We just got off the Escape yesterday and it was a great cruise! It's a beautiful ship with an awesome crew--Tyler was the cruise director and was so entertaining...really good guy at what he does...everyone was so nice. I was in a studio room, which was perfect for an older cruiser. My daughter, husband and boys ages 17 and 10 were right down the hall from me, and they loved their balcony room.
The food was really good, especially Cagneys--yum...delicious. Lots of variety at the buffet and all good.
Yes, the pool area is really busy and crowded on sea days but thats to be expected. I opted to not get off the ship, which I was fine with. I just sat at the pool all day and listened to everyone complaining about the heat when they got back on the ship. Lol