you enjoy yourselves. Anne

[jdcruising]

To any former Island Star lovers out there - I thought you might be interested to know that she is now sailing as the Pacific Dream for Pullmantur. The itineraries take in the Canaries, Lisbon, Gibraltar etc....

 

I think the target market is Portuguese / Spanish, but for anyone having withrawal symptoms, the cruises are available to book over the internet. I wish we could have her back!!!!