Island Escape 20th November 2009 - recently back

[darwin2009]

Hi all

recently back from IE had a great time yes its a bit dated but its made up for by the staff, great food and good weather. Went on a few excursions they were good except morocco which was a dump compared to the other lovely canary islands.

 

Hints & tips

• take some travel sick tablets if your not a good traveller you do feel some of the boat - up to Maderia can be a bit choppy
  
• my other half says have a hot stone massage at the spa - its great but dont worry about the ladies £50 all in spa
  
• buy water off the boat as it expensive on board but other drinks are priced ok look out for cocktail of the day
  
• read the excursions some stuff you can do yourself ie maderia
  
• get your hairdrier as soon as you arrive
  
• take travel plugs
  

If you want to know anything ask me

[Cymro1953]

Thanks Darwin,

Glad to hear you had a great time.

DW and I are not looking forward to Morocco too much either. We were in Cairo with the cruise in June and that was enough to last a while.

Can't wait to go now, but got to wait till the end of next week.

 

Berwyn

[its,only,me]

Thanks for that Darwin , not usually seasick but if it is choppy then maybe will take something with me just in case ,,,, glad that you had a great cruise

 

mrs.c

[darwin2009]

apparently it is just the crossing from La Palma up to madeira that it is known to be quite windy and the boat was rolling a bit some people felt a bit seasick but not too bad

[seabourndt]

had a great tour there on the THOMSON DESTINY i think. also got stuck on the FUNCHAL in safaga for a week(engine broke down) we were on the way to australia had to fly there in the end. the island escape sounds an interesting ship. as SHIP'S MONTHLY are doing a group there in april

dave

[crooza]

We are off on the IE cruise on 29th and found this very useful. Pity, was looking forward to Morroco the most. :(

 

We have the drinks package but I see this does not include water, meanies.

 

What excursions do you think we should take?

 

Thanks.

[Cymro1953]

We are off on the IE cruise on 29th and found this very useful. Pity, was looking forward to Morroco the most. :(

 

We have the drinks package but I see this does not include water, meanies.

 

What excursions do you think we should take?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi,

The water referred to is bottled water, there is plenty of free iced water available next to the tea and coffee in the Beachcomber.. The water on the ship is filtered and quite safe to drink.

 

Agadir looks like it has been built on a rubbish dump still in use. We went on the Taroudant trip and it was interesting as they took you through the old proper market with all the spices etc. and the tree climbing goats. But he does end the tour in a small square with shops full of stuff for tourists and you feel pressurised to haggle.

Just around the corner is a big square with cafes. The bus picks you up there and you could avoid the tourist trap.

 

We docked in Alexandria in June and went to Cairo to see the pyramids etc. That was bad enough but Morocco was worse.

 

In Madeira we researched doing Funchal D-I-Y and using a local excursion firm. The same excursion as we did, Taste of Madeira, up in the cable car, down in the toboggans etc. Would only have been slightly cheaper using them than the ship's.

We also recommend the Fire Mountain one in Lanzarote.

 

the drinks package is better this year as it includes cocktails that were not available on it last year.

 

Berwyn

[crooza]

Excellent tips, thanks very much. We enjoy our wine and thats why we upgraded to all in drinks but it seems that there is not much in it so don't think we made too bad a choice.

 

Been to Tenerife a lot but never the other islands so am curious to explore but think I will possibly do a few of my own tours as you are not restricted. Morroco market and Madiera market have been given the thumbs up to me but the advice for Morroco will be extremely valuable and we will escape the square for the cafes as soon as we can. :)

 

Am enjoying the sound of this more and more and feel a lot of negative reviews are based on peoples standards rather than the cruise itself and I have stayed in luxury and budget before rather enjoying budget more than luxury for value. (Sandals in Nassau ranks as our worst holiday ever.)

 

Entertainment sounds fabulous.