All’s quiet until the daily cake stampede

TravelMole associate editor Diane Evans reports on the final day of her CMV cruise on Marco Polo.

It was an early start for the Orkney Islands as we struggled to fit into all the sights before the Marco Polo set off for Leith that afternoon.

Orkney enjoys almost continual daylight in the summer with darkness only falling in the early hours. Apparently you could read a newspaper outside at any time of the day or night.  There’s also a large amount of cattle – with four to every human being. 

First visit was Scapa Flow – an eerie reminder of where the World War I German navy scuttled its fleet and where Italian POWs from World War II built a stunning and beautifully crafted chapel from war time air raid shelters at Lamb Holm which attracts 150,000 visitors a year.

We also stopped at the standing stones at Brodgar, St Magnus Cathedral in the capital Kirkwall, the charming village of Stromness and the world-famous Skara Brae  – a 5000-year-old Neolithic village unearthed after a violent storm in 1850.

The village was excavated to reveal a fascinating insight into life in the Stone Age. 

We nearly didn’t make it in time, enjoying both the tour and the tastings at the Orkney Brewery but the early sailing did mean we were back on board in time for afternoon tea in the more informal Marco’s Bistro which saw the daily stampede for scones, cream pastries, doughnuts and finger sandwiches. And this was hours before the five-course meal. You can eat pretty much round the clock on board.

While the entertainment continued, the rest of the ship began ‘packing up’. Bills were slipped under doors, labelled cases were put outside doors and even the omelette man was missing at breakfast. By 8.30am we found ourselves on firm ground in Leith with no one to carry our bags, fetch our drinks or make our meals.

The previous five days had been an effortless way to visit three new destinations, be entertained en route and without even needing to unpack or pack a bag.

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.