Noreen Harbison

Cruise Review:
Date Of Sailing:  5/17/98
Destination/Itinerary: Mediterranean
Ship:  Marco Polo 

               Greetings! This cruise was a 20th anniversary present to myself and my husband. My parents joined us, and one other couple. Before I booked this cruise, I did ALOT of research (mainly through cruise reviews available on the net and via: e-mailing former cruise passengers). All I heard were good things about the Marco Polo cruise and itineraries, so that's what we went for! I liked the idea of a smaller ship, and the many different itineraries that were available were fantastic! This was my 10th cruise, and one of the best!

               We booked in Cat. G, an outside room with 2 port holes. My parents booked a suite, which had 2 large windows and a small sitting area with a couch. Our friends had a Cat. C, which was the same size stateroom as ours, only with 2 large picture windows. I had checked into this room, but it was about $1,000 more for the 2 of us, which basically gave us just the bigger windows, not a bigger room, so I opted for the cheaper room. I'm glad I did! No big difference!

               My parents lucked out. There are not many suites on this ship, and most of them have an obstructed view (lifeboats). They had a suite on a different deck with no obstruction. The other suites really had NO view of the water! So when picking out a cabin, I say go for an outside Cat. G for good value and a nice room!

               This was a 7 day cruise, with pre/post land stays. We started out from Athens and ended up in Barcelona. It was a WONDERFUL itinerary. A total of 12 days. 3 of them were basically traveling though. I must say, I was VERY impressed with the flights that Orient put us on. I was afraid we would be put on charter flights. I had read other reviews where Orient put their cruise passengers on "Tower Air" and had nothing but problems. Very long delays or cancelled flight, old aircraft, etc. All our flights were on time and no long stop-overs. We flew Alitalia going there, and Lufthansa coming back.

               The other "plus" I thought Orient did a great job on was hotel accomodations in Athens and Barcelona. Because my parents were  booked in a suite, they were entitled to deluxe hotel accomodations, whereas me and my husband would get standard hotel accomodations. But for an additional $125 pp you can upgrade to the deluxe hotels. This was WELL worth it! In Athens, we stayed at the Hilton, where most of the rooms face the Acropolis! In Barcelona, it was the "Hotel Palace", which originally was "The Ritz"!! It was WONDERFUL!

               Now back to the cruise. We left on a Sunday out of Athens, after spending the day on a tour driving along the Greek coast to "Sounion", a very picturesque area of roman ruins. Monday we were on Santorini. What a beautiful island. Formed from a volcano years ago, the main town is built on top of the mountain--what views!!! For fun, take the donkey ride to get to the top! Tuesday we were at sea all day. Seas were a little rough, and for the lst time ever, I got seasick, as did alot of people. But most of the time you sail at night, so it wasn't a big problem. Wednesday we were on the Isle of Malta. A very antiquated island--lots of history here. Thursday we were in Sorrento, Italy but we took the all day tour to the Isle of Capri and the Blue Grotto. This was my favorite. The scenery on Capri is outstanding. We also stopped for a short while in Sorrento, which was also a very picturesque town, high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Friday we were in Rome for a full day, seeing the Collasseum, Trevi Fountain and St. Peter's Square and Basilica at the Vatican. It's amazing and not to be missed! Saturday was Cannes, France, just in time for the film festival! Sunday we arrived in Barcelona and spent the day sight-seeing some outstanding churches--what architecture! Barcelona was a lovely city; will have to return there! We left for home (VERY early) on Monday morning.

               If you are looking for a relaxing cruise, this is NOT the cruise to take. This cruise is for "doing and seeing", which is what we wanted! The ship took us to some of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It was a bit strenuous if you did all the tours, but is SO worthwhile the experience! You hate to miss anything!

                The ship itself was much nicer than I prepared myself for. I thought, "ok, this is an older, smaller ship. Not like other one's we've been on. So don't expect much". But it was VERY nice! I knew it was an older, rurfurbished ship, but they did an outstanding job.

The staterooms are typically small, but quite sufficient. Plenty of storage areas (closets, dresser drawers, etc.) The public areas are all very nice; bars, show lounge, etc. The dining room was quite nice too! The other surprise was the food. I had read many reviews where the food was just ok. I thought it was VERY good, and so did the rest of us! Not better than other cruises, but JUST as good. No midnite buffets here though. This isn't a food frenzy cruise, this is a port-oriented cruise. I usually gain at least 5lbs. on every cruise. I actually lost a pound, since we did so much walking/sight-seeing!!! The clientele was mostly senior citizens. A few 20's and 30's, a few more 40's and 50's. But I didn't feel out of place at all. The best part was there were no children at all on this cruise! No screaming kids running down the hallways, pool area, etc. It was great! In my opinion, May is the best time to go. The kids are still in school, it isn't "high" tourist season yet, and the weather----well, it was PERFECT!!! Sunny and high 70's. Great for sight-seeing. We had heard that Athens and Rome and especially Barcelona can be unbearable in Summer. 100's and humid. No thanks!

               I can't say enough about the staff. They were the most pleasant and accommodating staff (Filipino) I have ever experience on a cruise ship. They actually looked HAPPY to be waiting on you!

               We had 1 fancy night on board, for the Captain's cocktail party. I don't think any of the men wore tuxes (just suits), but many women (me and mom too) did wear sequin dresses. Not gowns. The rest of the cruise, people were dressed in very nice casual clothing. No jeans here! For sight-seeing, we just wore slacks or nice shorts, but they tended to dress nicer for dinner. The entertainment aboard ship was pretty good; especially the "orchestra". What a violin player! He had us in tears he played with such emotion! We only went out after dinner twice though; we were so tired after sight-seeing all day! The bands in the lounges played music catering to the type of music for an older crowd for dancing, but we all enjoyed it immensely!

               All in all, it was a wonderful trip. No big problems. The sights were awesome. It was my third time to Europe, and this is certainly the way to go! Travel by ship, eat well, you can unpack just once and see SO much, and all your tours are arranged; it was great!  I'm already planning my next one! The Mediterranean is a "must see"!!