Cruise & Maritime Cruises Reviews

A very balanced report and the point about smoking was particularly relevant and one which I missed in my review. There have been comments about people constantly complaining in other reports about this particular cruise but this was written in an eloquent manner by an experienced person and complaints concerning precious holidays are often justified.

I agree with all the comments, bar the entertainment which was exceptional, and would like to add that the drinks in the bars were very expensive and we, and many other passengers felt that the drinks served in Scott\'s Bar had been watered and/or the measures reduced. The measures were very small anyway. A 440ml can of Bodington\'s beer was £2.80 and the only other bitter ran out well before we got home. Whatever happened to the old days when you got duty free drinks once outside the territorial water limit. Also the water supplied to cabin taps was often tinted brown but they insisted that it was safe to drink. On the last 4 or 5 days the cabin water was foul with a very metallic taste and smell. It was also the darkest brown it had ever been and on towelling down after a shower the white towels were stained brown. That water also made your hair thick and wiry after washing. We would never recommend this cruise ship and will avoid going on Marco Polo again.

Darling the prices you paid on board are not extortionate - they are everyday prices in Manchesters Gay Village !

I agree with many (but not all) of the comments, but a lot of the \'problems\' were caused by selfish, inconsiderate passengers (ie sunbeds, cups being taken back to rooms which meant using plastic cups, mad dashes and *huge queues to get tickets for the \'first\' tenders etc). *If you weren\'t one of them it was a very funny sight, sprinting OAPs like lemmings. This was my first ever cruise and I do feel I would rather have paid a little more and not felt that we were being fleeced by exhorbitant prices on boards as mentioned. The trips in Puerto Ordaz were all a disaster in some respect but this was at least addressed by the ship in that some form of refund was offered on all trips, and one trip due to be repeated the following day was cancelled because of complaints after the first one. Also I would have paid more not to stop at the industrial ports, which were unsightly and far from anywhere pleasant. You got the impression that they were doing it to cut costs, as many of the destinations did have proper cruise ports. Organised activities every day were varied and plentiful if you wanted to partake. There were plenty of games to play as well. I ate every evening in the Restaurant and the food was generally excellent. Sauces were a little oversalty for modern tastes, but could have been deliberate as you need extra salt in hot climes. However you could ask for food without the sauce or chose plain grilled chicken breast or salmon. Fresh fruit did run out as the cruise continued and the salads were a little sad towards the end. As a non tea/coffee drinker I did feel water should be available all day. The reason it wasn\'t was probably down to hygiene, no matter how often the ship say/write \'don\'t\' there are still idiots who want to fill up their own water bottles at the machine. It took me 10 days to work out that you could just ask for iced water at the bar at no cost. In the meantime it cost me a fortune in Coke at £1.80 per tin. I think the grumbling by the less laid back passengers had us all nit picking towards the end, and changed departure times (for stated reasons the passengers just did not believe) did little to engender a sense of satisfaction. Having said all that it was a really friendly ship, easy to find your way around. ALL the staff were amazing and worked very hard, the entertainment was of a very high standard. The cruise director on this voyage was the most amazing character who knew most of the passengers by name and had the knack of making each one feel special. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for his Deputy who will, I believe, be taking over for a few cruises whilst the current director moves on to set up a sister ship. This was a first and possibly only experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of it. I saw places and things I had never expected to experience and as I said initially, most of the little niggles were caused by a few (quite a few) selfish and thoughtless passengers. This spread a feeling of frustration and further selfish acts (for instance the issue of sun beds reportedly, according to ship gossip, led to one cabin being found to have secreted two! Lord knows where they found the room to store them.) Would I go on the Marco Polo again - under the current Cruise Director - yes; Otherwise probably not.