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Island Cruises

MS Island Escape

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Reviewed by: Donald O'Casey
# previous cruises: 6
Date of Trip: June 6, 2004
Itinerary: Mediterranean

The Island Escapes slogan is Relaxing, Friendly and Informal. Having no formal nights at all is one thing, but seeing the egotistical Captain doing lap dancing is quite another. He did the Captains Cocktail night in no more than an open necked short sleeved shirt. Someone should tell this idiot that he is the master of a vessel and not a cabaret performer. He actually did a provocative dance with his staff to a family audience and felt this was appropriate for a captain. Apart from the 3rd rate master, the only other downside was the lack of lifts. There are only 4 lifts on the entire ship and one was out of service. When the other one was working you had to wait an age for the lift to arrive and when it arrived it stopped at every floor on the way up.

The ship is very nice however and well lay-ed out. Then Ocean Theater is really not big enough for the amount of guests onboard and the result is constant queuing for shows.

The food however was very nice and with its 3 restaurants the Escape is not stuck for a choice of places to eat. The Lido Cafi is very basic and caters for the real budget minded guests. The Island is a nice buffet style restaurant with self service and fairly good quality food. The Oasis is an Al A carte waiter service restaurant and makes charges for it's better quality cuisine.

The Cabin was a big disappointment to us. Very Small and the beds were extremely uncomfortable. The maid was nice and provided god service overall.

The Entertainment on board was very mixed. The production shows were a mixed bag of thrown together songs with a hard working team for talented young artists. Alex Kennedy the cruise director seemed very young for his position and it showed. The resident band The Pink Panthers were very over used an we got sick of them in the end, no disrespect to the group but they were playing almost non stop throughout the day. Andy Rudge the comedian was wonderful. His midnight show was the highlight of our cruise. The Pub lounge was not big enough for the amount of people of this voyage.

The ports were wonderful. We did our own thing as the excursions were very expensive indeed. We called at Messina, Naples, Livorno, Toulon & Barcelona. Why cruise companies have to charge extortionate amounts for the trips is a question I'd like to ask the powers at be.

Island cruises caters for the real budget end of the market. However the service onboard is quite excellent and the overall experience was good. With a few changes this could be a great little company. We would probably use them again but would check to see if it was another Captain in command first.