I had never been on a cruise ship before. I’m not even sure if I had seen one before. I had been on a ferry a number of times but many of them were short trips. I had spent a couple of days on a ferry once, when I was young, to general Santos City but there was nothing remotely elegant about the trip. We did not even have a personal cabin and there was nothing I could do but watch the horizon. A cruise ship complete with home entertainment facilities and buffet dining? Nah, never experienced it before. It was also my very first time in Malaysia. That’s why this trip is so special for me. It provided me many very first times. I was beyond thrilled.
WHAT’S covered IN THIS GUIDE?
Boarding the cruise Ship
The cruise Card
The Cabin: Compact but Clever
The Amenities
Dining
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Boarding the cruise Ship
When the clock hit 4pm, all of us gathered at the HarbourFront Centre. While some blog writers had just completed hours of buying at VivoCity, Winston and I came from a brief go to to books Kinokinuya in Orchard Road. We shown up just in time to inspect in our baggage.
After providing us our baggage claim stubs, we proceeded upstairs to line up for boarding. It was a long queue. thanks to my iPod and blog writer friends, I was saved from boredom. When we reached the end of the queue, we approached the immigration Counters and our passports were stamped. (Yass! another stamp!)
Afterwards, we walked all the method to the ship’s entrance. We had a few photo-ops with star Cruises’ mascot’s along the way. before stepping into the ship, our passports were collected. We would not see our passports in the next couple of days.
The cruise Card
I phone call it “the cruise Card” but I don’t understand what it is called really. It serves as your ID and passport while on the ship. It appears like your regular credit report card and it acts like it, too. On the cruise, we didn’t have to whip out cash. All we needed to do was flash this card and we were good. everything we would purchase or pay for would be charged to this card, to be settled before leaving the ship. Thankfully, everything we needed was included in the Airphil express bundle so I did not spend anything on the cruise.
The Cabin: Compact but Clever
The space assigned to us was an ocean view Stateroom on the 5th level. As the name suggests, it has a window and provides a view of the outside. The outside being the ocean most of the time. LOL.
There were four of us sharing the room. The moment I went into the room, I wondered exactly how four people could in shape as there were only 2 single beds. It was such a relief when we found that there was a pull-over bed on one side of the space and that the sofa sitting in one corner could magically transform into a bed. It was very, extremely clever! The space was arranged in such a method that could fit as much as 4 people comfortably even within the restricted space.
One of the very first things that I did when I went into our cabin was inspect the restrom. Det var fantastisk. like the room, it was compact but set up in a wise way. The sink was at the center and the very first to greet the user. To the left was the toilet which makes this scarily loud flush. It was like a truly loud gulp and I felt like I’d be taken to another dimension via the toilet in an instant. (I have a vivid and rather ridiculous imagination.) and to the right was the restroom equipped with hot/cold shower.
Oh, by the way, there was cable television TV with a number of channels although none of us in the space were interested to utilize it. all of us were seldom in the room. We were just there to sleep because there was so much — SO much — that we could do outside. but there were 10 channels or so including HBO. Pæn.
The only issue I encountered was that there were only a couple of outlets and there were four of us sharing a room. all of us had phones, cameras and iPods. We had to take turns.
The Amenities
What blew us away was the number of amenities inside the ship. It’s a floating hotel! A StarCruises policeman offered to provide us a tour of the ship and show us around to take a look at the facilities on board.
The Grand Piazza. After freshening up, we left the space and took the elevator to the Grand Piazza on the 7th floor. The Grand Piazza is the ship’s primary lobby where events are held and where the primary reception desk is located. The primary reception desk is like the traveler central coz this is where you avail of the a number of tours they offer, where they can assist you with your concerns, and where you inspect out.
On the other side of the piazza was a stage with a statue of three horses. around the piazza were a number of establishments — restaurants, shops, and more. On our second night on the ship, the pre-pageant for miss Resorts world Manila was held at the Grand Piazza.
The Parthenon Pool. På toppenmost level lies an outside swimming pool called the Parthenon Pool. This was where we would go whenever we felt tired and wished to take a great look of the islands. aside from the fact that it’s extremely near the Mediterranean Buffet (which I liked so much but that’s for another post), it also offers an incredible view of the ship and from the ship. There were also jacuzzi units right here but we never tried utilizing them.
On our very first night, there was Barbeque Buffet and it was a great experience. There was also a bar on the upper deck of the area.
The universal fitness center and health and wellness Club. This surprised me. I didn’t believe there’d be a fitness center on board. Although I never had the intention to utilize it, I still believe that it was a great feature. In fact, a few of our companions utilized it on our very first morning on board. They also have Aquaswim here, which is a jet current exercise pool.
Biblioteket. another thing I didn’t expect to see inside a cruise ship. I was expecting casinos and theaters and a ton of restaurants but NOT a library. but I super liked the idea! They even had chairs by the window. staying right here was extremely relaxing and it was an oasis amidst the extremely busy activities outside. They have wi-fi right here but I didn’t catch the rates.
Other Facilities. There so many other amenities that this ship offers. They even have a Mahjong Room! They have salons, computer centers, video arcade, child care center, and many others. On my next post, I will talk about the food and home entertainment on board. The ship also homes all kind of restaurants offering worldwide cuisines! They also have a theater.
Photography is not enabled when the show is on so I have no pics of the performances, just the stage. LOL.
Dining
Eating. most likely my favorite activity in the world. and it’s even more enjoyable on cruise! On board the SuperStar Virgo from Singapore to Port Klang, Malaysia, I discovered myself eating most of the time! To hell with my tummy, I would enjoy the many gastronomic delights aboard this lovely cruise ship!
SuperStar Virgo homes a number of restaurants serving a range of worldwide cuisines. From fine dining to buffet restos, you’ll find something that caters to your taste. The Airphil express Fly and Sail bundle includes free meals from three restaurants — Bella Vista (international), Mediterranean Buffet (halal certified), and The pavilion (Chinese). This means that you won’t be charged if you eat at any of these three restaurants.
It was Barbeque night on our very first night on the cruise and they set up a barbeque buffet by the pool! Fantastisk! perfect for gluttons like me! among the many dishes were grilled beef, squid, and sausages, and steamed corn among others. dessert and soup were also overflowing; it was indeed a pig-out moment for me. LOL. For a moment, I declared that day (and the next 2 days) my cheat days from my non-existent weight-loss diet.
Barbeque buffet! #Døende
When we shown up from the tour the next day, we headed to the Bella Vista for dinner. There was a dress code (smart casual/semi-formal). They served a five-course dinner, which was part of the package. right here are some snapshots of what I had for dinner that night!
Salmon (main course), Greek salad (appetizer), and Cheese and biscuits (dessert). Sorry about the high quality of the photos. It was a bit dark inside the restaurant.
Aside from the Mediterranean Buffet and Terrace, the Pavilion, and Bella Vista, here’s a listing of the other restaurants on board.
Noble home (Chinese cuisine, fine dining)
The Taj (Indian buffet – halal)
Samurai restaurant (Japanese food)
Blue Lagoon (Southeast Asian food)
Palazzo (Italian combination restaurant)
The Taverna (Snack bar)
Bellini (Liquor bar)
Café Gelato (desserts!)
I can’t state anything about them coz I wasn’t able to try what they had to offer.
There was a charm pageant happening at the Grand Piazza — miss Resorts world Manila. but since we weren’t into pageants, Hannah, Winston, Marcos and I selected to return to the Lido movie theater for another free show. This time, it was a magic-slash-comedy-slash-magic show. Det var fedt. especially when Philipart, the magician-slash-comedian-slash-singer-slash-host was enabled us to have a short photo-op with him. 😀
After the show, we returned to Mediterranean Buffet for supper (midnight snack). Again, the meal was part of the bundle so we weren’t charged extra for this.
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