Please note -- Tipping of £4 per person, per day (£144 total) will be added to your cabin bill during the cruise. This charge is payable in addition to the above prices.:confused:

I always thought tipping was optional on the service provided, wording should be changed to "service charge"

The ship is over 50 years old and tiny compared to some modern day cruise ships. If I was going to be on a boat for 35 days with 21 of them "at sea" I would want a bigger ship with more to do. It would be like spending 3 weeks being locked inside the grounds of a 80s holiday park.

​Cheeky gets. The company should bloody pay their staff 4 quid more. As if a cruise like this isn't expensive enough already for customers.

I went on a boat when I was a young boy but got seasick in a matter of minutes. Voted cold

I think i mis-quoted somewhere sorry. I meant to quote the post about adding drinks costs to the bill.

I've been on a Cruise and Maritime cruise from Liverpool to Norway on a bargain sub £299 deal. The company itself is really geared up for the older passenger. On the plus this meant we were first off the ship as we didn't need assistance and we weren't stuck in the wheelchair/walking stick queue for meals so it did have it's advantages. The entertainment was knitting, card making and the Hairspray movie shown on DVD. Tom Jones seemed to filter through the the cabins and public areas on a loop. It was a funny experience and a very cheap way of exploring Norway compared with flight/hotel prices but you may need to lower your expectations. It's good value to see somewhere on a non-fly cruise and tipping is added to your bill but you can remove it 48 hrs before your cruise finishes if you wish and tip staff individually.

We also took alcohol on board at Liverpool but it was a few days after the new cruise terminal area opened so don't think they were bothered on checking.

If I wanted to gain weight n chill ideal, unlimited food gym n sun. Or just take a silly amount of spirits with you u probs want 15 Ltrs of spirit I think you can take unlimited soft drinks on just be creative ha

. Ship old and cruise company name " holiday pirates" doesn't exactly instill any confidence in experienced. At £1500 per person with only 55% positive reviews looks like there's been some mutineer's. Think I'll be steering clear of this ship

That's correct... meaning that the passengers pay MORE as there isn't 800 staff ! Whenever I cruise I always tip the staff that serve me personally, this unfortunately is a little biased, as the mechanics, kitchen staff, cleaners etc have all done their bit too but this is where the greedy cruise line owners have their duty to attach the relevant wage.

Dreadful ship dreadful company

P&O let you bring alcohol onto the ships . As long as it's for your cabin . We brought 1L Bacardi and 1L vodka on the Azura ( amazing ship ) . Also P&O let you opt out the tips which we done and just tipped staff that looked after us . We done a 15 night fly cruise to the Caribbean and done 10 islands. Also top quality food on board with about 10 restaurants to pick from .

dude.... this is like the same price as rent in central London

Its £144 per person. The charge is for how many of you there is not how many staff there is so if there was 4 of you it would be an extra £576 :smiley:

@ OP could you add the Please note -- Tipping of £4 per person, per day (£144 total) will be added to your cabin bill during the cruise. This charge is payable in addition to the above prices. to the total cost in the title for people. :smiley:

haha :smile:

well the price is nice, so heat added :smile:

Totally the wrong attitude, the company who pay the staff's wages should pay them a wage that does not leave them dependent on tips to supplement their meagre income. I take issue with them describing it as "tips" as, the idea that (if the boat was full to capacity) 800 passengers paying £144 each, for a total of £115,200 is going to be spread fairly among the crew of 220 people (£523 avg) is a little difficult to swallow. No service job I've ever heard of pays monthly bonuses of £500+.

Hot deal given the reduction, but seems like a terrible way to spend two grand* on a holiday... I'd rather go away for 14 consecutive nights than have them broken up by 21 nights travelling.

*Edit - based on two adults sharing so actually over three grand, then. Ouch.

Abit of short notice ???

I'm sure my in laws cruised on the ship from Tilbury to the med years ago, it was mainly pensioners and few were drinking because it would interfere with their meds. :-D I'm sure they missed one destination because they couldn't get into port, don't fancy the Atlantic at that time of year. I think it was this ship that was mentioned on Rip Off Britain because they were painting the ship while cruising and people were suffering from paint fumes

£4pppd tips is on the very low side. It's also optional on most cruises, including CMVs (who operate MP). The drink prices aren't too bad on the MP, (also p&o), but surprisingly the drinks packages are really expensive unless you can down it like an alcoholic. We usually have a minimum of drinks - the money saved on a drinks package can easily pay for an off season 5 star all inclusive in Turkey. Basically these days, all cruise lines make it relatively cheap to get you on board, and then they try their hardest to sell you everything at high prices once captive, but the charges are all optional and mostly avoidable (like drinking, tours, spa treatments etc).

One for the thrill seekers :laughing:

I've been on the Marco Polo, did a cruise to Norway and back, flipping awful ship! 35 days on it would not only drive you mad but you'd potentially spend a small mortgage on your bar bill. Can't quibble with cost though, just the quality.

Tipping is ridiculous, people should earn tips, not get them for doing nothing. It's your business, if I could go behind the bar and pour my own drink I would but you probably wouldn't like that and even call the police. Yet these masked additional charges are somehow legal?

It also only applies to certain industries, why is that? If you think it's only right to tip the person transporting your food from A to B, why not tip the guy who fixed your computer? Tip the cashier at home bargains that gave you a laugh today? Tip the credit card fraud prevention team who called you personally to make sure all these tips were legit and not carried out under duress...

We were cruising with P & O two years ago and the gentleman did consultancy work for P.& O. He asked the crew staff how much they received from the "tips" to be told they didn't get any of it. I dont mind tipping for cabin staff who all seem to have the same story of hardship but not a blanket charge by the company. Princess do the same but at least you can opt out. The wine deals also are for normal wine, supermarket prices of about £7.00 they charge £30. with a special price for 12 bottles of $240.00 .When it appears on your statement it is hiked up to $284.00 when questioned they said it includes service charge and tips. The price quoted was $240.00 Rip off city.

Well the poor old Marco Polo is taking a hammering. I've been on it and it was a fantastic elegant experience. It's very small, so if you like the facilities on boats 8 times the size you're unlikely to like this. She's very beautiful, an old style cruise ship which looks like a cruise ship. Now over 50, east german built, ice breaker (so you can dismiss posts saying she's about to sink, or unstable). The food was amongst the best we've had on cruises, served in elegant surroundings and sophisticated 6 courses, brilliant service. Having said that, we thought of going on this cruise, but 35 nights may be a bit too much for us due to it's small size and facilities. It still has a swimming pool, biggish theatre (with great entertainment). Seems to be a marmite ship! One big advantage of a small ship is that you dock close to the centre of things, and no need for tendering to the shore (which you can often be in a queue for hours getting on and off if there's 5000 others wanting to go ashore). Our cabin was relatively small compared to today's standards. I'd say the cruise is really excellent value for those prepared to compromise and not expect big boat facilities, like dodgems, robot waiters, tennis courts etc.

... and the Titanic was brand new!!

Not a bad deal ................... but where in the itinerary is the stop in Barbados that is mentioned in the deal title here and the actual deal page itself?

It sounds a nightmare, you'd have to pay me- a lot- to get on this for 35 nights.

The Marco Polo is an awful ship. Did two weeks Christmas and New Year to the Canary Islands. Have never known so much sickness on a ship. Bugs and germs seem to curculate through the ventilation system. Food is poor and the ship no better! You couldn't pay me to do another Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) cruise. Avoid!!!

Hmmm this makes a good gift to the in laws maybe? :P

I see a gap in the market! How much would one pay for 3 weeks in a lock down at "[email protected]?"

@OP Heat added as the price seems quite good for the cruise itself.

MSC cruise I did a few years back also had this policy. Had to queue up to argue with manager if wanted the 'optional' tips removed. If you do go on a cruise and get good service tip the staff directly as you can bet they don't get much of your service charge anyway.

The whole point of a cruise ship is to provide ridiculously high levels of luxury for a few days. This appears to be much like a cross channel ferry - no thanks!

I went on a boat when I was a young boy but got seasick in a matter of minutes. Voted cold

This looks like the perfect gift for a mother-in-law. Or a dare to see who could survive the ordeal.

35 nights. Potentially using 25 days annual leave so lot of working folk may not be able to do this.

€35 +15% for a bottle of red wine. Wowsers.

The ship is over 50 years old and tiny compared to some modern day cruise ships. If I was going to be on a boat for 35 days with 21 of them "at sea" I would want a bigger ship with more to do. It would be like spending 3 weeks being locked inside the grounds of a 80s holiday park.

Sounds exciting!

On 14 February 2014 a passenger died and sixteen people were injured after a freak wave struck the ship in the English Channel during a storm. One seriously injured passenger was taken off by helicopter. The ship was heading to Tilbury with 735 passengers and 349 crew on board.[7][30]

The MS Marco Polo has been the subject of a television programme in the series Mighty Cruise Ships (a spin-off of Mighty Ships) which documented the 2013 voyage to St Petersberg, Russia, and the Baltic States. The ship ran into a force 10 gale in The Baltic.

On 1 November 2014, while docking at the port of Leknes in Lofoten, Norway, a strong breeze sent the cruise ship off course, resulting in the ship running aground at coordinates 68.12208°N 13.56687°E.[31][32]

Not for me, thanks.

Who pays for the rescue :smiley:

I remember from the news someone died on that ship when a big wave hit. The court said it was an accident, other passengers said the windows had cracks and was leaking before the bad weather. Not really revalent to the deal but I'd want to know the ship had had an overhaul.

the tips go to the staff, don't know how you can complain about the price either, 35 nights for that price, that is good value for anybody I would hope

and then two fortunes on top of the price for your bar bill.....

Such a small ship with nothing much to do. Not for me as get bored during sea days

​Cheeky gets. The company should bloody pay their staff 4 quid more. As if a cruise like this isn't expensive enough already for customers.

Terrible ship . Old , rusty ship . No thank you for free

Please note -- Tipping of £4 per person, per day (£144 total) will be added to your cabin bill during the cruise. This charge is payable in addition to the above prices.:confused:

I always thought tipping was optional on the service provided, wording should be changed to "service charge"

Post omits that it's Marco Polo, only 55% reviews on cruise critic are positive. It became a cruise ship 40 years ago. Make your own minds up.

Cruised this ship from Liverpool year before last. Least favourite of any liner used, but at £45 a night you can't go wrong.

Is it the same price to do another 35 days on way back?