Would not touch with bargepole, honestly don't go near it! You can do Canaries with NCL Jade, and other much better ships. The Jade is only 3 or 4 years old, Island Escape is a converted ferry first entered service in 1982.

Okay - thanks for your reply.
There were a lot of negative reviews following a cruise at Christmas. I just wondered if it is always as bad as those reviews suggest.

I was on this cruise early Dec so will try and give you as many facts about it as I can.
First the negatives - the ship is old and looks it. The cabins are small and shabby. There is no Captain's Night if you like dressing up. The main restaurant, although very pleasant, was buffet style, like most hotels nowadays but this didnt suit some people, they wanted waiter service although it certainly didnt bother me.
Now everything else - the food is superb, cant fault it at all either in the cafe or restaurant. The public rooms, bars etc are very, very nice, the shows are first class and the staff work damned hard. Drinks prices are very reasonable.
Strange thing was that everyone who was on their first cruise loved it, more experienced cruisers grumbled as there are obviously better, more modern ships around.
I would pay the extra and go for Deck 5/6 at least, if seems the most stable part of the boat and you get a picture window if you go for an outside cabin.
If you can get a last minute bargain I would go for it, as long as its cheap you cant go wrong - it certainly wasnt as bad for us as some people make out in their reviews and we have been on quite a few cruises.
If you do go ahead and book I will gladly give a few tips about the trips.

In a strange way Vivien-Marie has explained our personal experience as first cruisers back in June 2004, on the Island Escape. What she says was absolutely true then, so no reason to doubt it is still true...the staff were indeed fantastic...a couple of agents are advertising the cruise for £389 on teletext P.227.

We were on this Cruise on the first of January, i have just posted what i think is a honest reveiw of the ship.

I really appreciate your comments.
If I can get it at the right price I will be tempted to book it. Will definitely look at teletext.

Thank u all.

Hi,

We were on the Island Escape 4th-18th Dec 2009 - we had sailed before on the Celebration, Destiny. Emerald, and the Spirit.

The food was very good - the beds were very small - the staff were the best we have had - but, I wouldn't rush back - we were on the AI which doesn't compare to the AI on the other Thomson ships - you couldn't get a decent coffee unless you paid in the coffee bar - for instance you couldn't have a brandy and coffee in the bars on the AI after your evening meal - I thought that I would look at another cruise line after our last trip on the Celebration and after the trip on the IE I am looking to try another cruise line than Thomson. HTH - Gretchen

Has anyone been on the Thompson Red Sea Cruise? Is it true that the ship is docked mainly in industrial ports with nowhere to get off and walk to? Any comments would be very helpful.

For questions regarding the Red Sea Magic cruise please post in THIS TOPIC

luci