A little background on me: This was my 11th cruise, and I have been on several different cruise lines in the past (Carnival x3, Celebrity x3, NCL x1, Princes x1, Royal x2). So I hopefully have a good variety of experiences to draw from, and you can use this review to get an idea of what to expect onboard the Escape. I'm going to try to mention the things that stood out to me as good and bad about my experience on the ship. If I fail to mention something it's likely because whatever it was didn't strike me as significantly better/worse than any other cruise. So here goes nothing...
---THE GOOD STUFF---
General layout of the ship:
We had an inside cabin, and it was as I would expect. The bathroom was nicer than some I've had on previous cruises, but generally.
Roatan has changed a lot since the first time I stopped there 12 years ago... Since we don't scuba dive (the best thing to do there) we decided to stay on the ship and enjoy some of the things that are crowded on days at sea.
The private island is beautiful, and there is a great pool with swim up bar. The only downside is that you have to pay for everything... which is different from every other (6 I think) private island I've been too.
We didn't do an excursion through the boat... we rented a spot a the beach that included chairs, sun shades, and all the drinks you can drink. The beach here is beautiful, and is our new favorite beach spot in the Caribbean.
Cozumel is another island that isn't what it was a decade ago. We rent jeeps and drive to the other side of the island, which used to be quiet and isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city/cruise ports. Unfortunately, people have figured out what we learned years ago, and now there are busloads of people trucked in to some of our favorite spots, and it has just ruined the atmosphere. If you are lucky enough to be the only boat in port, Cozumel is wonderful... if there are six large ships in port the entire island will be covered in tourists and what is usually a quite spot on the beach will be crowded and off-putting.