"MARCO POLO" from poet to explorer, cruising for over fifty years

-










"MARCO POLO" is a strikingly beautiful ocean liner built in 1965, the second of five ships of the IVAN FRANKO class, she was built by the Eastern German shipyard MATHIAS-THESEN-WERFT at Wismar, originally named after the Russian poet ALEXANDR PUSHKIN, there is no record of the name of her designer and indeed of the exact date of her maiden voyage, essential information was lost by fire at her owners/operators, THE BALTIC STEAMSHIP COMPANY OF LENINGRAD offices. "MARCO POLO" was conceived to operate regular ocean-liner voyages and also to be used as a cruise ship, in 1991 she was renamed "MARCO POLO" after the explorer, acquired at the time by ORIENT LINES, since then she has been used as a full time cruise ship sailing all over the World, today the ship is owned by the GLOBAL MARITIME GROUP and operated by the British based cruising operator CRUISE & MARITIME VOYAGES, known for offering the best in traditional British Cruising. "MARCO POLO" is a unique ship today, a living tribute to the 60's ship building, one of a kind, she has a powerful raked bow a streamlined funnel with a single mast, she has what is known commonly has a "real-ship" profile, indeed a delight to the eye. Passengers cruising today on "MARCO POLO" can expect, unpretentious yet pleasing facilities with a nautical ambiance and an amazing amount of open-deck spaces. "MARCO POLO" is above all an happy ship for passengers and crew, from poet to explorer, "MARCO POLO" has charisma, stunning lines and layout, a comprehensive legion of repeat customers that adore the ship, she is a fitting tribute to the liners of the past and a unique cruising experience.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, one of the nicest ships ever built

-
Image
This post is dedicated to all the Italian followers of this blog. This past week saw an unprecedented number of pageviews from Italy, I was really pleased to notice that the post "WILLEM RUYS BECOMES ACHILLE LAURO" is the most popular post of this blog, leading by far all the posts related to the COSTA CONCORDIA's tragedy, so despite the relevance of the tragic events which obviously dominated the news not just in Italy but around the world, there is an obvious interest on Italian passenger liners and this is reassuring for me, I do believe that the most beautiful liners came out of Italy, this is why I have chosen CRISTOFORO COLOMBO for many the most elegant liner ever built as a testimony of appreciation to the great nation that Italy was and still is as far as shipping and ship building is concerned, so thank you to all my Italian followers, I will endeavour to carry on with the best possible work on this blog. Postcards of my collection
Read more

SS "LEONARDO DA VINCI" a remarkable liner with a short career

-
Image
The SS "LEONARDO DA VINCI" was an ocean liner built by ANSALDO SHIPYARDS at Genoa in 1960, the ship was intended as a replacement for the ill-fated ANDREA DORIA to operate on the North Atlantic run with ITALIAN LINE, she was as built 33.340 GRT and had a top speed of 25.5 knots. The ship left on her maiden voyage on the 30th June 1960 from Genoa to New York, she was kept on this service until 1965 when the new superliners MICHELANGELO and RAFFAELLO entered service, LEONARDO was then used on cruising in the MED, CARIBBEAN, SOUTH and NORTH AMERICA, after the withdrawal of the new superliners from service on the North Atlantic due to lack of passengers  LEONARDO was back on the transtlantic service, but only for a brief spell, she went back to cruising until 1978 when she arrived at La Spezia in Italy to be laid up, she caught fire in 1980 and was considered a total loss, she was finally scrapped in 1982, a brief career for such a beautiful ship, she was not a lucky vessel un
Read more

Remembering the "SUNDREAM"

-
Image
This post takes us back to 1997, the "SUNDREAM" is seen secured for sea ready for another departure from Barcelona. The ship was built in 1970 by WARTSILA in Finland as the "SONG OF NORWAY" to Royal Caribbean, she was 18416 GRT with a top speed of 22 knots, the vessel was lengthened by 24 meters in 1978, the GRT was increased to 23005 GRT. In 1996 the ship was sold to AIRTOURS SUN CRUISES and was renamed "SUNDREAM", she is still around operated by INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING PARTNERS under the name of "GEMINI" but facing uncertain times with the ship being reported for sale or charter
Read more