Island Espape a couple of questions

[First cruise lady]

Hi

 

I'm going on the Island Escape for the first time in August and have a couple of questions.

 

1. I already have the all inclusive drinks menu, but it doesn't mention tea and coffee. Is that available in all bars, or only in certain places, as I've read in a couple of reviews?

 

2. Are all the bars open all evening? I only ask because I stayed in an all inclusive complex once in the canary islands, where only two bars out of five were open at any one time

 

Thanks

 

Any help much appreciated x.

[Rebel Rouser]

First Cruise Lady hi and welcome to the Island Escape Forum :)

 

In answer to your questions.

 

1. I already have the all inclusive drinks menu, but it doesn't mention tea and coffee. Is that available in all bars, or only in certain places, as I've read in a couple of reviews?

 

Tea and coffee free 24 hrs in the Beach comber and free with all meals.

 

2. Are all the bars open all evening? I only ask because I stayed in an all inclusive complex once in the canary islands, where only two bars out of five were open at any one time.

 

Bars open from 10:30 until 02:00 some bars open later but then it's pay.

I think the pool deck bar closes about 18:00

 

 

 

 

I might be corrected later :D

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. That's really helpful. If I want a coffee inbetween meals then, I'll just have to go to the Beachcomber or pay for it, which is fine.

 

The information about the bars is really useful.

[jenny wren]

You may not like the coffee in the Beachcomber so you might like to take your own ....Lidl do nescafe sachets fairly cheap!! :)

 

welcome to the forum by the way! :)

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. That's a really useful tip. Will bear it in mind. What's the food like on the ship? Would you recommend the Beachcomber or the Island?

[jenny wren]

We always eat in the island restaurant...still buffet but has tablecloths and waiters to serve coffee drinks etc. Food the same in both and good....oasis is nice for a treat...full waiter service and better menu but it costs extra....

[Rebel Rouser]

The Oasis ...depends who you sit with :D

[First cruise lady]

Thanks for both replies. That's really helpful. Does the Beachcomber serve exactly the same menu as the Island then, as it says in the brochure, the Beachcomber is mainly for snacks?

[jenny wren]

I think its more or less the same in both....perhaps a bit more choice in island restaurant...also the island does close between meals but beachcomber open all the time...

RR...we' ve been lucky with our tablemates in the Oasis and really enjoyed their company !!!!!!!

[Rebel Rouser]

FCL, the menu sometimes mirror the Island, but some of the snacks ie, chips burgers pizza's that type of food, afternoon tea is out of this world :D

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. That's all really helpful. Can you get a meal anytime in the Beachcomber or is the main menu only available at certain times? Also, is it correct that the only place to get a free coffee between meals is in the Beachcomber?

[Rebel Rouser]

I think you have answered your questions yourself FCL, the beachcomber closes for about 30 mins between Breakfast/Dinner/eveing meal to sawp out the meals. and free tean and coffee only in the Beachcomber.

 

 

RR

[First cruise lady]

Thanks for confirming that. I only asked because we sometimes like a coffee and separate liqueur after dinner at night. I'm aware we'd have to pay for the liqueur, but was wondering if we could get a free coffee to go with it. Do you always have to share a table in the Oasis Restaurant or can you choose to or not? We're going in a party of 3, so don't know if that makes any difference.

 

FCL

[jenny wren]

If you dine in the island restaurant the waiters will serve coffee..free..after your meal..no you dont have to share tables in the oasis...we chose to!!!

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. Will definitely bear that coffee tip in mind and thanks for confirming about the Oasis Restaurant. I know I seem to be asking a lot of questions, but this is my first cruise, so am a little apprehensive about it all.

 

By the way, I remember reading somewhere that the food in the Island is a different theme every night and that you get a newsletter every day, saying what the theme is and what activities, shows etc are on. Is that still the case with the all inclusive? I'm not sure if we'll want all the activities, but it might be useful to know what's on.

[ClaireAnna81]

 

By the way, I remember reading somewhere that the food in the Island is a different theme every night and that you get a newsletter every day, saying what the theme is and what activities, shows etc are on. Is that still the case with the all inclusive? I'm not sure if we'll want all the activities, but it might be useful to know what's on.

 

Yes you get an island chat thing through the cabin door each night, basic info on the next mornings port, weather forecast and the daily activities, shows, dinner themes etc

 

 

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Xparent Purple Tapatalk 2

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. That's really good to know.

[ClaireAnna81]

Your very welcome. The guest relations desk also have stacks of maps and info out each evening for the next days portbof call and are very helpful.

 

Only done the one cruise on IE this April but intend not to be my last had a great time. Hope you enjoy your time on her as much as we did :-)

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Xparent Purple Tapatalk 2

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. I'm sure we'll enjoy it.

[kevtina]

You have nothing to worry about this is the most relaxed ship I have ever been on. You can do and eat whatever you want. Drink till 2 all inclusive . Try the bar on deck 11. Very relaxed and dancing till late. You will find all the staff very informal and so friendly (If you meet Ready ask him about his Scooter and his baby boy) Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy :D

[kevtina]

And most of all ENJOY ;)

[First cruise lady]

Thanks. I'm sure we will.

[Lanzalady]

Hi All,

 

I've been lurking around here for a while and thought that it was time to join in the conversation. I've just got back from the Best of the Med cruise that sailed on 21/05/13.

 

I see that Kevtina was also on that cruise, so Hi Kevtina, how did you enjoy the weather last week?

 

I agree that the Island Escape offers a very laid-back atmosphere but I did find the cruise a little disappointing. Of course, the bad weather paid an important part of the disappointment but there were many things that could have been done a lot better.

 

Whilst this was only my third cruise (first cruise around the Canary Islands on the Airtours Carousel many years ago and the second one, also around the Canary Islands on the Thomson Destiny in November 2011) it really didn't come up to the standard of the other two.

 

I have never been a fan of melamine crockery and this it what was available to eat and drink off in the Beachcomber. We ate all our meals there as we prefer to eat when we want to, where we want to and how we want to. My hubby always says that if we go out to eat in a local restaurant we are not expected to share a table with strangers, so why is this expected on a cruise?

 

On the Destiny, we also ate in the casual dining area but we had china plates and mugs. We also got PG Tips!

 

The teabags on the Island Escape were those little ones with hardly any tea inside them. And the water was so highly chlorinated that every hot drink tasted slightly unpleasant. So, add a melamine mug to this and you have a below average cup of tea. I saw one woman's mug explode when she added the hot water to her tea-bag. Luckily she reacted quickly and stepped back before the boiling water hit her leg. On the positive side, hot drinks were available at all times. There was even hot chocolate available if you asked for it.

 

The food wasn't too bad but we weren't permitted to serve ourselves at all. Mealtimes reminded me of school dinners except that we couldn't actually see what we were choosing to eat as everything was kept under cover in the bain-marie and doled out by one of the serving staff. You had to guess what was under the lid and hope that you were making the right choice. You were more or less told how much you could have and it was all slapped onto your plate and shoved back at you. There were no condiments on the tables so if you had forgotten to bring salt, pepper, ketchup etc along with you, you had to leave your meal and go and find some from the serving areas. The clearing staff spent a lot of time standing around chatting to each other and could usually only manage to clear 2 plates at the time which resulted on often having to sit at a table that still held the remnants of the previous occupants' meals.

 

Earlier on in the cruise, some of the food had been laid out for people to help themselves to but about 4 days in, everything was removed from public display. This was apparently due to some of the staff going down with the Norovirus but this overkill in the hygiene department was somewhat a joke when you take into consideration that the hand-sanitizing that was supposed to take place before entering the food areas, was not being done.

 

On leaving port one evening, the ship lurched dangerously to one side due to the high seas and the wind and the close proximity of some large rocks. All the eating areas suffered quite serious damage with crockery, glasses and food being thrown about the decks. Several passengers were hurt - some quite seriously I believe and the place was in chaos. Most of the officers on duty in the Beachcomber seemed to be at a loss of what to do. They may do regular life-boat drills etc but couldn't cope with getting things back to normal in the restaurant. Some of the servers were trying to clear up the food from the floor with paper napkins whilst the officers wandered around aimlessly. Nobody took control nor got mops and buckets out to clean up the mess and it was about an hour before it was possible to sit down to eat something. During the lurch, 2 of the hand-sanitizers had been thrown on the floor and smashed to bits. It seems a bit strange that the hygiene of the entire ship was dependent on several cheap plastic balls that contained sanitizing gel and which were supported by a single wonky plastic pole. These were free-standing at the entrances to the food areas. Surely something so basic and important should have been more substantial and also secured to the floor? The tables and chairs were also free-standing and for that reason had slid all over the deck during the lurch. So with at least 2 of the sanitizing balls out of action, did they immediately replace them with new ones? No, they didn't have any spares! The following day at breakfast there were people coming in and out from the rear deck and getting food from the serving areas without any sort of hand-cleaning first. When I asked one of the officers why this was happening, he told me that the sanitizing ball had smashed and they didn't have a spare. At the same time at the other end of the Beachcomber, there was a member of staff ensuring that everyone who came in through that door sanitized their hands on entering. This went on until the evening of the following day, so imagine how many germs were allowed into the Beachcomber in the meantime! They seemed to be just going through the motions of ensuring good hygiene on board.

 

The Island Escape may now be "all-inclusive" but the house wine was fairly undrinkable and it became necessary to pay £2.50 per glass for a reasonable glass of Merlot. There were 5 or 6 cocktails available on this package but these were also not particularly nice. If you wanted a piña-colada or something of that sort, you had to pay for it. On the Destiny, we had paid a small amount for the all-inclusive package and this included a full list of cocktails.

 

The cabins are small but perfectly adequate. It would have been nice to have had a door on the wardrobe instead of the pair of curtains that never closed properly. The shower curtain was about an inch short of the shower cubicle floor so lots of water was left swimming on the bathroom floor after using the shower.

 

I was surprised to see that the beds did not have any mattress protectors on them. Having been a hotel manager in the Canary Islands for 16 years, I thought that it was obligatory to have a layer that could be regularly changed between the mattress and the sheet. I asked for one and they did put a thin duvet on top of my mattress. Our housekeeper Luis did a great job of looking after us and was always on hand if we needed anything.

 

All in all, we did enjoy our cruise but we thought that it could have been better even though the weather was bad. We are thinking of doing another cruise - maybe to the Greek Islands but probably wouldn't choose the Island Escape again. We still think that Thomson offers a great service and we do like the fact that we are surrounded mostly by our countrymen and women. We live in Spain and it's sometimes good to get away from it all!

[First cruise lady]

Hi

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

I already have the drinks menu, so am aware of what's available and what isn't. Will definitely bear in mind what's said about the teabags and consider taking our own.

 

Did you find all the wine undrinkable? I know I went to the Canary Islands once and found the white wine undrinkable, but the rose wine was okay, so just drank that. Just wondered if I could do something similar here, though will try the white wine anyway, just in case they've changed it before we go.

[Lanzalady]

Hi, The wines from the Canary Islands are an acquired taste! The reds from the North of Tenerife have a unique peaty flavour and leave the teeth almost blue after drinking but there are some prize-winning wines amongst them. The Malvasia whites from Lanzarote are also prize-winning and can rival many of the best French wines. However, some of the whites from Tenerife are more suitable for use as drain-cleaners and I've yet to find a decent red from Lanzarote. I'm not too familiar with the wines of Gran Canaria, so I can't comment on these. On the Island Escape, it was both the red and the white house wines that were included in the all-inclusive drinks list that I found unpalatable. The Merlot was delicious but not included in the list. Just a matter of taste I suppose. (Some people will drink anything if it's free!);)