Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.

Orient Lines

MV Marco Polo

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Peter Stocker
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: January 27, 1999
Itinerary: Antarctic

There is only one way to describe this cruise - FANTASTIC. We did the 25 day one from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula and then the 3000 mile voyage around to the Ross Sea and on up to Christchurch. Unfortunately she is not going to be doing it anymore - just to the Peninsula, but that is well worth seeing and try and get in the Falklands.

Well, there wasn't any water in the pool for obvious reasons and only the 'twitchers'(bird watchers) stayed out on deck. The rest of us stayed around corners out of the wind and leapt out to take pixs. She is a comfortable ship with nice lounges, no fancy glitz here. Only a small casino, but then, these weren't casino-type pax.

The food was very good indeed. The presentation makes it look appetizing and they don't overload everything. There is a deck outside the Lido but it wasn't used much for eating this trip. The service was excellent, this is a happy crew, many of which have been on the ship a long time and also on her predecessors.

There are several different layouts as befits an older type ship. We find them perfectly adequate for us for long trips - our next is 28 days on there. Plenty of closet and drawer space but then we travel with one 26" suitcase each. Just like so many showers the darn curtains never fit!!! Noise? - depends on where you are, but she is a quiet ship.

The big thing on this trip was the resource people. We had over 70 lectures/talks etc about the Antarctic and the standard was very high. There were some entertainers but can't comment as we didn't go. The cruise staff organizing the shore trips etc. were experts at it and did a great job.

No ports and no shopping till Christchurch. But all the shore trips in the zodiacs to see the penguins etc and Scotts and Shackletons bases in the Ross Sea were extremely interesting. You are told to stay 5 metres away from wildlife but nobody has told the penguins who come up close to see what sort of thing you are!!!

As you would expect the pax on this sort of cruise are mostly seniors, and very well travelled. A lot are repeats on the MP, and one was doing his 50th on the ship. A pleasant outcome of this is that these people have 'been there, done that' and don't bother with the usual litany of minor complaints that one hears on most ships.