Topic: Island Escape - case for the defence!

Well it's taken me a good few weeks to get round to doing this, but I've finally found ten spare minutes so here goes.

Just about every review I read about the Island Escape is bad ..... most posters seem to think the ship should be totally scrapped, and most say they will never sail on the poor old thing again. I'd just like to give my opinion, having just returned from a one week stay on board where we covered the Canary Islands, Morocco and (eventually!) Madeira, so here goes:

First off, this cruise cost us just £410 each including flights - a veritable bargain so far as I'm concerned, and as the old adage goes, you do get what you pay for. This was not a five star price, and we did not expect or get a five star top of the range cruise with all the trimmings.

What we DID get was a clean comfortable cabin, perfectly adequate in size for two people to crash out in at the end of a hard day's relaxing. OK, the decor could do with updating, the furnishing is old and a bit tired but personally I never expected nor wanted to spend my week marvelling at the wonders of interior design or fancy furniture.

FOOD: 24 hours, quite ridiculous quantities and variety of food on offer all day and night. Good, varied and on the whole well presented range of food available catering for all tastes - I thought the breakfasts and afternoon tea were the best on offer, never quite made it for lunch so can't comment on that, evening meal was really quite good, with a good choice every evening from curries to salads roast dinners and traditional English fayre such as shepherd's pie on offer. I thought the puddings were better than the main courses, but then I do have a sweet tooth! The dining rooms are a bit canteen like, finding a seat early on in the evening was a bit hit and mis so we tended to eat a little later (about 7.30pm) when it was less busy. We didn't take advantage of the late night food but again there was a huge choice of food available if you wanted it. Tea and coffee on tap (dfeinitely a plus point, tea bags weren't english brand but was fine, if a little weak)

ENTERTAINMENT ON BOARD: Actually really good - the shows we saw were very professional, well done and much better (we thought) than what Ocean Village offered last year. The entertainment team were really very talented singers, dancers and entertainers, thoroughly enjoyable -Sail way parties really excellent fun and you are encouraged to join in so don't sit near the front if you don't want to take part! I'd say that if you're a culture-vulture looking for opera, chamber music and an excuse for discussing the Renaissance movement, you'll hate this. If you're looking for light hearted entertainment a la Butlins with a couple of pints of lager and a glass of cheap but drinkale plonk, this is right up your street. I thought it was great fun.

STAFF: Lovely - without exception. Everybody from the bar staff, waiters and kitchen hands to our lovely cabin steward were friendly, helpful, polite, lovely people who really went all out to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves.

DESTINATIONS: We flew to Madiera just two days after they had the dreadful landslides - the boat wasn't there due to the awful events, so we were immediately put on a plane to Gran Canaria to pick the boat up there.
I thought Thomsons did really well to arrange things so quickly, we only waited for an hour and a half for the second flight and I was quite impressed with that. Not everybody was of course, plenty of peple were very cross and made quite a fuss - once we landed at Gran Canaria there were no baggage handlers vailable to unload our unscheduled plane so we had to wait for 2 hours for our luggage which was not so impressive and did make for a very long day.
Gran Canaria was nice, La Palma really beautiful, Tenerife a good day to take a trip as the port town was really busy, soulless and not really much fun to wander around when you didnt have a clue where to go. We spend 45 minutes wandering up the side of a very busy road toward what looked like a really nteresting building - it was a theatre, and it was closed, there was a pretty garden area overlooking a cragy coastline which was really attractive and could have been lovely if there had been anywhere to get a cup of coffee or a drink or something, but there was nothing there at all, no even a loo! - so we just walked back again which wasnt much fun.
Lanzarote was a really nice day - wandered off the boat and took the shuttle bus to the very pretty harbour town of Arrecife where there was an outdoor market full of lovely interesting bits and pieces, lots of little shops and cafes and a really nice day.
Morocco - we chose not to do the trip to the Souk which we think was a good choice given the feedback from passengers who did. We took a taxi to the newly built marina and wandered around quite happily without being too bothered by anybody. We sat on the beach, the weather was lovely and apart from a couple of irritating people trying to flog us fake watches and naff sunglasses (they did go away quite easily) had a lovely relaxing day doing very little. The Souk experience according to those we spoke to later in the day was not so enjoyable, and the general consensus of opinion was that they did not feel they got value for money or had a nice time.

AT SEA: As everyone kept saying, this boat used to be a ferry and is flat bottomed (aren't we all when you get to a certain age?) and you can definitely feel the movement. The first couple of days weren't too bad but there were a few nights (especially the crossing back to Madeira) when the pitching and rolling was really quite severe and lots of people were sick. Definitely not fun.

OVERALL: Definitely good Value for money, really enjoyable week, with the added bonus of beautiful (but breezy!) weather while some areas of the UK still had snow. We felt a little outnumbered in terms of age group the week we went - it felt a little bit like being an extra in Cocoon as there were lots of very mature passengers - we're not quite 50 yet and felt like kids in comparison! - although more passengers our age boarded mid week.
Don't expect luxury and you won't be disappointed.

Glad it all worked out for you,but the Cruise was not cheap as you say.Take out the flights and £45 per day is quite enough for this ship.British stodge piled high at every meal Ughh.Disgareful filth out of poor maintenence and a Heath hazard if ever their was one.

Well, we all have our own personal opinions and I enjoyed it!

QUOTE:

Well, we all have our own personal opinions and I enjoyed it!

Hi
Good on yer Milly.
I posted 3 minutes re I/E before you started this thread.
Take no notice to some posters comments,they will take one or two words out of a very good/comprehensive review + use that as there whole argument,
I assume the poster was referring to Shepherds Pie.
Your comment re a couple pints of lager + a glass of cheap drinkable plonk will bring out the"Chavs cruise" comments.
I was on Magnifica visit in Feb + believe me the food quality/variety didn't compare with I/E.
If you read another post this morning re "big ships" food hygiene standards (food in buffet sat for 5 hrs) its not just I/E they complain about.Just not as often!!.+ if its their fav cruise line,never at all.
They think all that sparkles is gold,if they were Arabs you could sell them sand.A fool + is money is soon parted.You get the drift..
Live + let live i say.
JC

Totally agree with milly doodles and JC. We cruised on this ship 2 years ago, and we have nothing but fond memories. It's not the QE2, and the food isn't by Gordan Ramsey, and it dosen't claim to be, but the ship was always clean, the food was about 3 star, and the staff where 5+ star. I have no complaints about this ship, we got what we paid for.

QUOTE:

Well, we all have our own personal opinions and I enjoyed it!

Hi Milly and JC,
We did the Colourful Coasts in Dec. and like you had a great time. This was our 2nd time aboard and we wouldn't have returned if had not enjoyed the 1st one.
I did post a favourable review then.
Those who complain about her always bring up the old "she used to be a ferry" line while conveniently ignoring the fact that the Calypso that Thomson's have just retired was also one too. And that both the Celebration and Spirit are built on the hulls of container ships that were going cheap at the time of building. We'll see how she turns out after her refit at the end of the year.

Berwyn

first couple of days weren't too bad but there were a few nights (especially the crossing back to Madeira) when the pitching and rolling was really quite severe and lots of people were sick. Definitely not fun.

Hi all
Have been on 2 Canaries cruise + both times crossing from La Palma to Madeira were rough (force 9 in November).
Talking to Staff Captain one day he said its always rough,even in Summer due to it being the position where 2 Continental Shelves meet.
JC

Thanks to all of you who have reassured me that we are not a nation of complainers!!!!! I really enjoyed our week on the Island Escape and would definitely book again regardless - lovely, friendly atmosphere that's harder to replicate on the larger more formal cruise lines. It was just what we needed!

QUOTE:

Thanks to all of you who have reassured me that we are not a nation of complainers!!!!! I really enjoyed our week on the Island Escape and would definitely book again regardless - lovely, friendly atmosphere that's harder to replicate on the larger more formal cruise lines. It was just what we needed!

Everyone to their own Milly and thanks for the honest review. We are cruising the Canaries early May and therefore your comments on ports visited was most interesting. We usually do our own thing and go on one organized trip and it will be Tenerife as you say not much to do and no loos - that would be a nightmare.;). As long as their are taxis or shuttle buses at the other places, we are happy to do that.

We were on IE in 2006 - maybe the cabins are in need of a refurbishment but ours was fine at the time and can only agree with you that we were looked after well, food was good and the entertainment.
Regards

QUOTE:

Well it's taken me a good few weeks to get round to doing this, but I've finally found ten spare minutes so here goes.

Just about every review I read about the Island Escape is bad ..... most posters seem to think the ship should be totally scrapped, and most say they will never sail on the poor old thing again. I'd just like to give my opinion, having just returned from a one week stay on board where we covered the Canary Islands, Morocco and (eventually!) Madeira, so here goes:

First off, this cruise cost us just £410 each including flights - a veritable bargain so far as I'm concerned, and as the old adage goes, you do get what you pay for. This was not a five star price, and we did not expect or get a five star top of the range cruise with all the trimmings.

What we DID get was a clean comfortable cabin, perfectly adequate in size for two people to crash out in at the end of a hard day's relaxing. OK, the decor could do with updating, the furnishing is old and a bit tired but personally I never expected nor wanted to spend my week marvelling at the wonders of interior design or fancy furniture.

FOOD: 24 hours, quite ridiculous quantities and variety of food on offer all day and night. Good, varied and on the whole well presented range of food available catering for all tastes - I thought the breakfasts and afternoon tea were the best on offer, never quite made it for lunch so can't comment on that, evening meal was really quite good, with a good choice every evening from curries to salads roast dinners and traditional English fayre such as shepherd's pie on offer. I thought the puddings were better than the main courses, but then I do have a sweet tooth! The dining rooms are a bit canteen like, finding a seat early on in the evening was a bit hit and mis so we tended to eat a little later (about 7.30pm) when it was less busy. We didn't take advantage of the late night food but again there was a huge choice of food available if you wanted it. Tea and coffee on tap (dfeinitely a plus point, tea bags weren't english brand but was fine, if a little weak)

ENTERTAINMENT ON BOARD: Actually really good - the shows we saw were very professional, well done and much better (we thought) than what Ocean Village offered last year. The entertainment team were really very talented singers, dancers and entertainers, thoroughly enjoyable -Sail way parties really excellent fun and you are encouraged to join in so don't sit near the front if you don't want to take part! I'd say that if you're a culture-vulture looking for opera, chamber music and an excuse for discussing the Renaissance movement, you'll hate this. If you're looking for light hearted entertainment a la Butlins with a couple of pints of lager and a glass of cheap but drinkale plonk, this is right up your street. I thought it was great fun.

STAFF: Lovely - without exception. Everybody from the bar staff, waiters and kitchen hands to our lovely cabin steward were friendly, helpful, polite, lovely people who really went all out to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves.

DESTINATIONS: We flew to Madiera just two days after they had the dreadful landslides - the boat wasn't there due to the awful events, so we were immediately put on a plane to Gran Canaria to pick the boat up there.
I thought Thomsons did really well to arrange things so quickly, we only waited for an hour and a half for the second flight and I was quite impressed with that. Not everybody was of course, plenty of peple were very cross and made quite a fuss - once we landed at Gran Canaria there were no baggage handlers vailable to unload our unscheduled plane so we had to wait for 2 hours for our luggage which was not so impressive and did make for a very long day.
Gran Canaria was nice, La Palma really beautiful, Tenerife a good day to take a trip as the port town was really busy, soulless and not really much fun to wander around when you didnt have a clue where to go. We spend 45 minutes wandering up the side of a very busy road toward what looked like a really nteresting building - it was a theatre, and it was closed, there was a pretty garden area overlooking a cragy coastline which was really attractive and could have been lovely if there had been anywhere to get a cup of coffee or a drink or something, but there was nothing there at all, no even a loo! - so we just walked back again which wasnt much fun.
Lanzarote was a really nice day - wandered off the boat and took the shuttle bus to the very pretty harbour town of Arrecife where there was an outdoor market full of lovely interesting bits and pieces, lots of little shops and cafes and a really nice day.
Morocco - we chose not to do the trip to the Souk which we think was a good choice given the feedback from passengers who did. We took a taxi to the newly built marina and wandered around quite happily without being too bothered by anybody. We sat on the beach, the weather was lovely and apart from a couple of irritating people trying to flog us fake watches and naff sunglasses (they did go away quite easily) had a lovely relaxing day doing very little. The Souk experience according to those we spoke to later in the day was not so enjoyable, and the general consensus of opinion was that they did not feel they got value for money or had a nice time.

AT SEA: As everyone kept saying, this boat used to be a ferry and is flat bottomed (aren't we all when you get to a certain age?) and you can definitely feel the movement. The first couple of days weren't too bad but there were a few nights (especially the crossing back to Madeira) when the pitching and rolling was really quite severe and lots of people were sick. Definitely not fun.

OVERALL: Definitely good Value for money, really enjoyable week, with the added bonus of beautiful (but breezy!) weather while some areas of the UK still had snow. We felt a little outnumbered in terms of age group the week we went - it felt a little bit like being an extra in Cocoon as there were lots of very mature passengers - we're not quite 50 yet and felt like kids in comparison! - although more passengers our age boarded mid week.
Don't expect luxury and you won't be disappointed.

Milly Doodles - I admire your stiff upper lip attitude and I'm amazed that anyone could possibly enjoy the Island Escape, but since you only paid £410 p p - it would appear that one does get what one pays for. I wonder how you would had felt if you had paid £1400 p p for the same cruise at Xmas only to discover appaling leaks, filthy linen, no Xmas celerations nor anywhere to sit to eat Xmas Dinner (if you could even get into the restaurants) etc . Coupled with the stinking swamps onboard, there was uncontrolled illness and even more... take a look at the Island Escape Action Group webpage at The Island Escape Action Group - Home where I believe you will see that pictures do paint thousands of words. To say 'that we are not all a nation of complainers!!!!!' is quite a generalisation - then how would you explain that the Xmas Carousal cruise has generated over 400 complaints - quite a conicidence that so many of the nation's cruise complainers were on one trip?

I rest my case with respect