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

Having had five previous cruises on Magellan there were generally enjoyable I booked this Panama cruise based on the itinerary and then fact that l had so far found the ship to be a friendly, if cheap and cheerful one. However, after this horrible holiday l will never again sail with Cruise and Maritime Voyages We were meant to fly to Cozumel before our first port of call, Belize. About ten days before the start of the cruise we were informed we would be flying to Cancun instead, and that Belize was cancelled. Apparently the flight chartered by CMV was unable to land at Cozumel. Why this was not disclosed until just before departure remains a mystery, however instead of flying to Cozumel and having at leastca short time to explore, we got to Cancun, had a long coach journey to Cozumel followed by a long walk through busy streets to a port where we sat for 90 minutes on an oil-stinking ferry being buffeted about before the 30 minute crossing to the ship. Entering our cabin (4042) on Magellan we saw toilet paper stuffed into a gap between the wall and ceiling. Once we set sail (around 1am) the reason for this became clear as an extremely loud banging noise emanating from this area kept us awake all night. We complained for three days, during which time various staff members came, listened, said it was awful and something must be done, but it wasn't until four days into the cruise that a replacement cabin (4080) suddenly materialised. We had three totally sleepless nights when an empty cabin a few doors away had been available the whole time. Magellan is really showing her age, and there is an obvious cost-cutting exercise going on. The food was APPALLING in both the restaurant and the buffet. The same overcooked fare served again and again, no variety, no taste. Worst l gave ever experienced on any ship. Entertainment was OK but not up to previous standards. Daytime activities more or less non-existent. The day before we were due to dock at Nicaragua this stop was dropped from the itinerary and we e design up in a dreary nothing to do place in Costa Rica. The return flight was also a farce... rerouted in mid-air to an unscheduled stop in Montego Bay where we waited anxiously to see if we would actually take off again or be forced to sleep on the plane. Eventually we set out but without enough food being loaded, so dinner was - literally - a packet of crisps. Breakfast was a cup of tea and nothing else. My written complaint to CMV was acknowledged three weeks later with a standard letter offering nothing but lame excuses. Considering this was the treatment l received as a "Gold CMV' member I can only suppose a first time traveller would not eve have received a reply. The entire trip was a total disgrace and more of an ordeal than a holiday. Read Less

We booked this trip over a year ago - for the itinereary - our first time with CMV - and our last unless they come up with an exceptional route. The first port of call, Belize, was cancelled a week or so before we flew. CMV hadn't realised the chartered Virgib Atlantic flights couldn't land at the embarakation port of Cozumel due to their size. Consequently we landed at Cancun then coach to Playa Del Carmen and ferry to Cozumel adding over 5 hours to our trip after a long flight. We arrived at 8 pm - the second flight was 3 hrs later. Consequently there was no time to include Belize (which was one of the reasons we booked). Surely CMV must have known about this when they planned the cruise. Our cabin was ok and our steward exceptional. No fridge but kettle etc and good shower. The ship, despite a refurb, is nearing the end of its days The food was palapatable at best but not up to the standard of the several cruise lines we've sailed with before. It was a treat to have a live 6 piece band but the compant shows were unispiring. The 4 British singers were good and the 12 European dancers were proficient but the choreographty was samey and some of the costumes were dire. Some nights a singer had to inroduce the show and request applause at the end - where was the CD? We had two excellent guest speakers, one gave 4 lectures about the canal (and a useful commentary as we traversed the canal. The other chap gave 4 talks about photography and his travels which I enjoyed. We usually enjoy dancing on a cruise but the male of the duo in the Captains Club lounge was, quite frankly, so poor - choosing songs out of his range - that we couldn't bare to listen. The TV films in our cabin had a habit of "freezing" half way through then starting from scratch or were in a foreign language - Forrest Gump in Chinese! The daytime "activities" were uninspired and in many cases do it yourself with no cruise staff presiding. Two days before we were due to stop in Nicargua we were advised that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office only endorsed essential travel. This edict had been in place for several months and other cruise ships were callling there with no problems. Even though CMV secured a second Costa Rica port of call to replace Nicaragua they should have advised us much earlier rather than rely on a last minute change of policy. We were due to stop to refuel in Barbados on our return flight (either it was cheaper there or the plane was too heavy to take off from San Jose with a full fuel load. As soon as we took off the pilot announced that we couldn't go to Barbados as air space over Columbia was denied to us - following a car bomb in Bogata 4 days earlier. Surely Virgin Atlantic must have known before take off. We were diverted tp Montego Bay where we were told that they had no food prepared and were there any volunteers to forgo a meal. After an hour's delay hot pasta and beef was supplied - a packet of crisps for the vegetarians. Next year's CMV Panama Canal cruise already has 2 fewer ports of call. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we, a usa couple, had a land-trip scheduled near puntarenas costa rica starting jan. 21, and found this cmv ship from cozumel-to-puntarenas would disembark there that day, after cruising the panama canal, and stopping at central american countries we've always wanted to visit: belize, roatan, cartagena, nicaragua, & colon (we'd only already seen limon costa rica). Ship & cabin: nice, clean, fairly well laid out. About the same as celebrity, costa & princess ships we've been on. Room comfortable enough, with desk, chair, bed-lights, etc. Tv was lacking any variety of options, but we didn't cruise to watch tv. Ac worked well. And we got the cabin upgrade that we were told we would get as part of a special package we bought (for gratuities-paid-in-advance). It also included a bottle of wine, although we had to remind them of that many times before they finally brought it to us. cons: immigration processing was very disorganized & frustrating. All passengers had to just sit in a theater seat doing nothing until they called your row, and wait hours while they processed each individual, one by one; a super inefficient, boring process. Then later they topped that by doing the longest lifejacket safety session ever, having everyone again sitting in wait a long time in the theater, then slowly hearing all the safety protocols, repeated in several languages, and then when it seemed over, they had us walk out on deck and have to just stand, silently in place in our lifejackets for about 20 minutes longer, with no information being conveyed, until they said ok to go back to our cabins. Also, i could never find an empty lounge chair or comfortable seat by the pools, and the upper deck had no covered/shaded seating at all! There was no decent place for the popular yoga class: held in the hot sun & strong winds on the top deck. Fitness rm was always too hot, had no views, and cardio-equip had no individual tv consoles to watch, and the room lacked space for floor exercises out of the foot-paths. entertainment/activities: the big shows were excellent. But the comic they had on 2 nights was bad and got almost no laughs. No opportunity for us to listen to a live-music dance band before or after dinner. A couple bar-lounges had a super boring piano player, or cello-violin duo, but no fun dance music or any classic-rock bands). there were some trivia-type activities on-board, but not much else. Not even any free hands-on learning to fold napkins or towels. The dance classes were disorganized (like most activities), often didn't happen at time or place scheduled, and held in a walkway next to the smoking section, so not a good space to do a dance class and we had to breath horrible smoke! the lectures were also not as described, and often didn't occur as scheduled, and a couple of the shore excursion lecturers were very inarticulate...could barely speak english. Dining: we usually love buffets (vs fancy dining rm), but the buffet was quite limited vs other cruises we've been on. Only 1 cooked veggie dish, the same every day-- a mix of carrots, corn, peas, green beans. Never salmon, halibut, or other popular grilled fish. And for meat, no carving station, or grill, or steaks; mostly traditional british dishes. also, no cookies, chocolates or ice cream ever offered. No soda-pop either, which was offered on other ship buffets. The fine-dining restaurant was so crowded & noisy, & slow service, that it ironically felt more relaxing & peaceful in the buffet! we went when there were not many people there, yet they sat everyone super-close together! and the food options were essentially the same in both places. Biggest disappointment was the last minute cancellations of two ports! belize especially i wanted to see and had pre-scheduled a snorkel-boat tour there, and it was cancelled due to lack of coordination (poor mgt) by cmv, re: london flight passengers arriving too late for ship to depart on original scheduled time from cozumel to belize. Also, they thought it might be unsafe to stop in nicaragua as planned, even though many passengers disagreed and would have preferred going there anyway, even if we were limited on which places there to visit. Cmv gave no compensation of any kind to passengers, who ended up visiting 2 fewer countries than planned & having 2 extra boring days at sea. Other cruise lines that similarly cancelled port stops compensated passengers. furthermore, the cmv booking agent told us when we booked by phone with her that we would get a $100 cabin credit. never got it! Overall, i would never cruise on cmv again, nor believe what they say. Read Less

We booked the holiday and the advert made the cruise look very attractive. The scheduled Countries to be visited looked interesting and we were under the impression that the food on board would be good as the ship had supposedly won a dining award in 2017. About 2 weeks before we were due to start our holiday we received a letter from CMV informing us that the ship would no longer be stopping at the first port of call, Belize, as a charter flight they had booked for their direct guests from the UK would be arriving late. The ship was meant to depart at 5pm, it actually departed around 1.00am the following morning as the flight arrived around midnight. Our embarkation time was 3pm and we had to walk dragging our suitcases for about 250 metres from the taxi to the ship in Cozumel. The ship is tired looking with very little in the way of hosted activities during the daytime, Knit and Natter was about as good as it got! The cabin was small and although we paid extra for a sea view, I think only about 6 suites had balconies. Dining was awful! We were allocated a set table in the Kensington restaurant at 8:30 every evening. On the whole the food was nowhere near the standard one would expect on a cruise ship. All but 2 of the fish dishes were poorly cooked and tasteless. Most of the starters were poor quality, for example the Thai Seafood salad didn’t have a hint of Thai herbs & spices and consisted of chopped up white fish sticks with a couple of mussels in salad cream. The restaurant ceiling in the Waldorf was leaking water and the crew had stuck a cling-film type material on the ceiling to try and stop guests being showered. We had one good meal, surf & turf which we paid extra for. The so called Indian Fusion at extra cost was awful, butter chicken and some fairly uninspiring vegetable dishes and a stale rolled up popadom. The evening show was excellent, other than the comedian. The orchestra and show team were really good, as were the pianists and violinist in the bar. The duet in the Captains bar were flat so we avoided that bar after the first evening. Our cabin steward was excellent and would always take time to chat with us. The restaurant and bar staff, with a few exceptions did not seem a happy bunch. The waiter on our table was okay but the wine waiter was slow and forgot to bring drinks that someone on our table ordered. The day before we were due to dock in Nicaragua, it was announced that the ship would not be stopping there as the UK Foreign Office had advised there was a risk of street violence. It was not made clear how long this advice had been in force. We stopped at an alternative port in Costa Rica, which was mainly for container ships. Not attractive at all and apart from a few market stalls and a beach crowded with locals there was nothing to do unless one had booked a trip. The port in Colon, Columbia was in a slum area, which we travelled through on a trip to the Gatun Lakes. We travelled as a couple in our early 60’s and this was the worst holiday we have ever experienced anywhere in the world. We would certainly not book on a CMV ship again. Read Less

We actually had a wonderful time on this 37 day Cruise. The ship itself was wonderful, and the staff that "waited" on us cannot ever be faulted. The problems seem to be on the small "issues". They all got the hard stuff right, but failed on the smaller "issues". We had been on this same ship in June 2018 doing the round UK Cruise. So coming back in December of the same year it was easy to see that the whole crew had changed. It was so obvious that the waiters hadn't had any training at all - they were "all at sea" so to speak. As time went along, they gained confidence, and all went well. But should this have happened at all? I would say that the major failing was the "Entertainment". Most people seem to agree that the singers and dancers (and the band), that performed in the main Theatre were good. There was a problem in that the sound guy (a Chinese looking guy with a Bart haircut) had failed to check the "sound" in areas other than his sound desk. A minor problem? Maybe he should have checked the "sound" downstairs. I'm not a sound engineer myself, but would have thought that that was a basic thing to check. There were a few "parties" on deck 10. Well they were just Discos really. The first one was an absolute abomination! Ear splitting rap music! I was around when the Pop group Slade used to play - they were renowned for their volume! This was far louder than anything that they ever did! It really was ear damaging. Bearing in mind that the average age of people here was around 70 years of age, please tell me how this could ever be considered to be appropriate? I think that there must have been many complaints - the "parties" after this did actually reflect the age of the audience. However - it was noticeable that the volume of the music apparently automatically went higher after midnight. We had a Spanish man named David. He, I guess, chose the music, the volumes and everything. He did a Zumba class on the deck. Well Zumba is an exercise prog to music - it is never dancing! He chose to interrupt every "party" with his Zumba. This includes ear splitting Rap music. I once heard a mad complain about him - David just replied "Go back to your cabin and enjoy your Cruise" I can't comment too much on The Captains Club, because we spent little time there, However, there was a duo that performed most nights - they never got even close to singing in tune, They were absolutely dreadful. Was David responsible for this? I did once walk past the Captains Club and thought that they were doing Mr and Mrs - omg. I must say that in the Taverners Bar a guy named Hernon played fantastic music every night. What a talented guy he was. From Argentina I believe. Probably the best entertainment came from the Hamptons Bar. A pianist and a violin player - three 40 minute spots, every night. Full marks from me. Ok. On to the food. Mmm How to do this to be fair? How hard is it to get the plates warm? The water cold? Breakfast - well what more could anyone want? Cooked breakfast, fruit, cold continental stuff, a guy cooking you your eggs however you want them, omelettes cooked to whatever you want...., anything really. Afternoon Tea - cream teas, sandwiches, cakes, rolls .... Beautiful - just as an aside I eat a Ham and Asparagus roll which was exquisite - I still remember it. Now comes the problem. Lunch and Dinner. Lunch was ok as it did come with some surprises. Fish and Chips? There was always the Grill outside that provided Burgers and Hot Dogs and chips. So you could always get your chips from the grill, come inside the Bistro and garnish it with a lamb chop or something. Dinner became so repetitive. Soup - always excellent quality Pasta - I gave up on that - poorly cooked. Fish - Pan fried Perch, Pan fried Snapper, Pan fried Sword Fish ...... not for me Then a concoction every night of veal or venison or beef or lamb .... So I can't say that the food was poor. But I can say that I simply got bored with it. Overall it was a great time and I loved every minute of it. Just those few "buts". Read Less