My husband and I called into the travel agents on the off chance they might have a late deal, being the start of the summer holidays, prices hadn't dropped enough to qualify in my husbands book as 'a bargain!' After exhausting nearly all the deals they had to offer, i was feeling a tad subdued, until I suggested a cruise. The price was right, flights were ideal and the destinations appealed to us- so it was decided- The Island Escape it was!! After booking and paying, we came home to read the reviews-BIG MISTAKE! All we kept thinking was 'well its only for week!' We were in our cabin at 10.55am, (a bonus is that the dock is only 15 mins from the airport.) Our cabin steward, Amr greeted us and made us feel instantly at home. Anything we needed we only had to ask. We were very impressed with our cabin, it was huge! The food, well what can I say was bountiful! Every minute of every day there was something to eat-even fussy eaters had no cause to grumble. The price of beer was reasonable. A pint of Stella was 3.10 and the daily cocktail was 2.70. We bought local wines ashore and was able to consume them in our cabin. The crew always polite and friendly, as were the entertainment team. All took the time to chat if seen round the ship. A magnificent bonus on the entertainment front was the swing singer - Asa Murphy. Wow what a marvellous singer! It was worth going to listen to him alone! I realise I sound as though I'm gushing about our entire holiday but we enjoyed immensely! My husbands and I had only 2 complaints, firstly we might have used the gym had it not have been a walk through gym with everything and everyone on show. Secondly, the excursions were so expensive.
Our entire holiday from start to finish was excellent. So the island escape is not the biggest, newest and brashest ship in the dock, but the crew, entertainment team, food and destinations sure made up for that! My only complaint was we only booked for 1 week and not 2.
Some people are never happy and always moan whatever!! go with an open mind and have a wonderful time!!!
Cabin 7004 Emerald Deck
Right at the front at the ship, size wise the cabin was huge. However, it was noisy when the ship was docking early in the morning. That said, the views was fantastic!!