We arrived in Hong Kong in the evening and easily found a taxi to take us to the hotel. It was approximately 290HKD with two large bags. The Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel was located within the Ocean shopping centre which is adjacent to the Ocean Terminal, so we were able to walk through Lane Crawford from the hotel lift to the ship. A word of warning, although we were previously told we could leave our baggage on level 2, it was actually on level 1. The difficulty was that the only way to get downstairs was on an escalator, which, with two large bags and two sets of hand luggage was both dangerous and stressful. Once downstairs it was approximately 250 metres from the terminal, outside to drop the bags off so comfy shoes are a must. Also, once checked in, you will not be able to return to the shopping centre until the end of the trip.

The service onboard was phenomenal! Our waiter Mario and Assistant Waiter Dewi were both wonderful and lovely people. One tip is is to try and learn how to say thank you in your waiter's home language, it really makes a big difference and goes a long way.

A disappointing aspect of the cruise was the Cruise Compass. While it seemed like it was full of information and activities, in reality the information given was often either inaccurate (winter-type weather reports), irrelevant (maps not of the port and where the ship was), and/ or insufficient(i.e. how to do it on your own). Read more