Can anyone comment on the overal ship experience, food and service etc?

[ 03-26-2008: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

When Island Cruises started they had no competition for their cruises starting from Palma.

Now they have Ocean Village cruises which appear to offer a superior holiday on better ships.

Then again, I have no idea if Ocean Village makes money or not.

These two do seem remarkably similar, and neither one appeals to me at all, though Ocean Village gets extra points for having what may be the ugliest livery of any cruise line, ever.

1 the ships are older and perhaps not perceived to be "as good" as the competition at OV which are both larger and newer ?

2. Both ships are chartered in the off season thus the owner makes less direct revenue - they need to develop a year round deployment that enables them to maximise revenue from core markets. Also the market in Brasil is now very competative ?

Island Escape started life as a car ferry in 1982 and was operated by DFDS on a service between New York and Freeport, Nassau, which was not successful.

She was transfered to their Olso Copenhagen service in 1984 before being sold to Sundance cruises in 1985.

After a couple of company mergers she was named Island Escape when Island Cruises was formed in 2002.

There has been a series of programmes on UK television about her and her cruises.

At the time there was a problem with the sewage system which was leading to a back up and flooding.

TV cameras showed the problem pumps.

It was said her old pumps were having problems in coping with the extra facilities on board now the ship was employed for full time cruising.

Her previous names were Scandinavia, Viking Serenade and Sundancer.

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Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ):
There has been a series of programmes on UK television about her and her cruises.At the time there was a problem with the sewage system which was leading to a back up and flooding.

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Booking after that TV programme must have been by people hoping to get some compensation !

I have not seen that she has had any recent problems.

Ocean - "cruises for people who don't do cruises" - is aimed at young, active Brits. Entertainment is lively, the decor is garish, and the onboard atmosphere is similar to Carnival or NCL.

Island - "relaxed, friendly, informal" - is more laid-back and restful. Entertainment is more pub-style than theatre, the decor more mellow, and it feels a bit like Princess or Celebrity.

Both clearly operate under tight control from the bean counters. but while Ocean have the massive resources of Carnival Corporation behind them I sense that Island's co-owners Royal Caribbean and Thomson/TUI are being particularly miserly.

They still don't seem to have decided what to do with Island - I'm sure both Thomson and Royal would love to absorb the passengers into their own fleets.

OV still seem to attract the retired set too, especially off season with cheap rates.

Unless one books the alternative restaurants they are all buffet dining I believe? Not on par with any of the other cruise lines, except AIDA.

My sister-in-law and her husband were so enthralled by our accounts of our first few cruises that last year they booked a cruise for themselves. We were, however, a bit nonplussed when they told us they were going on Island Escape. But we needn't have worried - they absolutely loved it, and later in the year booked a second cruise for this year, this time on Island Star. So whatever more experienced cruisers might think, Island is certainly hitting the spot for a lot of people.

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Originally posted by sread:
Basically the cabin steward grasses you up to the purser's desk if he finds the safe locked.

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LoL, the cheek of it!

I will admit that Island's marketing is much less off-putting to this young but not active American .