Around Britain With Marco Polo
Around Britain with Marco Polo |
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Reviewed By: Manning, Lower Kingswood on 21st Aug 2009
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| Cruise Line: Cruise & Maritime Voyages |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Marco Polo |
Sailed:
July,
2009 |
| Destination:
British Isles
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Outside |
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We have just returned from our 4th on the Marco polo – 2 with the previous owner and now 2 with Transocean following a cruise to Norway last year. We sensed one or two ‘mutterings of discontent’ and I thought it might be helpful if we could make some comments.
Our comments are nearly all plus comments. The cleanliness of the ship generally and the comfort and the cleanliness of the cabin were of a very high standard. Our cabin, 524, was looked after very well indeed. The staff, whether in the bar, theatre or restaurant were extremely attentive and efficient particularly bearing in mind that probably none of them had English as a first language. We enjoyed the food provided in the Waldorf restaurant which is where we had 99% of our meals. Towards the end of the cruise, more ‘English style ’main courses seemed to be on offer (steak, roasts and a mixed grill) and I do not know whether that was by accident or design but they were all beautifully cooked and very tasty.
The entertainment in the Marco Polo Lounge was, as ever, absolutely first class. All the shows were most enjoyable – personal tastes made some better than others – but they were all very professionally produced and executed and the costumes were stunning. The only downside with the Marco Polo Lounge is the bucket seats. They are usually filled by relative latecomers and, because they are higher than the fixed seats, people have their views obstructed, sometimes quite substantially. It is a shame that they could not be removed and replaced by more of the fixed seats that would be at the same height as those behind them but that would mean removing the tables. Alternatively, perhaps each bucket seat could have enough sawn off the stem to lower them to the same height.
I think that probably the most adverse comments we heard were about the tenders, particularly at Ringaskiddy. We went down at about 0950 to catch the 1000 tender, could not get on it along with many more people and stood there for about an hour. We were told, and we have no reason not to believe what we were told, that the port authorities would not allow the ship to use its lifeboats and they only seemed to have 1 boat. Assuming that is true, it was not the fault of the Marco Polo staff and I think they probably received a lot of ‘stick’ about that. It was irritating to stand about for so long but I think it was out of the Marco Polo’s hands. This, of course, followed the situation off Jersey the previous day where I think there was a mechanical failure of some sort with the steps to the tender and the decision was taken not to go ashore in view of the heavy seas which might have been made worse in the afternoon by the changing tide. I think the crew was absolutely right not to proceed if there was a safety issue but, again, I think there was a lot of criticism about that.
Finally, the excursions. We went on 4 and the final 3 (Skye, Orkney and Edinburgh) were excellent and we considered them all good value for money. The local guides on all 3 were first rate. Before those, we went on C513 at Glengariff and we were a little disappointed with that one and do not really consider that we got value for our £48 each. The scenery was beautiful but the content of the tour did not seem to merit that cost. After a journey of less than 40 minutes, we arrived at a hotel and were told we would have 1 hour 40 minutes to ourselves there. At the hotel we received an Irish coffee which was very nice but did not take up a lot of time and we then walked a short way to St Finbarr’s Cathedral which was a small church and did not take a long time to look around. Apart from a small area outside the church and a gift shop there was nothing to do but look at the scenery and I think that stop could easily have been cut to 45 minutes or, at most 1 hour. The journey back included a loop in the National Park back to the hotel and then a return drive by the same route.
To sum up, we enjoyed the cruise and being on the ship again although it would be nice if some more chairs and loungers could be supplied as it was very difficult to find a seat outside if everyone was on board. Our only real criticism was of the Glengariff excursion and on 4 cruises on Marco Polo that was the only time that we have been disappointed.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Mostly in the Waldorf restaurant | | Entertainment |  |
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| | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
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