We booked our room in the Haven a year in advance.....hubby uses a mobility scooter and the thought was he wouldn't have to travel far to a deck chair, bar, or restaurant if he wasn't feeling up to fighting crowds and distance. Two weeks ahead of trip we got a call that we either had to change our date or down grade as someone wanted the Haven rooms. As we couldn't change our date we agreed to down grade. The scooter didn't fit in doorway of our new room without a lot of maneuvering....that was a daily annoying thing. The room was VERY small even though it was called a mini suite. The hallways were nearly always crowded with service/maid carts so it was hard to get the scooter through....very, very narrow halls. Storage in the room was disappointing.

The only good thing was we were able to keep our Haven "perks"....free drinks, free specialty dining, free gratuities and onboard credits and got a refund of some of our already paid room. Entertainment wasn't that great. I had read some good reviews....but here again, shows were cancelled....rescheduled and then cancelled again...all before we even boarded. Some folks even had their specialty dining reservations cancelled for private events. Half way through the cruise they brought on more folks to entertain us....but without getting advance reservations you didn't get an opportunity to go to the shows.

All in all.....I won't be excited to go on the Escape again. We wanted to see the big ship....with the first Margarittaville at sea...it wasn't that great and certainly didn't live up to its name. The food was pretty good in the speciality spots, even in the buffet and that was surprising given the size of the ship and number of passengers. Bars were plentiful and not too crowded....with the all you can drink package, that was good. There were not as many bands playing in different venues.....we usually like to settle in a spot for a few drinks and listen to the music but the opportunities for that were usually not available. Read more