Marco Polo Reviews

Summary:  Our cruise to the North Cape October 2018 fulfilled a wish to visit Norway at a more challenging time of year. The ship was well run with helpful crew and food varied and plentiful. The interesting and varied shore excursions made this a bit of an adventure. We coped with gales going and returning with minimum fuss although some found it more challenging. We look back and reflect on an enjoyable adventure completed in comfort. Thank you Iglu and Cruise and Maritime

Summary:  Much better than the last time we sailed on this ship, many improvements have been made, especially the self service restaurant and the entertainment. Like last time the destinations were very good, and very different not the usual run of the mill destinations that some cruises opted for. One thing that concerned me was on returning from being ashore passengers bags were not checked or scanned. The majority of the staff were very polite, attentive and helpful. Our stateroom was quite large which was good too. The Marco Polo is a very old ship so cannot be compared with all the newer ships there are these days, but because of its small size it is able to get into the smaller ports of call which is a bonus.

Summary:  Small ship, limited entertainment, poor communication. Friendly staff and very good food.

Summary:  Canada in the Fall 2018. Sadly we were too late for the whales and dolphins and too early for the colours of Autumn. However, we loved the ship, the entertainment was excellent. The lectures by both the whale and dolphin expert, Carol and the photographer, Tony were brilliant because they were both enthusiastic about their subjects. The excursions were well organised. There were plenty of varied activities on board. Our inside cabin on deck 7 was lovely and spacious as we had chosen a larger one. We prefered to eat in the bistro and the food was fair but could be improved on. The soups were always cream soups with very little flavour. The food was never piping hot unless you were lucky to be there just as the dishes were put out or replenished. There needs to be a better system of seating in the Show Lounge as people who came in late were able to get less comfortable seats but which blocked the view of people who had arrived in plenty of time.

Summary:  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.

Summary:  8 A lovely old ship, small and friendly The ports all interesting and weather pretty good mainly. Would choose this line again.

Summary:  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.

Summary:  Just returned from Canada in the Fall. Pound for Pound we got our money's worth. The ship was clean, the staff exceptionally friendly, helpful and caring. The food served was large in portion size although sometimes the vegetables were a little short. The selection on the menu was reasonable and varied. I don't believe however I will be going on the ship again purely and simply in 18ft waves the boat was tossed around like a ping pong ball and we could not get out of the cabin two days going and five days coming back. The staff attended to all our needs. The shore excursion staff went out of their way to assist as we had disability and mobility problems. We could not rate them high enough. The only con was they must either renew their cutlery or get the knives sharpened

Summary:  Have just returned from the mini cruise - Liverpool to Bristol via Dublin and Cobh. Do not stay in cabins on Baltic Deck between elevators. Small, no tea making facilities and the permanent smell / taste of diesel and VERY noisy. My wife suffers from asthma and this did her no good at all. Also took all day to get the air-con fixed - froze the first night. Outside cabin - two dirty potholes - not worth the extra money, Older ship and had a fairly good atmosphere but food service (first sitting) was frantic. Best thing - the entertainment, better than Holland America Alaska cruise.

Summary:  We went on Marco polo from hull June 9th 2017 what a great ship clean and tidy and all staff could not do enough for you and the rooms were kept clean and we had loads of space and could not fault the food and service . We're are back next year same ship from hull 29th June cvm it's a great company greats ships and great staff keep up the good work would recommend cv to all my friends see you all next year.