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Island Cruises

MS Island Escape

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: David and Kate Bacon
# previous cruises: 2
Date of Trip: June 17, 2003
Itinerary: Mediterranean

As one of the cheaper no frills cruise lines value for money Is hard to beat especially a late deal.

The only problem we encountered was the amount of smokers on board especially In the bars and casino. but the bars and entertainment areas were comfortable and nicely decorated I disliked the bar areas only because of the smoke and lack of fans to remove It. the casino was of a good size with plenty for the gamblers to do.there was plenty of room on the decks to walk around and was very pleasent to sit outside watching the world go by.the pool could only be described as plunge and was not really big enough to swim in.

Food could have been kept warmer but the variety would suite every ones taste. the waiting staff are first class very helpfull especially to my wife who Is disabled. with the waiters insisting on helping to get and carry back to our table her food. the Oasis retaurant was A LA CARTE with waiter service and some minor supplements for certain foods but well worth the meagre extra cost. The Island restaurant open three times a day (main Meals) was either self service buffet or waiter service from the buffet again very good. Then you have the Beachcomber 24 hours restaurant with self service buffet with burgers or hot dogs on the menu and of course the chips,Ideal for the children or a midnight snack.

We had a de-luxe cabin on Golden deck (9) and we found ample room, much better than our cabin last year on deck 8 the shower was plenty big enough and two people could have showered together with not to much trouble.both outside cabins.we had a fair amount of noise as the swimming pool area was above our cabin,the noise from one of the shows performed by the pool was also noisy but finished not much later than 11.30.the only other noise was early morning when the sun loungers were being dragged accross the floor In to position by the pool.

The entertainment was again not to bad but this Is a budget cruise and entertainment to suit but plenty good enough and the entertainers worked hard.

There Is a small plunge pool which was more suited to the younger generation but to get a sunbed here was hard to get time a stop was put on the sunbed saving brigade.the gym was quite good with plenty to entertain the super fit, the first port of call was Tunis, not much time to go far as we were only here for a short time. next was Civitaveccia there were plenty of tours here mostly for Rome and the Vatican something for everybodys taste and price, quite a number of people got the local train and visited Rome on there own very enjoyable.Next up was Santa Margherita a beautifull bay with visits to Genoa and the Aquarium we visited the town and the old market place. Next was Nice as this was Sunday a lot of shops In the city were closed we used the local taxis and found them very expensive,but the little train that takes you around the old city Is worth a ride 6 euros for 45 minutes and of course the organised trips to Monte Carlo Monaco and the Cote D'Azur are well worth doing. next up was Mahon in Menorca here from here you could get out and about In taxis to visit all of the Island and especially the old city of Cuidadela we also found again a nice little market.the childrens facilities we did not use as all our offsprings are grown up but there was a childrens room with entertainment provided by the entertainment staff.

I think there was a good mix of people and some but not many children. I think most If not all were either retired or ordinary working class people and we met some nice ones, that yes I would Invite for dinner.