Rare wasidremin Posted July 12 #1 Share Posted July 12 This post was recognized by Host Jazzbeau! wasidremin was awarded the badge 'Great Review' So I am sitting in the airport and thought I would share my experience with the Islander. First off I had set the bar low as far as expectations for the trip. We were a family of 4 who cruise pretty regularly on Carnival and have tried out MSC, Disney, and NCL. I don’t do this professionally so my review won’t be as verbose as others. The Ship: I like the size of the ship and the general layout. Yes you could see its age in places but I don’t really care about that. I think they did a good job with the decor and transformed the spaces to a margaritaville feel. The Pools: This class of ship had 3 pools all of which are pretty small. The thing I didn’t like about the pools is that there were very few pool chairs near the pool. You had to go a deck up. Which leads to chair saving very early in the morning. This is a practice that annoys me very much and I hope that the staff put in a policy similar to others in which that bag your stuff up after some period of inactivity. The slide as others have mentioned is pretty slow and resulted in quite a few people needing to push themselves through. My kids did it twice and were done. The Food: As I mentioned earlier I had low expectations but I think they really did well in this department. The buffet wasn’t really anything to write home about but what I did have was up to par with the other lines. The Taco bar was good, the burgers were as good as Guys and the pizza was good but not as good as others. We did breakfast in both the Main Dining room as well as the buffet. While it is the same food at both for the most part things were just better in the dining room. My biggest complaint about the breakfast buffet was that the Egg station was separate from a food line. So you had to wait in line to get eggs and then again to get the rest of your food. The main dining room exceeded my expectations all the food came out hot and was very flavorful. I don’t think I had something that I didnt like. The big difference between Margaitaville and others was the number of dishes available was less but I was okay with that. The Entertainment: We enjoyed each of the main shows. The quality was better than that of Carnival as I enjoyed the theme, singers, dancers, acrobats, musicians, and magicians. As far as trivia and stuff I they seemed to have a few less than I am used to but that is because the ship is much smaller. The fun staff were engaging and I enjoyed most of the stuff planned. Kid Stuff: My kids, 8 and 11, both enjoyed the kids club immensely. As with any kids club I think the staff is what really made it work. My 8 year old had plenty of structured activities to keep him busy. And my 11 year old enjoyed the chill vibe of the 10-12 hangout. The clubs did fill up and I do know people were turned away. Drinks: I didn’t get the drink package and found drink prices to be pretty expensive. The cheap domestic beers were 8.50 and fancier drinks were in the $15 range. I just came off MSC and prices were quite a bit cheaper there. Overall: The cruise exceeded my expectations on most levels. It is the cheapest vacation I’ve had in a long while and it didn’t disappoint. I will probably be considering them again. I left a lot off as this got longer than expected but if you have specific questions I will try and answer. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGBOBOFTHENORTH Posted July 12 #2 Share Posted July 12 What ports did your cruise visit and how were they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare wasidremin Posted July 12 Author #3 Share Posted July 12 We ported at Key West and Cozumel. In Key west we got a golf cart. I wouldn’t recommend. Everything is near port and you still have to pay for parking. Water activities in this port are cheaper than most and I will do those next time in. Cozumel we just went to Chankanaab park. It was the best snorkeling I have had and the park has nice seating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGBOBOFTHENORTH Posted July 13 #4 Share Posted July 13 21 hours ago, wasidremin said: We ported at Key West and Cozumel. Thanks for your trip report! We'll be checking it out in December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruisingWalter Posted July 17 #5 Share Posted July 17 Great review! It sounds like you set your expectations perfectly for this ship and this brand. While not perfect, the ship is a lot of fun. Really glad to hear the report about the kid's clubs. We talked to the cruise director staff about them but didn't know anyone who had children using them. Great to hear they were well received by your children. For Key West, you're right, no need to rent a golf cart unless you cannot walk long distances. Much easier to walk or hail a golf cart for a ride. Highly recommend DJ's Clam Shack for those visiting Key West. We're going on a big Islander group cruise in February and a bunch of us are already planning our walk to DJs and then some key lime pie. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence32 Posted July 20 #6 Share Posted July 20 The itinerary does not show hours in port. Do they give you that information after booking? For instance, how long were you in Cozumel? I am looking at the 5 night to Key West and Cozumel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare wasidremin Posted July 20 Author #7 Share Posted July 20 We were in Key West from 1pm to 6pm and Cozumel from 8am to 3pm. I believe the website does give times but ours got adjusted by like an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence32 Posted July 20 #8 Share Posted July 20 29 minutes ago, wasidremin said: We were in Key West from 1pm to 6pm and Cozumel from 8am to 3pm. I believe the website does give times but ours got adjusted by like an hour. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGBOBOFTHENORTH Posted July 21 #9 Share Posted July 21 Is it true they don't adjust the ship's time to the local time in the port? Seems very confusing to have to keep tabs on the ship's time when the cell phone has adjusted to the local port time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof3cruisers Posted July 26 #10 Share Posted July 26 On 7/21/2024 at 6:31 PM, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said: Is it true they don't adjust the ship's time to the local time in the port? Seems very confusing to have to keep tabs on the ship's time when the cell phone has adjusted to the local port time. Carnival and Royal both stay on ship time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted July 26 #11 Share Posted July 26 4 hours ago, momof3cruisers said: Carnival and Royal both stay on ship time. Virgin Voyages also. You can set your phone to not automatically change. EM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ofmyheart Posted August 5 #12 Share Posted August 5 Loved your review, thx, I have been thinking about checking out the Islander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now