Royal divorces, a mass exodus and we hadn’t even set sail

DAY ONE

When we joined the Marco Polo in Leith it was only a day after the ship had left its London port but the adult-only cruise ship had already enjoyed a ‘mini cruise’ of its own with more than 500 passengers opting to sail from the port of Tilbury to Edinburgh, writes Diane Evans.

Setting off on the last May bank holiday weekend, it attracted a number of weekend break cruisers, with Cruise and Maritime Voyages selling the last 60 empty cabins via GroupOn – a ‘deal of the day’ website – for £49 per person for an inner cabin which included afternoon tea, dinner, breakfast and lunch before arriving in the Scottish capital.

Not only was it a great value way to get north of the border, it also saw the average age of Marco Polo customers plummet (no, thankfully not the clients) and led to the disco, bars and even the outdoor, unheated swimming pool being put to unusually good use.  Let’s just say, the regulars on Marco Polo do not look like surfers of any kind.

For passengers just calling at Leith on the longer itinerary, you have time to visit the capital and may even squeeze in a visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is permanently berthed in port. It’s a fascinating insight into Royal yesteryears complete with the cabin (and bed?) used by Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their honeymoon.

Not to be recommended though as this and the three other Royal honeymoons on board – Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and the Duke and Duchess of York – all ended in divorce.

The ship itself is not as opulent as you’d expect. The state dining room and lounge area are worth a visit, but much of the ship is to house the huge crew numbers required with their dorms, social areas and enormous laundry room to wash and press all parts of their  uniforms – some of which were changed up to five times a day.

Back on the Marco Polo, cabins had been turned around in record time and there was no evidence of the night before. More than 500 new clients joined at Leith, as the ‘mini-cruisers’ disembarked, booked on the now five-night Scottish Islands and Faroes itinerary.

Having enjoyed the daily five-course dinner in the formal Waldorf restaurant, we weren’t in the best condition for our 10pm ‘muster’ or safety drill but I was pleased to see we were even taken outside to see where we’d line up for the lifeboats. With the customer service, food and entertainment on offer second to none, we settled in for two nights and a day at sea before our first port – the Faroe Islands. Little did we know then that ‘settling’ was hardly the word…

Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) operates the adult-only Marco Polo specialising in smaller ex-UK cruises including the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Fjords, the Baltic and the Amazon and West Indies.