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Marco Polo Cruise Review Noreen Harbison
Cruise Review:
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"!!
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