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Star Cruises

MS SuperStar Virgo

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Anna Louise
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: September 8, 2005
Itinerary: Orient

Superstar Virgo is a sparkling 2,000+ passenger cruise ship targeting the Asian/Australian market. It is a great ship if you are comfortable mixing with lots of other cultures. If you are going to fret if you can't get a burger and fries at the buffet then this is not the ship for you.

The public areas are clean and attractive. Deck 13 has a walking/jogging track. Deck 7 also is a walk-around deck but was often closed in parts for maintenance work. The casino was very popular especially with the Chinese passengers. There is a separate pool and jacuzzi for children aft on deck 10 while the adult pool and jacuzzis are on deck 12.

The food is simply superb and was one of the highlights of the cruise. The ship caters extremely well for its wide mix of passengers. Chinese, European and Indian food is available at all meals in the 3 main restaurants included in the cruise price. There are several other restaurants that operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, including another Chinese, a Japanese, an Italian and an Indian restaurant. They range in price from fairly cheap (Indian) to expensive (Italian). There is a 24 hour Chinese-style cafe. Bar snacks are available in the Galaxy of the Stars lounge and at the deck 13 bar, at a cost. The only drinks available free with meals were water and coffee/tea, or packaged OJ at breakfast - all other beverages had to be paid for, including soft drinks and fresh squeezed juices. Freestyle dining applies onboard, which means that if you are travelling alone you will find it more difficult to mix with people at meal times than if you had an allocated dining seating and table.

The cabin size was average for the size of ship. There was enough storage space. It was quiet except when the ship was travelling at close to top speed, when there was some slight rattling noises. The soundproofing between cabins was good - I hardly heard a thing from the cabins on either side. The first night of the cruise there was a loudspeaker announcement in the cabins at 10.45 pm that the boarding photos were now available for sale - I thought that was an unnecessary announcement so late in the evening. There are 2 classes of cabins - balcony/suites, and 'world cruiser'. Unless you particularly want to be able to sit on your own balcony then I am not convinced that it is worth the money to pay extra for a balcony cabin. I don't think the supposed 'privileges' for balcony class passengers were worthwhile.

The show Sorpresa was a mixture including Italian-style opera arias, Chinese acrobats, Ukrainian trapeze artists and South American dancers. It reminded me a bit of the food buffets onboard, where you easily mix Chinese fried rice with your Indian hot curry to make a surprisingly palatable combination. Another entertainer was Marissa Burgess, an Australian singer/dancer, who was very amusing in her routine with an Italian waiter. There is a topless midnight revue called "Desire" for those who want to pay $20 for tickets. The cruise staff were always enthusiastic with the activities and did well to cope with the mix of languages spoken amongst the passengers. The Lido theatre has a balcony which is only open to balcony/suite passengers but frankly I think the view was better from the main seating in the auditorium.

The cruise started at Singapore and the ship stopped at Penang (tender port), Phuket, Malacca (tender port for organised shore excursions only) and Port Klang/Kuala Lumpur. The shore excursions were well organised and not generally overpriced. There was plenty to do onboard too. The only activity I would criticise is the "singles club", where the organised activities were rather dull and seemed to be aimed at an older, sedentary crowd. The gym was on the small side but I particularly enjoyed the stretch classes before breakfast. The ship's itinerary for a 6 day cruise is weird because it goes back to Singapore mid-week - you could either see this as a nice relaxing day at sea or as a wasted day, depending on your attitude. However quite a lot of passengers disembarked at Singapore mid-week after only a 4 day cruise so I guess it suits the market to have shorter cruises available.

The largest passenger groupings are Malaysians, Indians and Australians but onboard you will also find Chinese, Singaporean, Pakistani, Japanese, Thai and Filipino passengers. Some Europeans but very few North Americans. I found the mixture of nationalities one of the most stimulating things about the cruise. I have never previously had the opportunity to meet people from some of those countries.