Having cruised with Thomson and NCL in the past three years (all of which have been great) my wife and I decided to give the Island Escape a try; based mainly on the ports of call and that it was a "Thomson" cruise and that it was the ships first cruise of the season. This is no Thomson cruise....please believe me. Yes we had read the reviews (which were mixed) before we booked. Moral of the story is you get what you pay for...yes this cruise was slightly (and I mean slightly) cheaper than others - but it's no bargain..
So here goes with an honest assessment...
Boarding - painless and well organised.
My advice is - if you not fussy about your cabin quality, quality of food, quality of entertainment and general appearance of the boat then you'll enjoy the cruise as the ports of call are excellent. If you are looking for a degree of class then there are plenty of other cruise lines that visit these destinations; granted they may cost slightly more.....but spend the money it'll be worth it.