A lucky draw win on board Superstar Virgo! (27-29 March 2013)

 Superstar Virgo (27-29 March 2013)

 It has been awhile since I last blog. That's because there were just too many things happening around me (and in me!) that I could not really find the time to pen my thoughts. Nevertheless, Wen and I got ourselves a treat on Superstar Virgo, my first time on Star Cruise. It was actually a lucky draw ticket that we won when we booked our Maldives honeymoon trip at Natas fair last year.

Saved ourselves quite a bit as the usual price for a cruise trip doesn't come cheap.

The Grand Lobby

We were on a Wednesday cruise and surprisingly, it was packed. The check in and waiting at Harbourfront took quite a while before we were ushered onto the ship at 8-ish. Our cabin was on the 6th floor and was conveniently located near the stairs & lift. The room was cosy and clean, and somewhat bigger than what I have expected. The single bed though was a complaint for Wen. Amenities include shampoo/bodywash, hairdryer, towels, mineral water. Toothbrush and toothpaste were not provided.

We got a view from the window

 There seemed to be a regular group of people visiting Star Cruise, many of whom were uncles & aunties, which I believe have one thing on their minds - the casinos. They were greeted by crew members as if they were just there yesterday. We tried our luck at jackpot whenever there was available seats (hardly any most of the time!) and we made a small sum from it! We stopped after making that small sum. :)

We tried our luck at Bingo too, bought 3 tickets (the 3 boxes you can see below). It was quite exciting as we circled off the numbers being called from our tickets. No one Bingo-ed that afternoon, although someone did win a mini prize, after they ended the Bingo prize and continued calling out numbers until someone completes his ticket.

We were so close to winning!

Apart from the gambling fanaticism, you can also easily put on pounds from their complimentary restaurants (that comes with the price of your cruise fare) that serve Breakfast, Lunch, Teabreak, Dinner & Supper!

Bella Vista - serves very good western breakfast!

I absolutely loved their breakfast, especially this French Toast, served with raspberry sauce and cinnamon toppings! This was served with bacon, egg, harshbrown and baked beans. Very nice and fulfilling treat!

Their waffles were not bad too, but unfortunately I was too full that day, after having taken breakfast at another restaurant before heading here!

 

Pavilion Restaurant 

A Chinese restaurant that serves good dim sums and porridge. It can get quite crowded during meal times, better to come early or later to avoid long queues.

Their lunch/ dinner comes in a set like this, this was for 2 pax, it was so much! And the best thing is, you can order any of the dishes again and again! Unlimited! We love their prawns mayo, we had 2 plates of that. Other than that, the rest was more than enough for 2 of us.

Meditteranean Restaurant

 I didn't take any picture at this restaurant, because it's just a typical buffet setting restaurant. It felt more like a canteen to me, where everybody rushes to queue with their trays and scoop every dish lined on the buffet table. I would say most people come here to fill their stomachs, not so much to enjoy the food. I didn't find the food any special, typical dishes and just alright. We came here for supper on our first night when the other restaurants were closed by the time we wanted to get something to eat.

Recreation

Other recreation on board includes a salon, reading room, ice cream parlour, games room, karaoke room (chargeable), lounge at Bellini, and swimming pool.

It was also a great feeling to just chill on a sofa, or have a stroll around the ship while enjoying the view/ breeze of the sea. 

 

Games Room where we had a go at Carom!

 We had a stopover at KL where some passengers alighted to tour the KL city.

We were too lazy and decided to take this opportunity to take a dip in the swimming pool, where it was normally crowded with children and groups of teenagers.

Wen also tried losing some calories at the gym center before taking a dip in one of the 4 available jacuzzi.

Haven't swam for quite awhile, it was relaxing and refreshing.

 A final not to miss activity on cruise is to watch their entertainment performances at the Lido auditorium.

Depending on the period that you go, there could be concert performances, plays, or dances.

We enjoyed the 'Cirque du Soleil- equivalent' performance by Star Cruise in-house performers who staged a play called "Somewhere in Time". The sound system was kind of loud, but it was overall an enjoyable show. Definitely a must-watch.

That ended our 3 day cruise experience. It was technically a half-full-half day trip, which was quite short. For a full fare of approx $600/pax just to be on cruise, we probably wouldn't find it worthwhile to come, even though we did enjoy ourselves this time. :)