Marco Polo, Cruise and Maritime

Firstly, the ship: Marco Polo feels more like a ship than a floating hotel. We'd previously been on a 3 night mini-cruise to Belgium on Marco Polo and weren't impressed with the atmosphere and service on board. That was 7 years ago. However, we've just returned from a 17 night voyage to Murmansk, Russia and had a fabulous time. The ship was spotless, well presented and had all the features of a modern ship inside. Staff were very pleasant and helpful, especially the Reception staff. We were experiencing severe door slamming noise in our cabin and the staff handled it brilliantly. The noise was investigated and we were moved to a different cabin - 6 grades higher than ours! The entertainment on board was spectacular, better than competitors...and we've been on many cruises so say this with confidence. We were delighted to go on a free tour of the bridge as many cruise operators either don't allow this any more, or they charge large fees. Food was well presented in both restaurants and there was a good selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes. They were quite creative. My only criticism is that the 'cheesecake' was most disappointing. In all our cruising experience we've only encountered one ship whose cheesecake is actually cheesecake (there was a UK Head Chef onboard). All others, including Marco Polo, serve a sponge-based cream slice and call it cheesecake! One disappointment was that there were no elevensies or mid-morning snacks...but you really don't go hungry on this ship! Secondly, the cruise: Cruise of a lifetime. We sailed from Tilbury, up the west coast of Norway, over the North Cape and into northern Russia to Archangel and Murmansk on the White Sea. This cruise itinerary rarely appears in the brochures of main operators, especially if you wish to sail from and return to a UK port. We were travelling in the wake of the Arctic Convoys of WWII and the shore tours reflected this. Passengers onboard included descendants of those who sailed on the convoys and had personal accounts to share with each other and the museums we visited. The Russians looked after us well and we saw some poignant memorials as well as contrasting architecture within cities. Norway offered a lovely mix of wooden buildings, turfed roofs, scenic fjords, beautiful landscapes and interesting heritage. There was plenty to do in each port, even in Bergen where we'd been several times before. We would recommend the Planetarium and Botanic Gardens in Tromso, Sverresborg folk museum in Trondheim and the West of The Moon Art Gallery in Honningsvag, specialising in contemporary collage art.

Greenland Expedition July 28th - August 18th 2018 Didnt know what to expect going to Greenland and back on a 53 year old Marco Polo.......however we were pleasantly suprised with cabin 501 on Pacific deck. Only a hop, skip and up the stairs to the Marco Bistro. We had breakfast and lunch their every day and couldnt fault the food. Dinner in the Waldorf was excellent and the staff very friendly. Entertainment was good and always plenty of things happening on board. Big thanks to Eric McVicar we learned alot about Greenland and its people from his series of lectures. Thanks also to CMV for giving us the opportunity to visit this fantastic Island. What amazing places and sights we saw. Great little ship got us there and back. We look forward to our next CMV cruise. John and Gill Green.