Island Cruises
Cruise Line Summary
U.K.-based Island Cruises, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and First Choice Holidays, offers casual cruises for budget-minded travelers. The cruise line, launched in 2002, was created to compete with the British "tour operator cruise lines" such as Thomson Cruises and the now-defunct Airtours Sun Cruises -- not to mention P&O's low-price-cruise subsidiary Ocean Village.
The well-maintained Island Escape and Island Star attract travelers at the budget end of the market and offer decent-quality traditional cruising with a few modern twists like an alternative restaurant. It has proved highly successful in tempting takers of "bucket and spade" (package holidays) trips to try cruising for the first time; 50 percent of its passengers are "cruise virgins" while 30 percent are veterans of budget cruising, having sampled one of the Thomson cruise ships or Ocean Village.
And passenger satisfaction questionnaires suggest they like what they find; an overview of responses in 2004 show that 96 percent rated their overall cruise "good" or "excellent"; 97 percent gave the ship itself the same rating; 95 percent put the food in the top approval category and a whopping 99 percent gave the ultimate thumbs-up rating to the friendliness of the multinational crew, who are indeed charming, friendly and very helpful.
With seven-night flycruises priced from 599 GBP and child prices from 199 GBP , Island Escape is a good option for people who want to "do the Med" without breaking the bank, and will provide a relaxed, comfortable, fun cruise.
The well-maintained Island Escape and Island Star attract travelers at the budget end of the market and offer decent-quality traditional cruising with a few modern twists like an alternative restaurant. It has proved highly successful in tempting takers of "bucket and spade" (package holidays) trips to try cruising for the first time; 50 percent of its passengers are "cruise virgins" while 30 percent are veterans of budget cruising, having sampled one of the Thomson cruise ships or Ocean Village.
And passenger satisfaction questionnaires suggest they like what they find; an overview of responses in 2004 show that 96 percent rated their overall cruise "good" or "excellent"; 97 percent gave the ship itself the same rating; 95 percent put the food in the top approval category and a whopping 99 percent gave the ultimate thumbs-up rating to the friendliness of the multinational crew, who are indeed charming, friendly and very helpful.
With seven-night flycruises priced from 599 GBP and child prices from 199 GBP , Island Escape is a good option for people who want to "do the Med" without breaking the bank, and will provide a relaxed, comfortable, fun cruise.
