Marco “no frills” Polo cruising

There is a whiff of old style cruising about our first day at sea, not surprising since the Marco Polo was originally a Russian cruise ship and the captain is Russian.

The ship keeps to a strict timetable and rules will be obeyed.

Take breakfast. We didn’t get any. We failed to read the small print in the leaflet pushed under our cabin door saying that after leaving Britain we would be entering the European time zone.

9am was in fact 10am. No, we were informed, there would be no food available until lunchtime.

But free cups of tea and coffee are available all day.
I make my way to the ships library where books are kept behind locked glass doors.
Another couple are already there trying to find the opening times. They locate a notice, which refers us all to the leaflet, yes you’ve guessed, the same one pushed under our cabin doors, because times change each day.

Mealtimes and seating are rigid and we are informed that this cannot be changed because the ship is full with 700 passengers. Our dinner companions for the week are a delightful couple who happen to live in the next town to us in Scotland.

We are told what to wear in the leaflet that comes through the door each day (“ this ship is not for those who do not like dressing up”) and this is bit unnerving to say the least.
Our waiter for the week informs us that he expects us to be prompt each night and does not tolerate latecomers.

The piece de resistance though is the line up of dishes on display outside the dining room so that you can see what you are about to eat.

At first glance this looks like a good idea except that the chefs presentation skills are not that good .

Don’t try accessing the Internet we are warned on arrival because not only is it expensive it is highly unlikely you will be able to make contact with the satellite.

We ignore these dire warnings and get online.

As I said there is a whiff of the old style Russian military regime about the place but the Maro Polo does what it claims: offers old style cruising on a small friendly ship at affordable prices. No hype, no clever marketing.