A look at the Island Cruises ship, the Island Star with the emphasis on the ship's interior and deck facilities and activities.
Let's start with a look at the open decks. The Pool Deck had two pools, jacuzzis, a bar, a stage, and rows of tables and chairs, those at the ship's sides being under cover.
During the day there would be a programme of activities such as quizzes, competitions and games, some involving the guests and some involving the crew members of the entertainments team. The ship's party band would come out to play, sometimes with guest singers who would have flown out for a couple of nights concerts in the Show Theatre.
Demonstrations of all sorts from fruit or ice carving to towel origami could be found.
At night the Pool Deck would be the place to go for parties and dances. In general I reckon there are two types of cruisers: those that sleep away the morning but make the most of the evening entertainments and those that like to go out to explore the port excursions and who tend to retire fairly early. With some excursions leaving the ship from 7 o'clock in the morning you would need to have particularly good stamina to do both!
The first night Sail Away party is a good one to catch though if you can. We tend to go for early morning flights which means leaving home at 3:00am to get to the airport so we tend to miss this one on most cruises!
But there is a Sail Away from every port during the week or fortnight and a party atmosphere most nights at sea, so you can pick a night to party. The night before a full day at sea might be appropriate!
The Island Star in particular was proud of its party night speciality where the highest ranking officers of the ship lined the Pool Deck balconies to dance.
One deck a bit lower down the ship was a Promenade Deck where you could walk, jog, power walk or leisurely stroll in an unbroken ring around the ship. Helpfully they told you how many times round it was to walk a mile. You only had to multiply by 26 to do a marathon...
At the rear of the ship was an area with tables and chairs which was usually quite well used. We occasionally had breakfast outside there and it was a good spot to sit to look at whichever port was being visited or at sea to watch out for whales, dolphins or the Kraken. We saw dolphins a few times from here, late evening at twilight seemed to be a good time, but seeing one once did not mean it was going to keep popping up so they were notoriously difficult to photograph.
On a sunny afternoon this was a great spot to read, to drink and relax in fresh air. At sea the wind caused by not much more than the ship moving against the air would make most people give up any thoughts of recreating the Titannic "I'm flying!" scene - and on most cruise ships anyway the bow area of the deck is firmly out of bounds!
There are few chances to see ports at night, except on the change-over days when one set of passengers leave and another set fly in. There are always some late flights arriving so again this part of the deck was a good spot to see ports in darkness and under artificial lighting.
The Pool Deck bar at night. There are always plenty of bars on a cruise ship, no matter its size, do let's have a look at the Island Star's offerings...
This was a bar and coffee bar. I'm the kind of chap who insists on a weak coffee even when ordering a latte and, well... let's just say that weak coffee wasn't a speciality here!
It had a white piano that was used by one of the entertainments crew during the afternoon and evenings. At other times it had a big notice saying "Do not play this piano". A shame - all I wanted was to tickle the ivories, but Miss Franny said that that was frowned upon too...
This was a space just a short walk from one of the bars but filled with chairs and small tables whilst acting as a corridor on both sides between different areas of the ship. At night the ship photographers used to set up a backdrop and take photos there and it was always a fun place to sit with a drink and people watch.
The pub. This was a cabaret bar, but in those days before smoking indoors was banned, it was generally quite smoky and not very pleasant. As a guitarist and singer myself I can't imagine how the artists were able to carry on night after night, they must have had an iron lung each in their cabins...
Cabaret is one aspect of the nightlife onboard, but there was also a theatre which staged West End style shows, singers, comedians and even the odd magician.
Apart from the nightly main shows there was one bar that held karaoke sessions most nights and selected the "best" singers to perform in the main theatre one afternoon. Also there was a kids' show where the children from the onboard kids' club were put through their paces to adoring parents and grandparents. All good fun and the kids obviously loved it. The show pictured is on the final night of a cruise where representatives of the different teams of the crew were introduced by the Captain.
So, what else? Well you need a cabin generally, whether you use it a lot or very little. You won't get on (or off, unless handcuffed) a cruise ship without a little computerised card that gives your name and cabin number. Besides, sleeping in a lifeboat isn't all that easy when they are suspended on davits (cranes). Not easy to get into... Most cabins are fairly similar. There are larger ones of course, including suites where you might have a sitting room separate to the bedroom etc. On some ships you can even book a butler service to stir your coffee and turn down your ego for bed.
The difference between outside and inside cabins is that behind those curtains there is either a porthole (lower decks), a window or even a balcony, or a wall...
Sometimes you return to your cabin to find swans on the bed or a chimp hanging over it. You ignore these usually until you get out of the shower and realise - ah... that's where the towels are!
The Island Star had a self-service buffet style cafe, the Beachcomber Restaurant. Identical on both sides of the ship, usually one side would be operating whilst the other side would be being cleaned and restocked.
There was no particular dress code other than you were supposed to cover up and not go in dripping wet from the pool. At night some people liked to dress up a little and some thought it stupid on holiday. In fact once social media came along a little after our cruises on the Island Star, this would be the most hotly debated, indeed vitriol inducing topic on most cruising chat pages. Chill people, chill.
Themed nights in the Beachcomber included crew members dressing the part.
More usual dress was a smart uniform.
The Steak Restaurant was the place to go for silver service attention and some mouth-watering yummies.
Steaks, lobster thermidor, whatever - the food in there was superb and the waiters hovered making conversation between courses or not as you required. There was a small cover charge for eating in there but we went in at least twice on every cruise.
A centrepiece display in the Steak Restaurant.
There were a couple of places in the ship that only opened when out at sea. One was the onboard casino.
Here you could play the high roller at roulette or blackjack or try your luck on the one-armed bandits. I've never been a big gambler. On our second ever cruise Miss Franny persuaded me to have a go on the bandits and after spending a couple of quid I won 70 pounds and immediately cashed in the tokens. Quit whilst you're ahead I always say...
There are always a number of shops onboard and they too will only open at certain times. Clothing, jewellery and perfumes etc. can be found and somewhere there will be one shop that sells stuff like toothpaste and Alka Seltzer for the forgetful and the over-indulgers.
You might even find (if Miss Franny hasn't got there before you) a fridge magnet of the ship!
Nighttime at sea usually includes tables being set up along some of the main deck corridors with themed sales nights. It may be watches or jewellery or perfumes and aftershaves.
The Island Star also had a library and games room that people could use for reading or playing board games.
