I have recently returned from my third cruise on Marco Polo. First I must state I am an Art Deco nut and the fact that the ship's public areas are decorated Art Deco style is what drew me to this ship. Second I have never been on any other cruise line, unless you count a P&O crossing to France or a Cal Mac sailing around Mull to Iona. My husband refuses to fly so my only way of seeing the world is to go by ship. First cruise was to the Fjiords, fantastic, second was to see the Northern Lights, that was a cruise and a half. We saw the Lights and it was incredible, we were also caught in the worst storm seen in the Norwegian Sea for a decade.Marco Polo was built as a ice breaker and has brilliant stabilisers. Windows crashed in all around us, the tea station went over but the crew were fantastic. I have never seen so many uses for cling film in my life, it held litter bins in place, the plates for food in place, and in true Titanic spirit, the entertainment staff played on, Olga on the piano was brilliant, bearing in mind that her first instrument is the violin!! her hands needed to be at one end of the keyboard but her stool kept taking her to the other. Third was the Baltic capitals, absolutely fantastic. Mind you when we got to border control in St. Peterburg I did have a wobbly moment, the border guard was so stern, he kept looking from my passport to some screen and back again, I did begin to wonder what he knew about me that I didn't know, finally he let me in!!

My thoughts on Marco Polo, I love it, on all three cruises we had the most fantastic staff, some even remembered us from previous cruises and called us by name. The food is good and plentiful but I accept that for the price I am paying I am not going to get gourmet dining. The entertainmers are great, the show team are all professionally trained dancers and musicians and Richards Sykes is an inspiration, the classical entertainers, Olga and Tetyana and Lilia and Eugene are brilliant and the crew entertainers i.e Ciat and James are fantastic.

The excursions we took on all three cruises we were fantastic. Cruise and Maritime use guides who really know thier area and subject and give you a great experience. Read more