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Star Cruises

MS SuperStar Virgo

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Gundam X Divider
# previous cruises: 10 to 20
Date of Trip: June 23, 2004
Itinerary: Orient

It was a 2 night cruise onboard SuperStar Virgo departing from Singapore calling at Malacca and Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur. The ship departed midnight from Singapore and stopped at Malacca briefly in the second morning, and later arrived at the Star Cruises Terminal Port Klang.

The public areas were nicely furnished with very bright colours, well much brighter than her sister SuperStar Leo (now the Norwegian Spirit). The elegant Grand Piazza spans 7 decks high with 3 glass elevators. The Galaxy of the Stars/Observatory on deck 12 provides spectacular views of the ocean. The unique "wing area" on each side let you feel if you are the captain, looking the sides of the ship. Enjoy silence there early in the morning.

The promenade was an around-the-ship one and is very wide. It was inclined towards the aft of deck 7. The main pool is located on deck 12 (sometimes get crowded) and is generally well designed, but a bit too small. With just one main pool for such a large ship I feel that it is not sufficient. The casino was very colourful, but I personally prefer the layout of the casino onboard LEO.

There are three big windows in Bella Vista, letting you enjoy the sea view when having meals. This restaurant provides set meals of international and oriental (Chinese) cuisine, if you wish to stay close to those big windows I suggest you to choose international cuisine and dine early. There is also another Chinese restaurant and a buffet. The buffet even has a special dinning area for the kids. If you like to enjoy the ocean and feel the wind you can choose to dine in the outdoor area of the buffet. However the buffet is crowded all the time so I didn't eat anything there at all.

With freestyle cruising, you can choose from a large number of alternative restaurants and bars. On Virgo you can have Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indian... and a 24-hour Blue Lagoon. I have no much preference over food but I feel that generally the food onboard is fine.

Also, with freestyle cruising you can enjoy anytime dinning. However, as tables were not arranged in advance you may need to wait outside until someone finishes and vacates the table for you during peak hours.

Enjoy S$100 dinning credit onboard for the 2 night cruises (and S$200 for the 3 night cruises to Phuket and Penang). I specially enjoy dinning late at night in the Blue Lagoon.

If you are on balcony or admiral class, enjoy welcome drink in the Grand Piazza once you board. You can also use the glass elevators to get to your cabin.

I was travelling by myself in a balcony cabin with a twin bed (instead of those being combined by two single beds). The cabin is a bit tiny (even if I am just occupying the cabin myself). My cabin was on deck 10 with a generally blue decor, which was quite comfortable.

As it was just a 2 night cruise and that I am travelling alone, the closet space was generally enough. The sound proofing was not very good and sometimes you can hear children crying next door.

Avoid cabins on deck 6 (very difficult to get to and are under a main deck of public areas).

The entertainment was excellent. On my cruise they were showing the "Sorpresa", which I do not enjoy much myself. However, generally the showroom Lido is well designed and is ideal for large production show. Enjoy a drink on the balcony in the showroom if you are on Balcony or Admiral Classes.

On my cruise they had a special theme in Galaxy of the Stars. Enjoy live music there (or have a dance). You can also enjoy live music near Bellini on deck 8. If you like to dance pop music you can go to the Celebrity Disco on deck 13. However the piano in the atrium was not played often (do you like to play a piano under three very big horses?)

If you like karaoke, then you will enjoy the Out of Africa on deck 7. It is a large karaoke lounge with African decor, with some slot machines inside. The design makes me feel relaxed.

They can arrange you to disembark Malacca (tendering) and spend around 10 hours while you will then be transferred to Port Klang by coach and embark the ship again (no embarkation from Malacca again) Or you can disembark at Port Klang (so you can have several hours at sea when the ship transfers from Malacca to Port Klang).

All about my excursion in Port Klang/Kuala Lumpur was a rush. We left the ship at about 2:30 p.m. and returned at about 8:30p.m. Be expected to spend more than one hour on each way travelling between Port Klang to the city centre so your time in KL will be very limited. We could just spend about 20 minutes in KL Tower and another 20 minutes in KLCC for shopping.

About activities onboard, if you are on balcony or admiral classes, you can enjoy free access to the spa and fitness centre. As far as I know only the gym is open to everyone for free. The ship has excellent facilities for the children, including a swimming pool for the children, video arcade, child care centre with playroom and a cinema inside...

Well it was a mix. Be expected to see people from Hong Kong (that's me), China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, America, Europe, as well as Indian. It is truly international and is very different from a cruise departing from Hong Kong.

Also, expect to see large number of children (as 3th and 4th passenger even) as Star Cruises and SuperStar Virgo are family oriented.