Norwegian Fjords,

Excursions were expensive £109 each for an 8 hour excursion, which incidentally was brilliant but this was to be expected in Norway as everything is so expensive there,

The ship was very clean, cabins are on a par with Thomson ships, small but adequate. Crew continually sanitising and cleaning the ship.

The food, well unfortunately I am a very fussy eater and the food was not to my taste, but on saying that my partner and a lot of other passengers never found any problems, so I guess it was my fussy eating.

The food in the Bistro was not always hot, the one suggestion that I have to make is that after 10.00pm at night you could not get a cup of tea or coffee unless you paid for it, as well seasoned travellers I have never come across this before, on most ships tea and coffee are on tap 24 hours per day, so this may be one suggestion that the Marco Polo addresses.

The Ships crew were absolutely fantastic, nothing was to much trouble for them.

Entertainment, well what can I say it was brilliant, entertainment in all the bars and the theatre shows were fantastic, all in all this was down to the cruise director Richard Sykes who made the cruise such a nice cruise.

If the food was better I would definately sail on the Marco Polo again, but for the price we paid it was well worth the money

Cruises have never appealed to me - for one reason I do not wish to contract Norovirus. I was apprehensive about this trip to the Baltic, but it turned out to be a very relaxing, enjoyable holiday. This was the first cruise I have been on so I have nothing to compare it with. What made the trip were the wonderful places we visited - Stockholm, Tallin, St Petersburg, Oslo, Denmark and Helsinki. We were lucky with the weather - warm with no rain. The half or full day at each place was never long enough, but that's not the fault of the cruise company. We went on two organized trips in St Petersburg, which were very good but overpriced.

The ship was kept spotlessly clean in all areas (except for the odd dirty glass and cracked or chipped mug) and the staff were polite and pleasant. The evening entertainment was first class. We only went to one of the day time lectures, but that was very good indeed.

The food was excellent, tasty and well cooked, and it was nice to try new dishes. The meringue was a strange texture, but that's a minor fault. There tended to be a mad scramble for tables in the Bistro at lunch and breakfast.

The cabin was small but adequate, no window but not at all claustrophobic. The dining rooms and public areas got very hot and stuffy at times, and this combined with some of the daytime activities like bingo made the ship feel like a floating old folks home at times. One plus was the absence of children on board. The Kiel canal was as interesting as watching paint dry.

Note to staff. If a passenger points out a problem, you apologise and try to put it right. You do not try to persuade him that he is mistaken or deluded, especially if there are witnesses. Remember who pays your wages (and gratuities).

Sailed end of September 2010 on "Mediterranean Odyssey"

Ship was spotlessly clean and kept that way by hard working staff. The ship had a traditional feel which suited me and most of the fellow travellers we met.

Lots of deck space with opportunities for a morning walk round the ship. (The daily organised walk was a little too early for our constitutions).

The ship is "child free" which is a bonus, and leads to a more leisurely atmosphere.

The average age of the passengers must be around the 70 mark with very few under 60.

Cabin was surprisingly spacious and well appointed, everyone we met seemed pleased with the accommodation.

The food was good, especially in the Waldorf Restaurant
where we were allocated a permanent table at 2nd sitting and were able to establish a good friendship with
our fellow table guests.
This was especially handy as we were able to form our own little party for shore excursions. (The ship-booked tours were good but very expensive).

The entertainment was terrific, with British front-line hosts supported by East European musicians and dancers.

The twice nightly extravaganza in the Marco Polo Lounge was amazing with a different show each evening.

Top marks, though, must go to cruise director Richard.
This guy is tremendously talented and keeps going like a Duracell bunny ! He rushes from venue to venue as compere, pianist, singer and conveys a great sense of fun to all. He was the highlight of our cruise.

Day time activities were also good fun with quizzes and
games like Countdown and Deal or No Deal well presented by Jody and Cait, two girls with a wicked sense of fun.

Downsides to the cruise:

High drink prices, which, we were told, had been raised considerably from last year, a large lager (400ml) cost £3.10 which equals over £5 a pint. Soft drinks were especially high and we felt the owners were taking advantage of captive cutomers.

Many of the serving staff were East European, and whilst always courteous, were unsmiling and appeared less than enthusiastic.

These are small gripes and we would not hesitate to sail again on this lovely traditional ship.

This was the Baltic cruise, stopping at Warnemunde for Berlin, Tallinn, St Petersburg (2 nights), Helsinki, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. Thoroughly enjoyable throughout - and how the ship staff managed to arrange temperatures of 30C plus we will never know, when we were expecting chilly weather...

We have cruised with several different lines and ships, most often Princess Line, but would recommend the Marco Polo to anybody wanting to sample cruising. The ship is clean and tidy, with odd bits getting a facelift while we were on board - we came back from one trip to find go-faster stripes on the sides! The only complaint would be that some of the carpet on the stairs is looking threadbare and definitely needs replacing before somebody has an accident. The food was excellent, well prepared and a good variety - proud boast was that we were never going to get the same thing twice in the dining room throughout the cruise, and they were quite right, we didn't. The Bistro we found very crowded at lunchtime, and it was difficult to find a seat, but the food again was good. There was occasionally an almost complete lack of cups or mugs at the coffee stations, and this was annoying. We heard that one of the dishwashers was out of action, but that was right at the beginning of the cruise, and the mug problem was still happening at the end.

Ship staff were always polite and helpful, their command of English was very good, considering that for most of them it was not their first language. The Captain kept us informed as to where we were, sea conditions etc, and also talked us through a medical emergency which delayed the ship for some time at the Kiel Canal. Always good practice to keep passengers in the know about what is happening.

We found the shore trips to be in the main well constructed and good value. Apart from one trip when we could not hear the tour guide from the back of a rather ancient bus (problem with the PA system), the buses were comfortable and the guides extremely knowledgeable. Pity about the traffic jams in St Petersburg but then you can't have everything...

The onboard entertainment was superb, extremely professional and well presented. This was almost entirely due to the organisation by Richard Sykes, the Cruise Director, who was all things to all men 24/7 and obviously enjoying himself enormously in his job. His own talent was given several showcases, and his interpretation of the songs of Victoria Wood had to be repeated by popular demand. He was also very approachable and willing to chat (when he had time!). And as for his "Silver Bullet" in the last night's show - if you want to hear superb operatic singing from an entirely unexpected source, you will need to book yourselves a cruise!!

Having been on other cruises on much bigger ships, we would recommend the Marco Polo for the more personal touch which comes with a smaller number of passengers. We will certainly be looking for another cruise on this ship - in the not too distant future!

(This information was posted 18th October 2005).
We have cruised on the Marco Polo twice (both 7 nights). August 2004 to Norweigian Fjords, and August 2005 Baltic Cruise.
Both were excellent value for money (late booking, about four weeks prior to departure through Teletext Holidays, cost approx half brochure price, and we met people who had paid full brochure price).
The ship is very small, 22,000 tons I think.
The ship is old, but in excellent condition considering.
The ship is very clean.
The food is good / v. good.
The crew, without exception, are all excellent.
Entertainment. Dancers / singers were good, but not Las Vegas 'raz' style.
Entertainment in Bars is low key 'Nautical Trio' type.
When we sailed August 2004 there was only one fault, which was soot from the funnel, falling like a shower of rain. We personally observed this happening once (although it could have happened more). Good clothes would have been ruined. We said at the time this was probably the one thing that would prevent us from sailing on this ship again, but when the Baltic cruise came up in August 2005 at an excellent price we decided to give it another try - and the same thing happened. When I reported this to the Assistant Cruise Director she claimed to have no knowledge of this, which I did not believe. The ship is supposed to be in dry dock in November for two weeks for a mechanical overhaul, so hopefully this soot problem will also be taken care of.
I am 52, and was probably one of the youger ones. 80% Americans, 20% British. All extremely nice people.
Someone asked on another forum about sailing on Marco Polo for 32 days. Personelly I would say "No" due to lack of amenities / entertainment, but it depends on what you are looking for.
Marco Polo (Orient Lines) take EXCELLENT CARE of their passengers pre / post cruise - eg on our Baltic cruise, we had a three hour drive from Berlin airport to the ship port. Half way to the port the coach stopped for almost an hour and they provided a picnic -so the actual driving time was really only two hours.
On disembarkment day we had to leave at 08.00 hrs, but our flight was not until 17.00 hrs. Orient Lines took us to a beautiful conference centre in the middle of fantastic lakes / scenery, provided a beautiful lunch, then took us to the oldest village in Sweden, before dropping us off at the airport not long before our flight. We had similar attention in the Fjords.
(This information was posted 18th October 2005)

The booking of the cruise was handled by Jez(?) of The Travel House. We could not have been more pleased with the very helpful way he dealt with the booking. Exactly what we had expected considering we were paying upwards of £15,000 for this cruise.


Unfortunately, very soon afterwards it all began to unravel. We requested, three day extensions in Barbados and Buenos Aires, but could get an extension of our stay only in Barbados, not Buenos Aires. We accepted this as we were lead to believe we would have two days in Buenos Aires anyway. This turned out not to be the case. (We had one clear day plus a second day where we only spent hours and hours standing in an airport queue.)


Though we had paid a substantial deposit, we received a letter from Travel House, stating that our booking was not confirmed because we had not paid for the cruise by the due date. After much to-ing and fro-ing, over three days, with the GPO and Travel House, the £12,000+ cheque we had sent was eventually found "in a drawer, in someone's desk" at Travel House. (Remember this, it is going to happen again!)


We could not get our insurance document from Travel House, which caused us some problems with the insurers as we had to make a claim on that insurance, which could not be settled without it. I believe it took three letters or faxes to Travel House before we got it. None of our urgent faxes to Travel House were ever even acknowledged and they resorted to denying any knowledge of them!)


We could not get essential and informative details about the cruise, particularly baggage allowances, as no tickets were issued for the airlines, no information on what it would be appropriate to take with us for an extended cruise crossing the Equator to the Antarctic. It was only at the very last minute, by searching the internet, that we learned of the need to take wellington boots of a specific size. If we had not searched repeatedly for information we would not have known until after we arrived on board.


The lack of consistent, reliable information was partly responsible for allowing us to believe that gratuities and tips were included in the cost of the cruise. As it was we received a "request" to hand over several hundred dollars in tips to the staff on board the ship "because the staff were working for me!" I rather felt that I had already paid them, very handsomly indeed. Also we found a minor but annoying unexpected bill for $36 in airport taxes at Buenos Aires.


We had requested that we book flights on the helicopter which we had been informed would probably be available in the Antarctic. However we were told that we should make arrangements independently, once on board. As it turned out there was no helicopter and even if there had been we would not have been allowed to use it. Once again, whilst not a major problem in itself, it was dissapointing and is once again indicative of the lack of dependable information which we found to be a significant feature of the entire operation of Travel House, the cruise ship owners and the vessel itself.


We were unable to find any information on the hotel at which we would be spending a three day extension in Barbados. However, as we had booked a superior cabin on the vessel, we were entitled to expect, from brochure information, that we would also receive first class accommodation in Barbados. This turned out to be far from the case. Despite receiving a "discount" we paid approximately £180 per night for a poor quality room for which independent travellers were apparently paying less than £100. Photographs of the room are being used as evidence in a current court case against Travel House, for a refund of excess charges and compensation.


We were unable to obtain tickets for the flights, repeatedly promised for three weeks(?) prior to departure. Eventually ABTA had to be contacted to try to unravel the mess. It then transpired that we could not get the tickets because Travel House had not sent us an essential form about which we knew nothing.

The missing forms which prevented us from getting these tickets is required to be returned to NCL/Orient Lines at least three weeks prior to departure. Yet they only dispatched them to us just over two weeks prior to departure and when we returned them imendately, they at first confirmed having them and then denied having them.

This is an extract from a letter from NCL/Orient Lines explaining thier view of their urgent and essential form.

"We did send the Required Health Statement to your travel agent (in Wales) on the 15th of November." (we were due to leave from Edinburgh, on 6th December, before the post would arrive) "We felt this was adequate time for this to be returned to us by fax (though they did not provide a fax number and we had to search for one), or post, your travel agent should also be aware that this is required. It does state on the form that this has to be returned to us 3 weeks before travel, this is to encourage guests to return the form to us promptly after receiving it!"

We did indeed fax the form back, within an hour of receiveing it, and the girl confirmed that she had it in her hand. But then it was lost for three more days before "being discovered in someones drawer" Sound familiar?


We first found out about this form when it arrived in the post, two and a half weeks prior to departure, with a clear statement that it must be returned at least three weeks prior to departure!

We had a good flight out to Barbados!!


Arriving in Barbados, despite frantic efforts by a number of people, we were unable to find the agent, nor locate any Marco Polo representative. After twenty-five minutes the rep turned up saying he was the only one on duty and he had been dealing with someone else, somewhere else. There had been no contact information or help of any sort.


The hotel was barely acceptable as a three star hotel, much less a superior hotel on a £15,000, £180 per night holiday. We would be reluctant to stay in such accommodation at less than half the price we were paying. However, in order to save the cruise we made the best of it until we could speak to the rep.
Photographs of our room are on the web.


The rep. a lady, arrived on the last day but was much too busy handling baggage and other matters. So we climbed on the bus to take us to the ship, as our baggage was thrown high into the air over a pile of other similar bags. We later recovered the bags undamaged, but, like many other bags, very wet from a mysterious soaking in the dry weather.


Our non air-conditioned bus took us to the terminal where it was turned away so we were taken to the boat where we were once again turned away. Back to the terminal where we were first held on the very warm bus for a while before being told to disembark and stand in a line to nowhere for around half an hour. Eventually help came. We were sent back to the bus then back to the boat where our arrival was eventually well handled.


Our cabin was adequate but not anything special. Despite the cost of the cruise, we put this down to the pre known age of the boat and the expected challenging conditions under which it might have to operate.

Mildly disappointing but acceptable in the circumstances. I estimate the cabin is directly comparable in size and quality to those on the North Sea ferry operating the one day crossing from Zeebrugge to Edinburgh.


The cabin air conditioner did not work. We were unable to lower the cabin temperature below 25c. We were told this was because we were not operating on main engines and the compressors would come on line once the main engines were brought on line.


After two days cruising with the thermostat at maximum cold, with the window curtains permanently closed, we got the temperature down to 23c Two messages to the pursers desk produced no response. Finally a written note produced an engineer who increased the airflow rate, but could not reduce the temperature. The end result was nothing more than a significant increase in air noise. Two letters, (copies retained) to the pursers desk again produced no positive fix.


Two shirts were damaged and one pair of shorts marked by soot from the ships funnel which regularly left deposits on the ships deck.


We repeatedly received dire threats of impending doom if we took unguided tours or trips ashore in Ecuador, Chile or Peru. As a result we ended up paying very high prices for poorly executed tours. Though some tours were ok, none were value and at least one was absolutely extortionate, $310 for the two of us, for a seven hour fast bus ride across the desert, with a buffet meal.

This was a world class rip off in a country where, as it transpired, the two of us could have hired a taxi and driver for less than $100 and had a personalised tour. This we did from then on and had a wonderful series of excursions at usually less than a third of the price the boat was charging. We had great drivers who almost invariably went well out of thier way to make sure we saw everything. Wonderful way to do it. Highly recommended.


It was very apparent that very useful information on self help trips was being withheld until after organised excursions were taken. Quite a number of passengers were very upset about this. In our presence some passengers made these points known, very strongly, to tour staff and others.


On one coach outing we arrived at a scenic location, got off the bus to look around, but before we had walked twice the length of the bus, we were being called back as we were out of time!!! This was not because of heavy traffic, because there was none. It was simply mismanagement of time on an expensive trip.


Because of the ongoing problems with temperature and noise in our cabin approx. 26th December we were offered alternative cabins, but instead of being at the closed end of a cul de sac corridor we would either be at the open end of the corridor, by the main door through which all passengers accessing the rear decks would have to pass, or in a cabin with severely obstructed views from the windows.

We had specifically requested the cabin we had, for its views and "quiet location". The alternative cabins were unacceptable and so we remained in the same cabin. The purser apparently took no further interest in the problem. She later revealed that she was well aware of our and other problems with these cabins, which were a long standing, known problem " a feature of the vessel".


Shortly after this we started to be awakened in the early hours of the morning by heavy banging and hammering from beneath our cabin. We thought this would be a short term problem to be dealt with by the pursers office. It was not until the last day that we were informed that this is yet another known problem with these high priced, superior cabins in that area.

Apparently there is heavy baking (dough) machinery directly below these cabins and any light sleepers are likely to be disturbed when baking starts in the early hours of the morning.


We were now approaching the southern extreme and the air-conditioning was now set to maximum hot for two days with no discernible effect on cabin temperature which continued to drop. During the northern part of our cruise I had been unable to work in the cabin because of high temperatures. Though it never became unbearably cold in the cabin, it was clear that the air-conditioning was totally inadequate for the job.


For two days, during the day, we were driven from the cabin by fumes. This turned out to be painting and servicing being carried out on the front of the vessel adjacent to the air intakes for these cabins.

Apparently fuelling and servicing the inflatables takes place by these vents and it is a known problem for people in these expensive cabins that petrol fumes may pervade them for some days!


This is the first cruise we have ever encountered such limited food times. We were very disappointed, amazed, to find certain items almost rationed. For example, on several occasions there was no orange juice available for breakfast. When questioned, during official breakfast times, the maitre was quite unabashed to say that the orange juice dispenser had run out and would not be refilled as breakfast would end soon and it was not worthwhile! Grapefruit and other juices seemed to be available at those times. The rationing appeared to apply always to the orange juice.


We ordered orange juice from the bar, which was mysteriously available, at a price! However this "fresh" orange juice was sometimes so diluted as to be undrinkable and was returned as unacceptable even though bar staff expected payment for it.


It is the first and only cruise (and by a very, very significant margin the most expensive) where we have been asked to pay for still drinks at any time of day, much less pay for such a breakfast staple as orange juice, at breakfast time.


Ice cream, served on the aft deck, was apparently rationed and only available during lunch, from around 12.30 to 2.00pm in the tropics.


The same is true of hot chocolate which was only available from the urn on the aft deck at around $2-3 a mug as we steamed through the Antarctic ice. The crew were obviously embarrassed by this as we experienced first hand them giving it away for free, rather than ask for money!


On three separate, consecutive occasions, arriving on the aft deck for breakfast, around 09.25, all hot food had been cleared away. All that was available was a small (very small) fruit buffet, outside on the aft deck, plus coffee from a "transport café" urn on the open aft deck. Again photographs were taken of this meagre offering.


Not only did the ship dilute and ration the orange juice, but it also ran out of Lemon tea tea bags, shampoo/shower gel and some other daily staples.

Initially the shower gel had been OK, but it soon became apparent that it was being watered down eventually to the point where it would no longer stay in the dispenser.

The purser was questioned about these basic necessities. She stated that after three weeks of cruising she was unaware of these specific complaints by guests but seemed to accept that they were a normal part of the operation of the Marco Polo as the vessel has no home port and frequently experiences supply problems of this sort.


Bear in mind that these food and drink and cabin supply matters related matters might seem relatively trivial, individually. But on a £15,000 cruise? I think not. Sum them together and factor them by that £15,000 fare and you might begin to see why I do not accept being cast as Oliver in the poor house, asking for more orange juice, and being denied, quite fitted my expectation for this cruise.


The "thinking mans cruise" presented a number of lectures and entertainments. It was embarrassing for guests to watch lecturers struggle with inoperable slide projectors, on one occasion even having to project a slide show of slides unknown to the lecturer, from borrowed slides, in a borowed projector, because the ships projection system would not work.


One lecturer was so poor that he managed to reduce an initial audience of some 150+ to no more than around 8 to 10 people during his bizarre and rambling forty minute discourse.


The pianist produced a similar effect on his audience. The first Christmas carol service was a quick and not very competent ramble through the first verses of some popular classic carols. Though I think it was enjoyed by the 100+ participants, the quality reflected in the second performance which was attended by fewer than a dozen people.


During a request performance I asked the pianist if he would play Boccherinis minuet No 11, I was delighted and amused to receive his answer, "Oh, is that a well know piece?" So I asked him if, instead, he could play Rondo ala Turka. At least he recognised it as Mozart when he told me "That's much too difficult!!" The thinking mans cruise? I don't think so.


We were presented with red anoraks for our sojourns onto the Antarctic ice. It transpired that the collars of the anoraks were not water proof and purple dye from the collars ran onto two shirts and a scarf, badly marking them. WE received no appology but were offered a free laundering....of the anoraks!!


Our last day in Buenos Aires consisted of breakfast, a drive to the airport, standing in line for three and a half hours, checking in, moved to the aircraft, sitting unattended there; it took six and a half hours from leaving the hotel before we could get our first drink. And we got that drink only because we, along with other passengers, demanded to see the purser. The cabin staff on the flight actually refused to provide us with soft drinks until we insisted the purser personally got them.


The overall impression of this cruise is one of quite exceptionally bad value. Everything is done to relieve us of money, but little is done to provide value. No one, at any stage appeared genuinely interested in resolving problems. If we were able to contact people, which frequently proved difficult, it was simply a matter of receiving what were meant to be placatory statements, denying responsibility or passing the problem on to other, equally disinterested and ineffectual people. The only, and I do mean the only thing, which represented anything near to our expectations was the hotel in Buenos Aires. Many people felt, rightly or wrongly that UK & Antipodean guests were being fleeced to pay for discounted fares for US guests

We were very pleased last year to take a cruise on the Marco Polo from Athens to Venice with stops in Turkey(Istanbul and Kusadasi) Mykonos and Dubrovnik. We found the ship to be small compared to the Royal Carribean monsters that we are used to but we really enjoyed the compactness of the ship and getting around and finding all the facilities to be very easy. We found the staff to be very professional, friendly and always pleased to attend to any of our requirements. Because of the late booking our cabin was on a lower deck and inside but it was very spacious with good facilities. We were welcomed on board by our Cabin steward Randy who took us straight to our cabin where we found a wonderful vase of red roses courtesy of our tour operator Althams of Burnley and an invitation to dine at the table of the Cruise Director during our stay. This was a very nice suprise as having been on many cruises this was our first selection for this honour.
The meal arrangements at second sitting dining were very good and we met a very nice couple from America and another English couple as well as the cruise director who on the two formal evenings provided all the drinks and liquers. The service of the waiters although excellent suddenly moved up a notch on these occasions.
We very much enjoyed our visit to Athens but we found the hotel Metropole where we stayed for three nights to be too far out of the centre and rather grubby (carpets and tiles) although there was a courtesy bus every hour to the city centre. We were very close to some of the Olympic facilities so we enjoyed having a look at those. The included tour of the Acropolis and Parthenon was very well organised.
Dining out in Athens was very good and on two occasions we ate just below the Acropolis at a wonderful taverna. Walking around the Plaka was interesting and the public buildings and the Royal Palace were well worth a visit.
We enjoyed Kusadasi and Istanbul and enjoyed looking round the Blue Mosque,Grand Bazaar and the shops although we wished that we had done this on our own rather than going on an excursion that was very rushed. On Mykonos we chilled out on a little beach just round from where the Marco Polo docked where we enjoyed a nice lunch in a bar and we used their loungers and ubrellas and their facilities for free.
We really enjoyed our visit to Dubrovnik and after a walk around the walls we went up the main street to buy a few souvenirs and have a look in the Cathedral. We so much liked the look of Croatia so we have made plans to return this year to have seven days in a hotel near to Dubrovnik and a week on the Island of Korcula where Marco Polo is said to have been born.
If there was a downside to the holiday it was the flight arrangements thast flew us to Amsterdam from Manchester and then on to Athens and on return they flew us from Venice to Gatwick and then up to Manchester. What was wrong with that you might ask! well we met people on the ship who wanted to get to Gatwick and they were being flown from Venice to Manchester and then down to Gatwick. With a lot more planning Orient Lines could have saved travellers a lot of time and possibly themselves some money on what seemed to be strange flight routings. The English couple on our dining table were flown from Venice to Turin, Turin to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Heathrow!!
We enjoyed Venice and the guided tour of the Doges Palace etc. and then we took off on our own wandering all the way across the City to catch a waterbus out to the islands and having a lovely lunch in the square at Borano.
The arrangements at the end of our stay suited us as we had to vacate our cabin by eight o.clock in the morning but we were able to have breakfast and lunch on board before being taken by bus to the airport with very little waiting time at the airport. The only downside to this was being stood in line waiting for the plane to Gatwick and being next to a line of people waiting for a plane to Manchester that took off ten minutes before ours but would have got us home 4 hours earlier.
But in conclusion we would recommend a cruise on the Marco Polo and the professionalism and friendliness of the staff was excellent.
David and Susan O'Neill. Todmorden England.

We flew out from Heathrow to Athens and returned Venice to Gatwick, The ship itself was great with good food, itineraries and attention to detail but the travel arrangements made by Orient Lines were very disappointing. and meant that we had little choice but to be in transit for more than sixteen hours on the trip out, but returning home was much worse.

Unlike other cruises we have taken where, having vacated our cabins in the morning, we were free to enjoy the amenities of the ship until it was time to leave for the airport, Orient Lines required us to leave the ship at 9.30 for a twenty minute trip to the airport for a flight at 5.00 that afternoon. On route we were taken to a hotel where we were asked to wait in the coffee shop for around three hours, before being taken to the airport where we arrived more than 3 hours early for our flight, so extending a 3 hour journey into one of over 11 hours, (the plane was delayed). By contrast, passengers on a flight due to depart only slightly later than ours, were invited to stay on board ship for lunch before being taken to airport.

Granted we were served light refreshments at the hotel, but the coffee ran out quite early, there weren’t enough toilets for the number of people, and the hotel was by the side of a busy road away from any facilities, there wasn’t even a shop. It was really uncomfortable, boring and tiring, made worse by the knowledge that during this time we could have been a few miles away enjoying the wonders of Venice.

This arrangement was presented to us as a service, to save us having to wait around outside in the rain. Other passengers seemed to be grateful that they hadn’t been obliged to wait all that time at the airport. We weren’t. There were other, and better options, even so, we seemed to be reasonable lucky compared with other passengers who seemed to be subject to indirect journeys with as many as four separate connections on the flight home with lengthy waits at each.

Aboard ship was completely different. The crew were fantastic, the ship was really clean, food wonderful, and our cabin was fine. We were really impressed with the destinations, especially Mykanos, where, having arrived out of season, the company had made special arrangements for the Island of Delos to be open and staffed for our tour group.

If we were to travel on the Marco Polo again we'd seriously think about arranging second serving for dinner. On first serving we sometimes had to rush back from shore, or miss out on what might have been early evening activities, such as the gym, swimming, jacuzzi or just lounging on deck, when there wasn't a lot to do after dinner. Entertainment consisted of a show which mostly seemed geared towards American guests, a piano bar and later, ballroom dancing to a string band. I think a lot of passengers on early sitting retired to their cabins soon after dinner.

We took their Baltic cruise trip, flying out from London to Denmark, then cruising up the Baltic, stopping off at Talin, St.Petersburg, Helsinki, Oslo and Copenhagen.

All Orient lines organised logistics re picking us up from airport, day trips and back to airport was faultless. The weather was HOT (a surprise considering where we were going) and staff and ship were faultless, given the size of ship the Marco polo is and her age. If you want a cruise where there are 300 odd passengers so well dispersed across the ship doing whatever interest or entertainment they desire, that at any one time, you are lucky to see more than a 50 in one place, (apart from second seating dinner...best to choose that then first) then this is the ship to be on. (and we've tried several other cruise lines and ships)

We spent most sailing time on the aft pool deck sipping numerous cocktails, chatting to anyone and enjoying the rays (sun).

We'd go on this ship again and we'd recommend the Baltic tour, especially St.Petersburg. All the ports we berthed at, (apart from St.Pete,) were a 100 m walk to the town centres and markets.

The ship although small was very friendly and very clean. Although I travelled alone my cabin was quite spacious with lots of wardrobe space and free room service and the added bonus being no single supplement charged on this particular cruise from Barcelona to Barbados.

The ship carried on down the Amazon from Barbados. I met a crowd of single travellers and we all had a great time in the casino, the night club, the dining rooms as well as on deck in the sun.

The ships company/staff/crew were all extremely helpful, friendly and welcoming.

The highlight of my cruise was an invitation to dine with the captain, Captain Martin Johnson, who came from Yorkshire as I do. I am now a member of the Polo Club and hope to travel on this ship again. I have kept in touch with many of the friends I met on board. Some from America and Holland as well as many from the UK. Great little ship.