Marco Polo, Cruise and Maritime

Have traveled with CMV and on Marco Polo before and found things OK. This time was different. I don't expect, as a paying customer, to be barked at by waiters in the restaurant at lunchtime as they demand you sit where they prefer and ignore your wishes. The same in the bistro. You could hardly move in this place and it seemed to be run by surly waiters and downright rude chefs for their convenience and not the passengers. One side of the buffet was always closed and not opened to ease congestion. There was one egg station at breakfast and the slowest most grumpy so-called chef I have ever seen in charge of it. A coffee/tea dispenser was "temporarily" closed for the whole cruise. Definitely a case of the tail wagging the dog in the running of this facility. The captain was a windbag who cancelled a port call for no good reason. In fact he lied about weather conditions. If you want to sue CMV I'll see you in court with the evidence. Never again with this company

Positives. Food was excellent. Cabin, bar and restaurant staff were very friendly and accommodating. Entertainment/shows/lectures all very good and the general cleanliness of our cabin and the public areas was fine. The itinerary was excellent although the excursions were on the pricey side but perhaps that was because we were in a very expensive part of the world, Iceland. Negatives. We missed a port of call for no apparent reason and unlike other companies I have cruised with who offer compensation, Cruise Maritime take no responsibility and expect you to claim through your travel insurance. Our cabin had a porthole, it was so high up that I had to stand on the bed to see anything outside. No tea and coffee making facilities in the cabin which I found to be a bit mean. We had the premium drinks package which was supposed to include Spanish house wine but unless you specifically asked for it the wine waiters/bar staff would try to palm you off with this ghastly Greek plonk. We had a complimentary bottle off this stuff left in our cabin and that's where it stayed, it might have been useful to the cabin steward to clean the drain/loo!! The furniture and carpets on this ship were well past their sell by date. The chairs in the bar/lounge looked as though the ships cat had been at them. In the Ambassadors club the bottoms of the seats were falling away and in the dining room most of the seat backs were greasy and grimey. To be honest I found this ship to be too old and tired and should be condemned to the knackered yard. Sadly I would think twice before travelling with Cruise Maritime again and it definitely wouldn't be on the Marco Polo.