 |
 |
|
Name: Kerry Wendt
Email: Bulawitch@aol.com
Age: 41
Occupation: Postal Management
NumberOfCruises: 7
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Orient-MarcoPolo
SailingDate: 7/11/98
Itinerary: Aegean Mediterranean I
FoodDiningRoom: 74
CruiseDirector: 78
CabinComfort: 83
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 85
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 86
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 89
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 70
DeckService: 74
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 75
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 70
LoungeService: 83
TenderService: 65
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 73
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 80
EntertShowLounge: 75
OverallPortsofCall: 100
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 70
Casino: 75
AirSeaProgram: 100
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 79
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 78
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 85
OverallCruiseValue: 81
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 29 Aug 1998
Time: 00:08:15
Remote Name: 205.188.192.36
Remote User:
Comments
My husband and I took the 12 day Aegean/Mediterranean I cruise on
July 11, 1998, from Istanbul to Barcelona. We purchased the
cruise/land/sea
inclusive package. This trip was advertised as a 17 day package.
Actually we departed New Jersey at 5PM on July 8. We had a four
(4) hour scheduled
lay over in Rome. We then continued on to Istanbul. We arrived in
Istanbul at approximately 3PM on July 10, and by the time we
boarded the Orient bus,
waited for the other passengers and arrived at our hotel, it was
almost 5PM on July 9. Our return flight from Barcelona to Newark
left on the morning of
July 24. Therefore, we actually only had 14 days in Europe no
matter how you look at it. As a matter of fact since our last
day, Orient kept us hanging
around the ship, unable to disembark, we only had 13 days of our
17 day package. I don't mean to sound like 13 days is nothing, it
just seems like false
advertising. It certainly was a Looooong trip from Newark to
Istanbul, however, I don't think the price of the air could be
beat at $495 per person. I tried
to book my own air and could not find a fare this low at that
time of year. When we initially booked the cruise we had added an
additional night post hotel
stay in Barcelona, which we were billed for. However, prior to
departing, we were told there was a problem obtaining coach air
transportation for July 25.
We were told we would have to stay an additional night in
Barcelona or stick with the cruise line's original package. I
personally felt that Orient should
have honored our booking even if they had to put us in Business
Class at their expense. Or at the very least they should have
offered us an upgrade,
ships credit or something. However, they did not. The service in
the dining room was excellent and the staff very pleasant.
However, I did not feel the
menu was varied enough. Maybe this was me, considering this was
my first time in Europe. I expected a menu much the same as on
Carribean cruises.
Boy was I wrong! I had been used to a choice of poultry, fish,
beef, pasta, etc. I was surprised and a little disappointed to
find such things as Rabbit,
Quail, Venison, Lamb and Duck. Almost every night I ended up
having some kind of beef. Don't get me wrong, I don't have
anything against beef, and in
most cases it was prepared well, I just would have liked to have
a little variety. Maybe some shell fish, pasta or such. Also,
each night they offered some
kind of terrine or other, which is a non flavored gelatin with
meat or fruit. On nights I did not order beef I stuck to the
vegetarian menu. One night I
ordered Eggplant Parmagian. Again, the jello mold! They took the
eggplant and ground it up along with the cheese and gave me
something that looked
like a tan sand castle, without sauce. We visited four ports in
Italy and I kept hoping to have some kind of pasta on the menu as
an entree, but in the 12
nights I sailed, I never saw this. Pasta was offered for lunch on
the buffet, but we were usually in port at this time and had
meals on shore. I would
recommend this ship to honeymooners or seniors, but not for those
with children. There aren't any children's facilities. Also,
there is not much night life,
and the cruise activities are minimal. Of course the particular
cruise I was on visited a port every day but one, which kept you
plenty busy. I found the
ports to be excellent. We visited Istanbul and Kusadasi/Ephesus
in Turkey, Delos, Mykonos and Santorini in Greece, Valletta,
Malta, Sorrento, Rome,
Florence and Portofino in Italy, Cannes, France and Mallorca and
Barcelona in Spain. There was a great variety of shore excursions
offered, and most
we went on were well organized. I did find them somewhat
expensive as opposed to doing the excursion on your own. For
example Orient offered a
shore excursion in Sorrento which consisted of a hydrofoil to
Capri and a visit to the Blue Grotto for $95 per person. They
explained that if the water was
rough you could not enter the Blue Grotto and would be left on
your own in Capri. We purchased Orient's shore excursion to
Pompei and then took a
hydrofoil to Capri on our own which cost less than $15 per person
round trip. We toured all of Capri and Ana Capri on our own and
had a wonderful time.
As I learned from passengers paying $95 per person, they were not
permitted to visit the Blue Grotto due to the tide, did not
receive a refund and were
only provided with the hydrofoil ride for their $95, which we did
on our own for $15. I would, however, recommend a shore excursion
for sites such as
Pompei, Ephesus and Delos. You could go on your own, but onless
you have done extensive reading on these places, you won't know
what you're
looking at and could not possibly appreciate such places. It was
necessary to take a tender to more than half of the ports we
visited. Talk about sardines!
In most cases they could have run the tender to port and back in
the time it took for them to load up. It became an ongoing
guessing game between my
husband and myself as to how many more people they would squeeze
in. Just when you thought it was impossible to get anyone else
in, they'd have you
shifting around again to squeeze ten more people in. The pool was
small as on most ships. What amazed me was that there was little
or no poolside
music. During dinner, they would play classical music poolside,
but on our one day at sea, it was silent. Too silent! They did
have the cruise director come
out with wooden horses and sell tickets to a horse race. They had
3 or 4 races and you spent the rest of your day lounging withour
activity (or music).
There was two gift shops on the Marco Polo. Both of these were
small and were almost always closed. They did not have much of a
variety. We were in a
category D cabin. It was small, but adequate. It was very clean
and our cabin steward was marvelous. The walls were rather thin
though and we couldn't
help but eavesdrop on our neighbors discussions. My husband
visited the gym every day. He found it to be conveniently
located, with most of the workout
equipment looking out the rear of the ship at the sparkling blue
med. It served his needs adequately. The casino was by far the
smallest of any ship I've
been on. We only visited three or four evenings for an hour or
two. As far as deck space goes.....not nearly enough! Each time
we had any daylight
hours at sea, you would find fifteen to twenty people walking
around and hanging over you waiting to snatch a chair. you really
have to plan to get up
early if you have a day at sea to grap yourself a spot. We
departed Portofino at noon and would not arrive in Canne until
8PM. Well forget about finding
a spot in the sun. After patroling the decks for an hour or so,
we finally found 2 vacant lounge chairs on the deck above the
Promenade Deck. However,
this deck was completely covered and useless to sun worshippers.
We took these chairs up another deck to the front of the Bridge.
It was very windy up
there, but it was the only place that there was any sun that we
could fit a chair. We had the entire section to ourselves. I
don't know if it was the wind or if
it was a restricted area that kept fellow cruisers away, but
since we didn't see any signs or chains to discourage us from
staying there, we went for it. As
for embarkation, we took Orient's shore excursion in Istanbul on
the morning of the day we were due to sail. At the end of the
tour the bus took us right
to the ship. There was a short line to board, but overall I
couldn't have asked for a smoother enbarkation. Of course since
we had a two night pre cruise
hotel stay, our paperwork had been attended to in Istanbul. Now
disembarkation was a different story! everyone was given a color
code depending on
what your post cruise plans were. We had taken Orient's one night
hotel stay in Barcelona. The ship was in port between 6 and 7 Am
on 7/23. We were
to have what they call a 1/2 day Barcelona City tour on the way
to our hotel. Well we could not get off the ship until almost 1
PM. Meanwhile, everything
was closed on the ship and our cabins had to be vacated by 8AM.
Everyone was hanging around the halls of the ship with luggage
and such for hours.
When we finally got on our tour bus, it drove us through the city
to the Gaudi Cathedral. where we were permitted to get off. We
then got right back on
the bus and were taken to our hotel. Everyone was starving since
we had not eaten since breakfast. Every single passenger from
Orient that was staying
in my hotel ended up in the hotel restaurant as everyone was too
hungry to venture out on their own and try to find a place to
eat. Well. I don't know if it
was because it was post lunch time and pre dinner time (they eat
dinner at 10 or 11PM in Barcelona), but it must have taken 2 1/2
hour to get through
lunch. That left very very little time to see Barcelona. So
actually this entire day was shot! As our bus left for the
airport at 7Am the following morning, I
guess I'll have to see Barcelona on a future trip. (Boy, that
extra night in Barcelona I originally booked and then was
deprived of would have been
appreciated). Overall, we had a very nice time. I think this was
mainly due to the ships ports of call rather than the cruise
line. However, I have to say I
was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and the upkeep of the
Marco Polo. After all this ship is 34 or 35 years old and
although it does not compare
to the modern megaliners, it has a pleasant, homey charm. You
couldn't possibly ask for more from the dining room or
housekeeping staff.
Want to book your cruise at a great rate?
Click here.
Questions or comments? Mail to webmaster@cruiseopinion.com.
Copyright ©1996-2001 CruiseOpinion.com. Last modified: March 22, 2000.