I went on the 14 night 'Ancient Odyssey' cruise.

The trip was magnificent and the weather perfect apart from the one
afternoon in Instanbul when it rained. Everything worked out just right and
it was hugely social .


I made my own way to Gatwick by bus and coach the previous day. You can check-in your luggage the day before your flight.
Tuesday the 757 flight left before 7. Saw the Pyrenees and Barcelona en
route.
At Palma, once settled on the boat, I walked 2 miles west to Cala Major
beach which was spectacular. A 'Welcome Show' aboard was excellent. All the
theatre shows were good the entire holiday. Saw them all, including one
twice to get a photo.

Wednesday we were at sea. It was sunny. We passed southern Sardinia. We had
the emergency drill plus the first for five 'Solo's lunches hosted by two
cruise hosts. We had Solo's lunches in the restaurant on each of the five
Sea days. The solo passengers had interesting stories bein either widowed,
divorced or having a partner at home in care. In the afternoon there was
the 'Captain's chat' where we could ask him questions. That night a UK
comedian show was good. There were 1490 passengers and 538 staff on board.

Thursday, Sicily. Gorgeous clear weather. Passed the Aeolian islands before
dawn. We docked at Messina. I had booked a coach tour to Taormina which was
quite stunning. The same lady as last year was the Italian guide and
recognised me.
The views from Taormina and its Greek theatre were superb. Back in Messina
I climbed the campinile to see the mechanisms of the rotating figures and
animals. Back on board ship,
Lancashire Hotpot for lunch but a huge choice of fare on offer. That night
a 'Broadway Show' and clocks forward one hours. Talked to lots of pleasant
and very widely travelled folk.

Friday (Easter Good Friday in Greece)
Kotokolon on the west side of the Pelopponese. A delightful quiet village
on a wooded bay. Enjoyed ny best lunch - a Greel feta cheese and olives and
tomatoes lunch at a harbourside taverna. Many folk went off to Olympia
where it rained. Have been there before. Back on the ship, an ice carving
demo and a male singer cabaret show later. The cruise director had cycled
up into the hills on his own and had been bitten by a snake. No lasting
damage.

Saturday. Piraeus of Athens. Palled up with two couples off the boat. We
found the metro statio, took a train into Athens ( 2.40 pounds return) then
walked for four hours - first up and over the Acropolis then round all the
major sites. It was a great day. A couple off the ship were sat by the
Parthenon and said 'Hello John'. Time and time again I took people's photos
of themselves on their camera. There was much scaffolding round the
buildings on the Acroplis. The views out were great. Back to the boat by
train at 4.30. A great UK artist singer and trumpeter gave a show. Later it
emerged another passenger I later met was followed on to the train from an
Athens bank and nearly robbed. But he punched the would-be robber.

Sunday 27th April
At sea. Cloudy. a bit rough. Excellent 'Solo's' lunch. Passed the War
Memorials entering the Dardanelles near Gallipoli - but not the ANZAC one.
'Chariots of Fire' playing on the ship's external music systems. Colossal
experience. The 'Stars at Sea' show was good with a passable Elvis. A music
duo recognised me from last October and were very friendly. They wed soon.

Monday
Instanbul. Very busy city of 12 million. Went on the guided 16-mile four
hour bike tour with 13 others and our Austrian guide. Very exciting. We
stopped for half an hour at the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. I was given a
blue skirt to wear to enter the blue mosque. Then for miles through the
street bazaars and by the carpet shops and up to the Salaman Mosque and
through the Greek quarter. People clapping, saying hello and welcome and
posing with us ans shaking our hands and asking if I was [Lance] Armstrong.
Perhaps they thought we had come further than the quayside by the Galata
Bridge.
Returning to the ship in the rush hour we pushed our bikes through a
pedestrian underpass and carried them up and down flights of stairs. It
rained in the afternoon. That night a very good Frank Sinatra trubute
artist from Scotland performed. We steamed out of mighty Instanbul at
8.30pm.

Tuesday
At sea. Back across Sea of Marmaris and through Dardanelles. A Solo's lunch
then entertaining crew sports by pool.
A Mexican buffet and 'Celebrations' all-singing all-dancing show later. Had
a bit of a cold after getting a little chilly in Instanbul.

Wednesday
Sunny Kusadasi in Asian Turkey. A great place and a morning excursion to
the fabulous ruins of Ephesus. Back to the ship on the coach stopping off
for a 'fashion show' and high octane sales pitch at a leather coats outlet.
11 coaches went to Ephesus from the trip. The day before, Royal Carribean
cruises had delivered 3000 visitors into Ephesus.
After lunch on board, I walked to the town beach in Kusadasi. That night a
UK lady guest artiste performed a singing show of big ballads.

Thursday.
Santorini. Amazing. Brilliant clear day. 7 cruise ships in bay. Took tender
boat to shore; cable car to Fira town perched high on rim, walked round the
village. Chatted to some American students on a cruise from Athens. Then
walked down the 592 steps and ramps of the hairpin donkey path. There were
hundreds of rather tired donkeys working the path also. Great look-out
verandah half way down. Back to the ship for sunbathing and more travel
chat, then a big show - 'The Magic of the Musicals'

Friday
At Heraklion Crete. Joined a coach tour that went 60 miles south to visit
the ruins at Gortys and Phaestos. Great landscape scenes en route.
Sunbathing in the afternoon. Then a cabaret show and poolside deck party.

Saturday
At Sea - very sunny and warm. Solo's lunch. Swimming sunbathing and trivia
quiz and then a big musical show in the theatre. Unlimited food/buffet all
day every day. Enjoyed buying a few Stella beers.

Sunday
Malta - what a place! The first really clean and civilized place visited.
Went off with two of my 'Athens' walking companions.
Toured old town. Then I joined the 60 mile round trip open-topped Malta
sightseeing bus tour that took me and 36 other passengers off the ship up
to Bugibba on the North coast via Mosta, Mdina and the RAF Aviation Museum
then back to Valletta bown the East coast. 28 degree heat. Captain's
cocktail party for repeat cruisers in evening. Orange drinks or champagne
provided and lots of canapes - sausage rolls, vol-au-vents etc; then a UK
guest comedian show in the theatre.

Monday
At Sea. As before. Big farewell show at night. Many staff on stage.
Everybody singing 'Sailing'
More chat. Everybody had been everywhere.

Tuesday
Today went well. Sunny all dal and England and Cotswolds in particular
looking lush and gree.
9am coach from ship to airport. 757 flight home.

A great holiday ... but not for the faint hearted. At least 2 were robbed.
Two old and infirm folk died aboard. Nothing whatsoever to do with any conditions on the cruise.
Three ankles were broken on either the deck or stairs or pontoon
for the Santorini tender boat.
My bill for 'extras' - ie beers and biking and trips (but not the Malta one
which was not part of the cruise organisation
was 136 pounds on top of the fly/cruise costs.
All good value. A truly great and social holiday.

This is the 3rd time I have sailed with Island escape and every single time I have a great holiday and this year was no exception, yes the boat is a little wore and the bathrooms in your cabin are a little 2 small, but you don't spend that much time in your cabin.
I thought the entertainment was fabulous the hosts and dancers are very very good, made friends striaght away. I would recomend the cruise
ship anyday, so much so that i am booking for 2009 all ready.

The age range on the ship is anything from 18-90 we went out of school holidays so never experienced that place with loads of kids in, but they have plenty for them to do.

A* I give this ship

Arrived in Palma on 18th March for the first cruise of the season to be told that the ship was delayed in arriving in port. We had to spend over two hours on the coach at the port and I then spent a further two and a half hours sanding in a check-in queue to get on board. As a single traveller who has walking and standing difficulties it was a very painful wait with no refreshments.

The ship was still taking on stores at 1.30 am the following morning and did not sail until almost 3am and despite sailing at full speed (confirmed by a visit to the bridge) we did not reach Messina until lunch time resulting in the full day tour being cancelled. The follwing day our departure from Naples was delayed by over two hours by a last minute decision to take on ballast. weather delayed our arrival of Livorno until lunchtime the following day and then we were told we could not dock and continued on to Toulon in gale force winds. That evening all ship's power was lost and it was lying dead in the water for wellover half an hour before lighting and engines were restored. Passengers were not told that the engines had stopped, just the electrical power had failed! We ad to spend the night in Toulon port, supposedly due to weather , yet two ferries came and went. The following morning we left Toulon direct to Palma missing out a second port, Barcelona, spending much of the day again in gale force winds. This was despite a break in the winds around midnight when I feel the ship could ave left and perhaps used Mahon as a diversion port to allow passengers some time ashore to compensate for the lost port visits.
All the staff I met were very friendly but I felt that pasengers were not being given full information, especially during the power failure, possibly so as not to causeany panic, not that there was any. The ship and cabin were clean but the sun deck was half closed for much of the cruise due to work in progress and also the pool was empty most of the time.
It seemed that the ship was not fully ready on its arrival at Palma for the first Med cruise of the season. I also noticed a large metal housing that covered the switching gear for one of the automatic fire doors on Sun deck completly broken away at the bottom and hanging on by one bolt at the top causing it to swing with the ship's motion; a potential passenger injury waiting to happen! I was also aware that the ship was under going a survey during the passage, apart from the fact there was quite a bit of extra work ongoing with contractors on baord.
On board entertainment was adequate but with spending two full extra days at sea it was a limited programme. While the food was good I did find the the Beachcomber seem to be giving out very small portions of food and people were having to ask for more like a modern day Oliver Twist.

Having cruised a few times and having gone on a Butlins (and Haven) holiday I would like people who put down that the entertainment was like Butlins to explain what they mean! Have these people actually been on a Butlins holiday or are they just using a phrase which gets banded about to easily. I've known a few people who have done that work and I know they work very hard to provide an entertainment which isnt always to everyones taste but just to dismiss them as though they are only good enough to work at Butlins (which isnt a bad thing) is offensive. It takes an awful lot of guts and talent to get up infront of a crowd of people and entertain the majority whilst trying not to annoy miserable grumpy people like the person below.

I totaly enjoyed my time on board the escape and its sister ship the star which weve done this year aswell and a big thank you to all the entertainments teams on both. Your work is not unappreciated!

We arrived home yesterday 16/10/07 having spent a most enjoyable 7 days aboard the Island Escape. We agree that the ship is in need of a refit but we found it clean throughout and inviting.
We have been on cruises with royal caribbean, princess and celebrety and honestly say that for food, entertainment and enjoyment this ship cannot be faulted.
We found all the staff attentive and did not experience any hard sell or tip chasing.
The swimming pool is small, but this is not uncommon on other cruise ships. New sunbeds have been provided around the pool and these together with those on the other decks were enough for all the guests ( the ship was full last week).
Entertainment was good with flown in and resident artists. This did not finish at 11-30 pm as it did on other ships we have been on when the only music available after this time was in the disco.

This was the second time we cruised on this ship. The ship is looking a bit tired now, but the promised refurbishment should make a diference. Our cabin was fine on deck 8. Very quiet at night.

The ship is spotlessly clean and tidy.
The food was excellent, with a suprising choice in the all day buffet, (smoked salmon and cream cheese available for breakfast!)

The staff were excellent, very friendly, the officers were also great fun. Taking in part in the party dances at the pool party.

We did not go into the shows on board, but found the entertainment in the PUB very good.

My only complaint, if you can call it that, was the cost of the treatments in the SPA, which I found very expensive compaired to the average Hotel spa. Also there were no price lists available.
The cost of the sauna (£20 per week) I thought was outrageuos, especially as it is old.

The trips are also expensive compared to some other cruise lines we have been on, but the two we went on Pompeii and Florence were very good.

Overall, we would go back on the ship as it very good value for money, ideal for a first time cruise.

This was our first cruise and we were told by friends that this would be the ideal ship for our first cruise. The ship is very informal with most people not bothering to make an effort to dress up of an evening, by that i mean not even smart casual wear. A lot of people were in track suit bottoms with either football shirts or national shirts.

The ship is generally clean with the staff doing everthing they can to keep on top of things, but as has been previousley stated it is tried and in need of a major uplift so i guess it suffers becuase of this.

Food was not too bad at all with a reasonable selection and variety. The only problem for us was the lack of variety in where to eat. The Beachcomber on the top deck has plastic plates, mugs and glasses and is like a stampede. Gives you the impression you are on a camping holiday. A very poor environment in which to eat. The Island restraurant is ok, buffet style although this can also be like a stampede. Oasis is Al a Carte but in the two weeks we were on board the menu did not change. The food and service in there was much better although there is a cover charge.

Staff were generally very good cant do enough to help. The bar staff can be a bit pushy but we found out they work on comission so perhaps you cant blame them.

The entertainment is akin to Butlins. I was expecting the staff to go hi di hi. Very down market. Two good shows while we were onboard, a Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra tribute.

Smoking is allowed in ALL bars with only a small area given for the non smokers. If you smoke you will love it. Our party are non smokers and found that some of the best entertainment was in the Pub with a guy on the piano playing boogie woogie and ryhthm and blues but the lingering smoke spoilt it for us.

We would cruise again but most definately not with Island. Too many downsides.

At first i was a bit worried due to negitive reviews of the ship, but i found it great.The food was excellent but in the beachcomber i thought the meals were a bit cold at times. I used the Island restaurant alswell bot to pay extra in the Oasis was over the top so did not dine there.The staff were great and my cabin stewardess Romana on Emerald deck was brill, she made animals ot of the towels every dey and cleand my cabin 3 times a day so i left a £20 tip! Excursions expensive so only went on one up Mount Etna which was a disaster cause it snowed! Did my own thin in other ports. The ship is a bit tired now but a promised refit and it will be fine, my only grip was the carpet in the cabin was a bit warn out.
Drinks were quite expensive but going on a cheap cruise made up for this.
Planning to book for next year
If you want a casual cruise i would recoment this one.

Our first time cruising was an interesting experience. On the whole the positives outweighed the negatives but the negatives were substantial!
The flights from Exeter and boarding procedures were extremely efficient. It was nice to be met by a member of the cabin staff and taken to our cabin. We were on deck 6 - Diamond. By the end of the cruise we were very glad we had upgraded to this deck and not gone higher. On deck 7 you are on the casino and bars/pub level and the cigarette smoke drifted everywhere. On level 9 you were likely to have a view of a lifeboat and people wandering on the deck outside your window. On 6 our window looked directly onto the sea and we had great views when entering and leaving ports. Yes the ship is basically a large car ferry and certainly in need of its refit and if I had paid £900 for a single cabin on deck 3 (which really did feel like steerage) as one chap I met had done I would certainly feel hard done by. But as my cruise was free and we paid £570 including upgrade and Exeter flights for my husband we were rather more philosophical about the state of the ship. We thought the entertainment crew were really very good. These singers and dancers would not have disgraced a West End musical. The 'comedian' Phil Doyle was quite frankly a disgrace. An unpleasant, misogynistic egotist. An example: "You've heard the Spice Girls are doing a world tour? That song they sing ... I'll tell you what I want what I really really want. Well I'll tell you what they want - a good slapping" If people think that jokes like this are funny I despair. He also referred to a member of the crew as having 'a turnstile on her knickers'. This man was horrible - we came across him twice and stayed a matter of minutes each time.
We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and standard of the food. We didn't go to the Beachcomber as it was crowded and a bit like a cafeteria. The Island restaurant was fine if a bit of a pain when busy. However there was always plenty of fresh fruit and salads although the fruit juice was horrible. The first time we were seated next to the window on an 8 seater rectangular table. It was impossible to get out unless the 3 people next to you were out of their chairs. There was limited space between tables. We ate at the Oasis 4 times. As far as we were concerned it was worth the £9.95 supplement each to have an excellent meal, beautifully served at a table for just the two of us.
As everyone mentions the crew are superb. The cabin staff are extremely hardworking and do the very best they can with worn, greying towels and bedlinen. there was plenty of storage space but the cabin was very shabby with loose electrical connections and no working radio. However the TV showed two different, recent films every day.
The ports were all very good except for Olbia which was awful. The forecast was for heavy rain and I really felt sorry for those paying summer prices for a coach tour of the coast in the rain with no visibility. This was a rip-off and I suspect the excursions are big moneymakers for not a great deal. When the lad was doing the excursion presentation he couldn't even pronounce the names of the places properly. I can understand if people are not that confident in setting off on their own but you'd save a lot of money and have a great time. Instead of having some woman giving advice on shopping in each port it would be a good idea to have someone who could suggest ideas for those who wanted to be independent. I overheard one bloke saying that in Rome they had been driven round the Coliseum 3 times in their excursion coach but weren't able to get off the coach.
In Olbia we walked around the town but most of the roads were being dug up and it was a bit of a building site.
At Civitavecchia we caught the bus to the port gate and then walked along to the station - 5-7 mins. The return ticket was 9 euro (£6) and this ticket also took you on the metro and buses - what value! Weigh this up against the £35 'Rome alone' excursion fare where they took you to Rome by coach, dropped you off then picked you up. So that's £70 for two versus £12! We went straight to the Coliseum - queued for about 20 mins then spent a couple of hours there. Metro to Piazza Spagna and then on to San Pietro. We were then able to get the train back to the boat from there. We loved La Spezia. It has great Arts and Crafts buildings and we wandered for hours. The boat trips from the harbour to Portovenere and Lerici were very cheap and great value. Most mornings I was up on deck as we arrived in port and it was a lovely time of day. arriving in Nice as dawn was breaking was spectacular. We wandered through the old town at 7.30am as it was waking up and browsed in the market before it got busy. A long leisurely stroll along the seafront dodging rollerskaters, cyclists and joggers was a lovely way to spend a Sunday. It was a shame we had to be back on board at 2.30pm.

So all in all this trip was not nearly as bad as we thought it might be. However the BIG problem is the smoking. Although restaurants and the theatre were smokefree the stink from cigarette smoke was everywhere. There seemed to be a high number of smokers on board and they took every opportunity to light up. The bars and pub were thick with smoke and I felt really sorry for the children sitting in the Sundowner lounge being exposed to secondhand smoke. It was impossible to get away from cig smoke even on deck and I have to say this ruined our trip more than anything else.
Would we cruise again - certainly. Would we go on an Island cruise - sorry no. Fine for smokers but really unpleasant for those who don't.

Two other things I meant to mention in my review... firstly being charged £14 for use of the safe. We didn't request it until about to go off to Rome (day 4) and still paid the full amount.
Secondly the gym. Don't get me wrong - we were really impressed with the amount of equipment and its quality but there is no supervision and although there is one small notice asking for suitable sportswear to be worn and no under 16s it was completely disregarded. We saw children as young as 8 using the equipment including weights, elderly people in outdoor shoes on cross trainers and extremely overweight adults going bright red on the tredmills. I would be interested to know how the ship's insurers would deal with someone injuring themselves, having a heart attack or stroke - or worse. There was no disclaimer anywhere I could see.

Finally - there were a number of children on board and we thought they were all extremely well behaved and absolutely no trouble at all.