[5] After Cruise & Maritime Voyages entered administration in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was sold at auction by CW Kellock & Co. Ltd. for US$2,770,000 on 22 October 2020;[12] it was subsequently resold and in January 2021 was beached at Alang, India and scrapped.

Amongst other things they offered cabins for six people and had three taps in the bathrooms - for hot, cold and sea water - Both of these features had long since been abandoned in western liners.

[16] As a more visible sign of potential military use, the ships were equipped with unusually powerful deck lifting gear, apparently to be able to transport armoured vehicles on board.

Tourist Class cabin were furnished with either two or four bunks, one or two wardrobe, a sofa, a table and one or two chairs, along with a washing basin; the sanitary facilities were shared among the passengers.

Most sources state she was used to inaugurate the Baltic Shipping Company's regular trans-Atlantic service between Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Leningrad, and later on used for cruising.

Philip Dawson's book The Liner - Retrospective & Renaissance gives the full route as Leningrad—Helsinki—Copenhagen—London (Tilbury)—Quebec City—Montreal, in addition to which the ship was used for cruising from Montreal to Saint Pierre and Miquelon, The Bahamas and Cuba during the summer months.

[15] According to Cruisepage.com, she spent only the summer months on Leningrad—Montreal service, while the rest of the year she was used either on crossing from Leningrad to Havana, Cuba or cruising under charter to western companies.

[1][9][14][16][17] Following the purchase by Orient Lines, Marco Polo sailed to Neorion Shipyard, Greece,[1][16] where her engines were reconditioned by Sulzer Diesels.

[16] Internally the ship was almost entirely rebuilt under the guidance of naval architect Knud Hansen and interior designers Michael and Agni Katzourakis.

In 1993, following completions of the conversion, Marco Polo began a varying itinerary of cruises all over the world, including more unusual destinations such as South-East Asia, Africa, and Antarctica.

[11][20] Marco Polo's cruises continued as before, but as a result of the NCL deal MS Crown Odyssey joined her in the Orient Lines fleet in 2000, turning the company into a two-ship brand.

[4]In 2008 Norwegian Cruise Line sold Marco Polo to the Greece-based Global Maritime Group, which chartered the ship to the Germany-based Transocean Tours.

[5][22] Marco Polo replaced MS Arielle in the Transocean Tours fleet, operating cruises out of the United Kingdom and Germany.

[25] On 7 July Transocean Tours decided to cancel the remainder of Marco Polo's ten-day cruise after consulting NHS Highland.

[27] The London Port Health Authority stated that they were not informed of illness on board the ship when it docked at Tilbury, and Transocean Tours could consequently face legal action.

[26] Despite Transocean Tours' intention of keeping the ship in its fleet until 2012,[24] reports emerged in August 2009 that Marco Polo would be chartered to the newly founded, UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages for five years from 2 January 2010.

[30] 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.

She was resold two months later for approximately $4 million to an Indian company,[36] reached the scrapyards of Alang, India on 13 January 2021[13][37] and was beached and scrapped.