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Premier Cruises

TSS IslandBreeze

Your Rating:
B>Reviewed by: Jan Hirshberg
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: April 8, 2000
Itinerary: Africa

We took the Island Breeze on a cruise around the Canary Islands, Morocco, and Madeira. The itinerary was spectacular. The ship doesn't even deserve a single star. We had booked the top-class suite. The weather was cold, and the ship has no heating. Maybe Premier is going to improve this ship in its month-long refit in May, 2000.

There are very few public areas. People wound up congregating in the Purser's area. This was unpleasant when we had an additional day at sea. Both my husband and I liked the Pub; however, that will probably be removed in the May 2000 refit. The pool was o.k.. The casino was crummy. The machines broke, and nobody was winning any money. The result was that the casino was empty with the staff standing around.

We have been on 13 cruises. The food -- its quality and preparation -- were poor. Its presentation was fair. I had expected to get Dolphin Cruise type food, which we found to be quite good. This cruise had Canary Island food. Ordinary items tasted terrible: orange juice, hot dogs and hamburgers. Our whole table had to return a steak because it was so tough that it could not be cut. There were no special dinners. I cook better meals at home. There was also an "attitude" with the wait staff. I had asked for ice tea and it appeared to be a big deal. Understand that Island Breeze appears to be under charter with Thomson Cruises, a company that operates a number of ferry boats. This food may be appropriate for a ferry; not a cruise. The food on the lunch buffet was also poor except for the deserts.

We had the top-class suite with verandah. The verandah was actually nicer than the one we had on the Grand Princess. The stateroom was basically worn out. We had a shower with a full tub. The shower, however, squirted us in the eye. We were very uncomfortable even with the air-conditioning turned off. It was cold. There was plenty of storage room in drawers and the closet. The room also had an in-room safe and refrigerator. It was very quiet because everyone was exhausted from their flights to get to the Canary Islands.

We would have liked to see some entertainment. Premier Cruises (or Thomson Cruises) decided to have only one show a night, and that was late at night despite the fact that there were two seatings for dinner. Our sole entertainment for the week was one Elton John video. In comparison with all the other cruise companies we've been on, I rate the entertainment as poor. Also, shore talks were given at times that were inconvenient for most people. The shipboard activities were poor.

The itinerary and tours were spectacular. We had one folklore dinner, however, that was a fiasco because the tour guide could not easily locate a return bus for us. We stopped at Lanzanrote (Canary), Tennierife (Canary), Madeira, Gran Canaria and Morocco. There is a health club but people under 15 yrs were not allowed. There was no supervision and it's do-it-yourself -- like stationary bikes. There is childcare but it was hard to see how extensive it was.

I don't think we would invite our table mates for dinner. The passengers were from all over the world, and language could be a barrier.