Marco Polo, you didn’t disappoint for an old bird!

What a lovely step back in time I had last week when I sailed, albeit too briefly, on Cruise and Maritime Voyages’ Marco Polo with a few of my fellow cruise.co colleagues.

This year, she is celebrating her 50th birthday and at only 22,080 tons, I was a bit wary of a North Sea crossing in January. I need not have feared. What a stable little ship. Apparently, this is due to her deep draught, but whatever it is, she was certainly built to cross oceans.

Embarking at Tilbury was also a first for me and a pleasant surprise. Easy to find and with a free bus service from the train station, we were quickly through and on board enjoying a welcome coffee and snack on the delightful open space at the aft of the ship.

The cabin was an ocean view with a large picture window on deck 7 and rather bizarrely, had a sloping floor! On entering the cabin, it seemed the ship was tilted but thankfully it wasn’t. I’m still not exactly sure why it sloped but I will try to find out and blog later about that.  The beds were very comfortable and plenty of storage space. The hairdryer was dated and it would be quicker to stand out on deck to dry my hair but apart from that, the cabin was fine.

Muster drill was the most  thorough I think I have ever attended. Short of lowering the lifeboats, it was all covered in great detail.

Dinner was lovely. We ate in the elegant Waldorf restaurant and had a wonderful choice of courses. The staff were all very helpful and welcoming.

Showtime next in the Marco Polo lounge which was a medley of entertainers giving our fellow travellers a taste of what they would see over the next 41 nights. Sadly, we were only on for 1 night. The other guests were off to the Amazon and West Indies. Again, the beauty of a small ship is that she can go into the Amazon and into ports larger ships cannot get near.

We finished off the evening with cocktails in the Captain’s Club with a singer and followed my music played so you could dance.

The following morning, after a really good sleep, we had omelets made to order by “Lovely-Jubbly”, a great character who has cooked eggs on Marco Polo for 6 years. Again, this was in the Waldorf where coffee and juices are brought to the table and the toast is freshly made for you.

Time for a leisurely stroll around the ship and then off into Amsterdam for shopping and people watching before flying home.

I really was very pleasantly surprised by this little gem. If you want bumper cars and rock climbing walls then you’re on the wrong ship, but if you like traditional small ship cruising with good food and a lovely intimate atmosphere then give her a try.