We chose this cruise because of the itinerary, the highlight being two days in St Petersburg, but also for the chance to visit Copenhagen, Helsinki, Nynashamn(Sweden) and Berlin.

The ship was relatively small by today's standards, with only 800 passengers, and there was a lot of movement when we hit the choppy seas; sick bacgs were posted around the public areas of the ship and were used by those who failed to find their see legs.

The Marco Polo is now 50 years old and was showing it's age; the heating on board was very hit-and-miss with the central reception area (which didn't have any windows or walls next to the hull) maintaining a pleasent 21 degrees C but the public areas with windows was on several days, so cold that we had to wear coats. When I complained I was told that it was cold outside so nothing could be done :-( Read more