My husband and I traveled to London from America to celebrate my 60th birthday . It was our first time to be in Europe and it's beautiful. I would rate the places we went as Very Good. Embarkation and disembarkation is OK. I was so disappointed with the ship . Our cabin is in the 4th floor and once you get in the hallway it smell like SEWER. I heard people complained about the smell. But nothing was done about it. The Entertainment show is so horrible that some people walked out of the show. It was amateur singer and dancer. The singer are out of tune and you can't even tell if they were singing or screaming. The outfit of the dancer are so tacky and the performance is so horrible. The magician who did the show his magic trick could be done by a 10 year old. So amateur and so CHEAP. It's laughable. We been cruising quite a bit and entertainment is big for us. We always look forward for good show and was never been disappointed . But this ship the show they gave us is very insulting. CMV need to hire Professional people to entertain their customer. AT breakfast or lunch people talked about how bad the prior night performance was. There's nothing to do so you end up watching half the horrible show and walked out . If you like their activities like Board game, Darts tournament, carpet bowl, table tennis ,Knit & Natter , Bridge and song from the 40"s then this is your ship. We were bored beyond bored. Try to watch Tv on your cabin they only give you 1 movie all day. The food is Ok I won't complain about it. They need to improved their customer service. Excursion is Ok and I like the countries we went. When we came back to America I was asked by co worker , friends & family about the cruise line. I told them NEVER take a cruise with CMV Voyages Magellan. It's not a cruise ship that you recommend to friends and family. Read Less

My wife and I have just returned from the Hidden Baltic treasures cruise. Not our first cruise with CMV and various other companies. Embarkation was good. Our cabin 7073 was very nice and kept well cleaned by our cabin steward Alleyna who was very helpful and pleasant. We travelled on the Magellan last year to the Northern Lights and I must say that the ship has gone down hill since then. The food in the Raffles Grill at breakfast was good but people stay at the tables after their breakfast and it is hard at times to find a table. We were seated in the Kensington Restaurant (2nd sitting). The food served was not as good as last year and several times had to be returned as it was cold. This applies to us and others on our table. The two waiters that we had on our table were very good. We were on a table of eight and had a great time with the other guests. We went to the Indian fusion twice and will say it was excellent and very good value. Now the bad points. Why do CMV seem to think that everyone over 65 likes classical music. In the bar at the Kensington restaurant before dinner there was a violinist and a pianist playing classical music. In one of the bars early evening there was a guitarist playing Spanish music in my opinion very badly. Guest lecturers talking about art, Quizzes, game shows ,nit and natter, carpet bowls and painting made up the daytime so called entertainment then there were the shows . I have never seen such a load of out of tune and out of sync dancers and singers on any ship that we have been on,the shows were terrible. This is not only my opinion. We met others who said the entertainment was DIRE, who walked out shortly after it started. There were at least another half a dozen couples who said the same thing This ship needs to liven up its act and realise that just because a lot of people are elderly they cant enjoy a bit of lively music to dance to earlier than 11pm. I am 74 and find it boring. Shore excursions very expensive. Would we travel on CMV again, possibly. but not the Magellan. Read Less

First a little context: We started cruising nearly 30 years ago, doing CTC, Costa, MSC, Princess cruises, Ocean cruise Lines, HAL, then after a 25 year break returned to it 4 years ago and since then we have done Oceania, Azamara x3, AmaWaterways, Celebrity, Marella Dream, FO x2. This was our first time to the Fjords and, wow, what absolutely stunning scenery. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a drop of rain and barely a cloud in the sky. Embarkation/Disembarkation Very efficient. The cases were being taken out of the car before the engine was even switched off. We were called forward at our allocated boarding time of 12, spent about 15 minutes queuing, all the formalities were done really quickly and onboard we went and to our cabin, which was ready. No glass of fizz though. Nina, our cabin stewardess whizzed us through all we needed to know, by which time our cases had arrived and we were good to go for lunch which was being served around the ship. On disembarkation we had to leave the cabin at 7, assemble in our allocated lounge at 8.30 and we were called off at around that time. There was a queue of around 15/20 minutes for the shuttles back to the car park. Tilbury is a really quaint little cruise terminal and it was delightful to sail from there. Cabin We had a forward outside ‘superior’ cabin on Deck 6. Nice picture window, although pretty filthy (as were all of the windows although we did see crew trying to clean them with lowered hoses)! Cabin was small and plain, but adequate. TBH most cabins seemed much of a muchness in terms of size. Kettle and supplies were provided but no fridge. No complaints about the bathroom and the shower was fine. Oh yes, the toilet did stop flushing from time to time, which was a bit awkward first thing in the morning, but was fixed quite quickly. I wondered if it was because, unusually, the toilet paper was pretty thick and luxurious?! Quickly moving on, we had no particular issues with noise or vibrations, the aircon was rather noisy though and could only be turned up or down, I suppose you get used to it, but I did find it a little warm at night. The bed was comfortable and the extra half-pillow used on the bed instead of a cushion got a gold star from me. Extra pillows and duvets were stored in the wardrobes and all looked clean and fresh. My one gripe was that the bottom sheet was stretchy cotton, which had that ‘bobbly’ kind of feel, OH didn’t even notice though. The flatscreen TV showed various channels including BBC and Sky News plus 2 films a day. Ship Yes, it’s an old ship. The decoration and furnishing is quite basic but it’s clean. It’s not quaint and charming, but it is small, you can sit inside and see from one side to the other, you know that you are at sea. There are lots of little outside areas to explore. However, a number of these are smoking areas, including the outdoor heated area by the pool! 2 of the whirlpools were open during our trip, and towards the end the pools were filled with freezing water which looked really murky. Not very inviting! Food Before we sailed, I was having grave misgivings about this area. But I suppose that the half a stone I put on in a week is an indicator that my fears were groundless. There are 2 main restaurants, Kensington and Waldorf, which operate 2 sittings for dinner. Both serve up 5/6 course evening meals. Portions are not huge but I felt that the quality was pretty good. Plenty of fresh vegetables and meat that looked like it had come from an actual animal. There were also themed nights – Greek for example where the waiters dressed up and did a bit of Greek dancing, and Italian. All in all a bit of fun! We had requested a table of 6 late sitting, and were put on a table of 8 with just one other couple. It wasn’t a problem though, the other couple were lovely and eventually we arranged ourselves so that we could all look out of the window at the stunning scenery passing by. For breakfast you could opt for cabin service, free if you just wanted drinks and croissants/toast or £10 to include cooked breakfast, self-service in the bistro, hybrid waiter / self service in Waldorf or full service in Kensington. Now, I don’t really do buffets for hygiene reasons but the full service restaurant was really slow so we mostly ate in Waldorf where there was an excellent egg/omelette station in addition to the other breakfast goodies or the served dish of the day such as egg benedict, smoked salmon and eggs or corned beef hash. The breakfast spread was pretty good to be fair although the fruit juice and coffee were undrinkable. A similar system was in operation at lunchtime, with full service lunch in the Kensington. When the weather permitted there was also an outdoor grill, serving hotdogs, burgers and chips on the pool deck and, my particular favourite, a pizza station in the buffet, open from 11 til 5, perfect for a late lunch on a port day. The pizza was absolutely delicious and I think primarily responsible for my alarming weight gain. Afternoon tea is served in the buffet at 3.30. This was a complete bunfight, with people dipping their spoons into huge bowls of cream and jam after having started to eat their tea en route from one buffet station to another, licking their fingers as they went. There is no late-night buffet, but canapés do circulate in the lounges, including tasty little samosas and spring rolls, infinitely preferable! A word or two on the ‘speciality dining’. We did the ‘Chef’s table’ which was a ‘reception’ with the restaurant manager and the chef, photographs, a quick galley tour with the chef followed by a 10 course menu with wines and dedicated waiter. The cost of this is £60pp, discounted if you have already taken one of the drinks packages. There were 8 of us in a private area and it was such a excellent evening I would thoroughly recommend it. This is not ‘pushed’ very much around the ship, so if you want to do it, you have to put your name down with the Restaurant manager and, if they get enough interest they will send you an invitation. We also went to the curry Fusion restaurant – which was an area of the buffet separated off. This costs £15, discounted once again if you have the drinks package. I was a bit reluctant to do this because to be frank, the congealed dishes of curry they were displaying at the entrance to the buffet on the day we boarded hardly looked appetising. You get a plate of mixed appetisers, a rolled up popadum, rice and breads plus one main course and some very sweet desserts. Delicious! Entertainment There was the usual range of daytime activities, quizzes, craft classes, lectures. In the evening, there were 2 shows at 7.15 and 9.15 which meant that second sitting guests had to go to the show before dinner. Not my preferred arrangement, but the reason for this was that the singers often had to perform again in the lounge at around 10.30. The show team, 4 singers, 6/7 dancers worked hard with very limited costumes and virtually no sets. There was a small live orchestra though. I thought the shows were ok, not exactly West End standard, but then I often don’t think much of them!. The guest artist was a comedian who did shows on 2 nights, I gave the second show a miss. Most of the action after the show took place in the Capatain’s Club lounge. Usually there was some kind of ‘gameshow’, hosted by the CD then cabaret by one or more of the singers followed by a DJ who managed to put a dampener on any dancing and send everyone to bed! There was limited entertainment in the other bars in the form of sets by a pianist and a pianist/violinist duo. The CD didn’t seem to do an awful lot, other than host the gameshow and say a few words at the end of the production shows, and was not very visible, but perhaps he did a lot behind the scenes. Service This area was admittedly a little variable. On the one hand, our waiters in Waldorf for dinner were excellent, as good as any anywhere. OH was on a special diet and well looked after with the next day menus and so on. On the other hand, it was often difficult to get served in the bars. All good things come to those who wait, but sometimes you had to wait a very long time. Our cabin stewardess was efficient and made us a mouse towel animal on embarkation. The only towel animal we have ever had! I think they said that there were 42 nationalities of crew, some of the service staff didn’t speak perfect English, maybe that was something to do with it plus the fact that the ship was full. Fellow passengers There was a very high proportion of first time cruisers onboard and a lot of passengers came from the Kent/Essex area. Everyone was very friendly and there was very little moaning going on! Top notch! This was an adult only sailing with passengers from their twenties to their eighties, with the average age probably mid fifties. Read Less

we've just come back from majestic fjords with beautiful scenery and weather but alas was a disaster the ship was full the room was small uncomfortable and very noisy broken sleep with funnel next door no transfer of room available several complaints unresolved reception issues couldn't get a buffet table was like being on a Costa ship Also the cost was very reasonably priced on the face of it.. but.. When you factors in cost of excursions and car parking then not so reasonable. So.. if the basics are not right.. then you can't really fully enjoy the good bits. Good Majestic fjord land Very relaxing with beautiful scenery Awesome in fact but that's the natural side of fjords for you with 3d passages that melt away and mountain overhangs you can almost touch as the ship sails through occasional narrow channels but you have to be up on deck at the right time to see them 1 particular spot was like the scene from Jason and the argonauts were Neptune pops up out of the water to save the ship from clashing cliff tops. Weather from other previous holiday comments weather could be very wet especially in Bergen but Unexpectedly the weather was gloriously sunny all week although occasionally very windy and cold Room Free use of safe Tea making but limited with small table and kettle Only 2 sockets in room Bed very uncomfortable and small for me Food Good value food with excellent English breakfast On gala and captains night the cuisine was excellent on other nights could be average though Cream teas and biscuits are to die for unfortunately everyone else felt the same.! when everyone comes back from days out at same time there are queues and shoving going on then finding a table is difficult too when ship is at capacity, which rather takes most of the pleasure out of it. The food is very good in general if not repetitive tho, sometimes bland and not very hot all of the time but one has to remember the cost of some of the cruises. The service is good in general as the staff trying hard to accommodate everyone but again because of this you can be waiting for 15 mins or more for a drink in certain bars. Cocktails of the day are usually very good and reasonably cheap at £3.50 per day. They did a wheat beer at same price which was a bonus as it's 1 of my favourites even tho its £1.25 in aldis I was just happy to see it as most cruises don't seem to accommodate wheat beer usually Bad Beds uncomfortable Small room and shower Tv poor Our room 5111 very noisy all day and all night Also had smelly gas smells from engines and main funnel Complained twice but not taken seriously. Like trying to sleep on a rollercoaster 1st time they sprayed carpet for smells 2nd time gave me ear plugs which were not adequate. Said they were full and couldn't change my room but found out later that they hold back some rooms in case of emergency. So our 50th and 60th birthday holiday was spoiled through lack of sleep and rest. 1st dining time too early and 2nd too late Only 1 buffet restaurant which was packed full several times with no spare tables and a scramble to get anything. The 2 main service restaurants too slow when busy and food some times not hot enough even when not busy. Excursions over priced and not good value when you can walk off and do some of the so called tours for nothing or a lot less when you just pop into tourist information and a small "what's available?" Read Less

Good value for money, not too big a ship. It sailed well and felt comfortable despite a swell on the sea our first full day at sea, I never felt it like others did. Lunch was available before we sailed on the 13th and it was a lovely buffett, good selection and included a special diet buffett for vegetarians, vegans and diabetics, the diabetic desserts were very good in taste and presentation. No after taste. The bars were very comfortable, I made the Taverners my spot as great window seating to spend drinking after dinner and enjoying the sea or fjords scenery. The evening meals in the Waldorf were delicious, five courses... wow. Lots of selections and all very well presented and delicious... I never heard one complaint. The breakfast buffett was full English, a buffet of croissants, pastries. An omellette station, there was porridge, a cereal station... then lunch buffet from 1130 to die for. Or you could go to your designated restaurant and sit down for breakfast or lunch. I liked the buffet, everyone chatty in the buffet area's when eating. Very friendly cruise. Always someone happy to have a conversation. The staff were kept on their feet and I felt for them working so hard to keep our tables cleared, and cups supplied. I will say on day one the 13th it seemed everyone of the 1200 passengers wanted a cup of tea and got bitchy when cups ran out and they had to wait five to ten minutes for fresh ones. I did point out that a dish washing machine has a cycle and that's about ten minutes long. Some rude passengers who bitched about anything and everything, I guess they enjoy being miserable or unreasonable because the crew did a great job. Good service everywhere, good cabin staff, discreet. Bar staff kept very busy, hardly time to look up and smile much as they were busy making cocktails by the dozen, lol. Great drinks package, I mean you could drink yourself into oblivion as most cocktails included, also spirits included. My friend had double whiskies every night - bells? I loved the small gym. I liked the decks to sit out on. The ship was very comfortable. Evening entertainment is what you make it, sit there or dance. The shows were fun, not west end but good enough with fantastic male and female vocals.. lovely voices. I can't wait to go again. There are short cruises coming up of two or three nights I hope to catch.. the Captains cocktail hour was fun. The Captain was seen every morning on deck available to the public as he always did a walk through. Very nice. Thanks Magellan. Read Less

Having read so many bad reviews about Magellan we were very surprised and delighted that we enjoyed our cruise so much. The ship was a proper old fashioned, lovely vehicle and so much nicer than those ghastly things which look like a block of flats on a barge. We found our cabin very adequate and it was kept scrupulously clean by our delightful steward Putu. Shower was excellent and endless clean towels. The food and service we found to be excellent and lots of choice and everything very crisp and fresh. We found all staff very very kind and helpful and cleanliness throughout the shop was faultless. We were not very interested in entertainment as we love sea watching and sky watching and reading so could entertain ourselves.The ship seemed very buzzy and fun though if one wanted entertainment. We would have liked more information about where we were at sea and maybe maps. We were not very happy with one of our excursions and found staff not very able to deal with this and the other people who complained. Dealt with now. A small complaint about an altogether great value and very very lovely cruise. Cannot wait for the next one already booked. Read Less

This cruise itinerary was great plus there was an excellent deal for solo passengers. I booked an inside and was upgraded to an outside cabin, L shaped beds, but a reasonable size, with shower, a decent size. It was set up for someone with mobility issues, extra handles in the shower room and a pull down seat in the shower, but these didn't get in the way at all. Shower/hair gell and conditioner were in two containers in the shower plus small bars of soap were provided. A kettle with tea/coffee was provided in the cabin plus a TV (but no BBC world service just a French channel giving news in English?). There was no daily newspaper to catch up on the news available as I had always had on other ships. The first two days was open sitting at dinner time with no allocated table which a lot of people didn't like (I didn't mind), then I was allocated a table but given the time of between 6-8 pm so after people joining at different times, my table agreed a time for us all to come, so that worked well. For a solo there were a lot of get togethers but I found I met a lot of people, just by chatting to whoever sat next to me. The jacuzzi was always sociable. I did a couple of ship excursions which were well managed, as you would expect, and priced reasonably £38 for a half day. The shows were ok and due to the numbers on board, there was only the one around 9pm, then another entertainment around 10pm. Quizzes were generally at 9.30 and 4pm and well attended (It was obvious some people do lots of quizzes as they regularly won). We didn't have a message from the captain at noon, which I enjoyed on other ships. There was one gala night (usual shake hands with the Captain, photo then into lounge followed by introduction to staff) and another evening termed 'elegant' the rest were casual though most men wore shirts and trousers and ladies smart trousers and tops, or dresses. Sea days there was usually a lecture (I found them so so) a creative writing session (this was great fun, really enjoyed this), deck games and a fitness session, plus the quizzes and other get togethers. Embarkation seemed a bit mixed, after an eleven and a half flight, I just wanted to get on the ship and it wasn't clear whether we had to take our own cases from the coach or not. Disembarkation worked well. I bought the Premier package before boarding which paid for gratuities, most cocktails and other drinks on board (not speciality coffees) and a small bottle of water. There was also a bottle of wine as part of this. This was reasonably priced and just made things easy for me as a solo to have a drink when I wanted. Read Less

Last minute cruise with interesting itinerary; however travellers beware, you get what you pay for. The ship has limited facilities for pleasure on sea days; the entertainment was poor at the best of times. The excursions were not great value for money and were limited. Excursion staff had limited knowledge and did not understand you as their English was limited. This also applies to the reception crew. If you wanted to lose weight on a cruise this is the one to go on; the food was extremely poor with limited choice and odd combinations of food were put together. What the chef described as a cheese and onion tart was in fact a slice of quiche served with parsley sauce. The chef obviously lacked imagination and flair and did not have an educated palette for flavours. I am well aware of food recycling to ensure budgets are met; however I think bread and butter pudding or a combination of different egg custards everyday can get boring especially when lacking flavour. The best meal of the day was breakfast; however even a microwave technician can cook an egg. On a positive note the superior outside cabin was comfortable and clean. Cabin boys diligent in their work ethic. Read Less

First time with cruise maritime voyages and was disappointed. I should have realized a European cruise line was not to the expectation of the US branded companies. Food was not even average and must have been tailored to the English crowd. Of the 1350 passengers 95% we from UK, 2% from USA and remaining from elsewhere. Itinerary changes made to accommodate the UK flight arrangements took us from our main stop (Belize) that I had booked this a year in advance. Also while on cruise ports of call cancelled. Read what force majeure means cause they use this as there reasons to cancel without regards to your expectations. Entertainment was lacking through out and the only highlight would be the nightly ship show. Casino non existent, food & buffets had sub par quality and no variety of choices. Cabins spacoius but a/c cooling lacked. As I looked forward to sharing this time with my wife it ended up being quite boring on board and the ports we're of great relief to find something to be excited about. No frills of the ship and the age groups were of retiree. Pools we're occasionally shut down and created a boring trip. Servers were not attentative to your needs and lacked the courtesy to ensure you were pleased & had the service you expected. Hope they find improvement moving forward to 2019 but I would recommend other companies to spend your time with. Sorry CMV but wanted to give an honest review and would like to see you improve services to better cater to your Passengers. Read Less

We chose this cruise as it was the time of the year we wanted to travel & the ship was calling into ports of calls we have never visited, competitively priced. About 2 weeks before departure we received a letter saying that we would be flying to Cancun instead of Cozumel & this meant that we would not be going to stop at Belize. Very dissappointed as this was one of the main reasons that we had booked this cruise. It is my understanding that the plane chartered from Virgin Atlantic could not use the runway at Cozumel as it was too large! Surely this was known to C&M some time before! When we landed at Cancun we waited 1 hour for our luggage then dragged our cases for 10 minutes to musty coaches that took 40 minutes to Playa del Carmen where we were marched crocodlie style through the resort for 30 minutes, to then wait 20 minutes for the packed dieslel-smelling ferry. The crossing took 40 minutes then 30 minutes to board the ship when we had to go to the theare for the Mexican face-to-face immigration then registration. At approx midnight we were offered flat Cava or warm juice and the snacks had all gone. We finally got to bed at 02.00. Many passengers were of retirement age & a few less mobile, how these people faired I can't begin to imagine! The embarkation was a totally grewling shambles. There was no apology by any of the cruise staff written or verbal. What about an appology from the captain? Shame on you. The following morning we went to reception to ask for some onboard credit (why was none given to all passengers?) after several emails to head office in the UK this was refused & 'force majeure' was used used as the excuse. We have twice written to C&M since returning home to request compenstion but none has been offered that we are happy with, nor do they acknowledge any responsbility any of this. We moved cabins 5165 to 6112 due to the boom boom of the engine, spacious & clean. Cabin stewards excellent. We were overall happy with the food. For 3 days the swimming pool was drained, 1 day for swell but the other 2 for poor water quality! The tours except for the Chiva Bus Party in Cartagena were overpriced & lacked content. The port lecturer for the Panama Canal was excellent. A large number of the activities were unhosted. The Yoga took place on deck 11 not enough mats some passengers in the sun with no shelter. Other posts have covered other shortcomings so I won't duplicate....I could go on. Overall I woud never cruise with C&M again, as their customer care was none existant compaired to other cruise lines. They are hiding behind the terms & conditions not giving a dot for good will which would possibly result in repeat boookings. The whole experience has been so upsetting to have the need to complain on returning home mars the whole trip. A gesture of good will in the form of onbaord credit to all passengers would have put C&M in a more favourable light. Read Less