It was a last minute booking with Cruise Maritime on the Marco Polo out of Tilbury, London ,UK. heading North looking for the Northern Lights above the arctic circle.

We had read lots of reviews about the Marco Polo, yet not until after we had booked. Realistically, if we had done our homework first we would have never booked. And to be totally honest we would have missed out, because the fourteen day cruise proved to be extremely enjoyable. Due in part to the quality of the other travelling guests, the raw wilderness of the Norwegian Coast and the friendliness of the service staff on board the ship.

The boarding process was fairly civilised, although the holding pens prior to registration were not that comfortable due to the number of passengers arriving and the speed of which the small amount of counter staff were able to process them. Seating was limited and the weather both outside and in was cool. To be fair to the organising staff, some of the problems could have been due to the guests arriving earlier than their strict boarding times. Unfortunately, Tilbury is not the best place to get to on a Sunday, so many people had no choice, they had to get there when the transport was available. Read more