Star Cruises

A delightful experience – We took a 3 day cruise from Singapore 17-20 May 2016. It was a pleasant cruise with many Indian families of 2 or 3 generations and some Asians and a few westerners, like us, in calm seas. The ship was clean with very good public areas like theatre, lounges and pool areas, though the cabin decor was dated. Excellent international food in the Bella Vista restaurant and high quality entertainment in the theatre. We enjoyed our cruise..

Great Cruise and Service – Had a great time of the Superstar Virgo. Never had any food on the cruise that I did not enjoy. Staff are very friendly. Rooms cleaned daily and if you ask nicely the staff will make an amazing swan for your bed out of towels.

Good could have been Great – Boarded in Nov14. Being on Cruise for the first time, the experience was something new and unique. Loved every moment. The rooms are very small but the food is really good thought they could do with a bit of variety. The menu was virtually a repeat day after day. I had to go to Chinese restaurant "Dynasty" to avoid the boredom. The… Read more

spread was quite good and the fruits too seemed fresh with Watermelons for every meal.

The Tours on the Island of both Penang and Langkawi left much to be desired as the Tour seemed to planned with "Shopping" in mind rather than showcasing the spots in the islands.

The entertainment was varied and COOKING NANTA from South Korea was something new and very funny.

Yes, the Bollywood dances were enjoyable

Had good interaction with travellers from different parts of the World.

Would definitely visit again.

Waste of money – Crews - no customer service skills - no greetings and just takes away everything from table without even asking.. Food - not at par to restaurant standards Facilities - old Room - dirty and very old, can be refurbished a bit Definitely first and last experience, this would totally ruin your vacation. Not recommendable!

Facilities – I'm Amit Khandelwal from India, in cruise bel boy service is very bad, and vegetarian food is third class they take money for all show, kindly concentrate on all services your ship. Thanking you Amit Khandelwal

Just crap – Feels more like a ferry (with no destination) than a cruise ship. Our cruise started from Singapore, then docks at Port Kallang the next day, and back to Singapore the following day. Port Kallang (Malaysia) has nothing in it and it is about an hour away from Kuala Lumpur. The ship has 2 pools. From their YouTube video, it looks decent but on… Read more

real life it was tiny. The middle pool could probably fit 8 people while the back pool could fit 5 people.

Food is horrible, we had to wait for at least an hour for dinner at the restaurants.

We went to the "fine dining" restaurant on our 2nd night and saw a waiter picking his nose in front of us.

on the 3rd day, we got tired and tried the paid restaurant, it was better but still horrible.

The WiFi is painfully slow, overpriced and you can only get it in public places - you can't use it in your room.

Our room had a "window" which excretes this yellowish paste from the sides.

The mattress feels like a slab of rock and the pillow is as small as their pools.

Our room's bathroom smells bad when we first came and it still smells the same when we left as the bathroom has no ventilation. Good job SuperStar!

3 days of my life wasted. Gone.

SuperStar Virgo is a ⭐️ STAR – Booking process easy , no problems with any cabin accommodation..Always love the onboard experiences with the crew & the variety of shows.Some cruises we don't even go ashore as the onboard life is just fantastic .Food is always awesome & great variety as well, no one should complain about the different dishes & freshness or service by very… Read more

pleasant & helpful staff.. Great value for money & good to see Virgo is expanding her cruise experiences to Manila & Japan. We still have contact with crew members from 8 / 10 years ago..Great memories.

A holiday to remember – Booked superstar Gemini cruise to high seas online. It was excellent experience. Food was very good, staff were courteous. There was nothing wrong in the entire trip. Only a small improvement would be the dj. He played slow Beats. This is specific to Bollywood disco organised.

So much potential – We did a 4 day cruise from Singapore to Penang and Langkawi. We travelled with our 11 and 8 year old sons. Our sons have never cruised before, although my husband and I have. After reading the few reviews that I could find I had low expectations for this cruise. There is much to enjoy on this ship, however there is also much to complain… Read more

about. We really enjoyed our trip and did our best to overlook the annoying factors. Like I said we had low expectations, so we expected things not to be the same as our previous cruising experiences.

Boarding went smoothly, with little delays. Upon embarking the ship there was a lady directing us to the elevator to our deck. There was no big lobby or mass staff greeting like we have experienced on other ships. Just straight to your cabin, no photos, no cocktails etc.

We had two indoor cabins - there are no interconnecting rooms. These were sufficient for our needs. We don't spend much time in our cabins anyway. Our cabins were always clean and well presented. There were always staff just outside our door, so whenever you needed something they were easy to get. All staff on the ship were always happy, pleasant and friendly. They were eager to keep you happy. That being said I found the staff were never able to answer any of my questions. I asked things like "how long is the jogging track? How many passengers onboard? What city are we passing by?" At no time could any of the staff answer any of my questions. Many of the other passengers commented too that staff were unable to answer even the most simple questions.

The cruise was fully booked however it never really felt crowded. At peak times the pools were full, about an hour or two later they would be completely empty and we would have them to ourselves. We never struggled to get sunlounges, even though there are hardly any on the ship. We found it easy to move around the ship and never felt that we were fighting mass crowds.

Food on the cruise was average at best. I usually don't understand why people complain about buffets, however food on this cruise was really average. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, however there was nothing wonderful about it and it did become repetitive and boring. The ice-cream machine was operational for lunch on Day 1 only. After this it remained closed. I asked staff everyday when the machine would be opened again and was always told "maybe tomorrow". My children were desperate for ice-cream and I had promised them a big ice-cream sundae on the ship, however there was no where to purchase on ice-cream, so they left disappointed.

I am a runner and everyday parts of the jogging track were closed for maintenance. This meant that you couldn't run a full lap of the track. One day two parts were closed at the same time, meaning less than half of the jogging track was operational. This was more a nuisance than anything, and I just moved to the gym on deck 12.

On other cruises I have experienced the ships Captain does a morning announcement. We never heard from the ships captain. There was very little information provided about where we were sailing, weather conditions, shore excursions etc. There was the television footage, which was grainy, but sufficient. No information was available about what to do on shore, except for the ships excursions. We asked about doing our own thing and no-one was able to help us with what was available. They just kept telling us to do the ships excursions. GGRRR!! We ended up doing our own thing in Penang and Langkawi which was good. In Langkawi the taxi's on the wharf were hugely expensive (200 ringgit), we went to the hotel lobby nearby and they ordered us one for only 70 ringgit for 4 hours. A much better deal.

Also on the last night the ship hit a storm, or something, when we woke the entire ship was flooded, including the 12th deck. When you walked water was squishing from the carpets. It was quite bad and I still can't understand how that much water got inside the ship. There were many rumours that we were hit by a tidal wave, that the wind was so severe it pushed the ship onto an angle on its side, and torrential rain came through all the doors. All the balcony rooms were completely flooded also. There was no information provided to us. The Captain never addressed the ship to explain. Bed sheets and towels were all over the hallways trying to dry the carpets, yet staff kept saying they did not know what happened, and that they had never seen this before. It would have been nice for the Captain to address the ship and provide some information. Clearly the ship went through something pretty bad whilst we were all sleeping, and at the very least I would have liked to have said thank you to the Captain for getting us through it safely. However that much water doesn't get inside a ship without something major happening, so would have been nice to know something. Even Deck 12 was flooded?????

A large number of passengers were extremely rude, always pushing in, it would have been nice if staff managed this, rather than pretend they did not notice. I didn't understand the process of queuing for a number to get tickets for the Gala dinner, and there was no information explaining this process. More information provided by the ship's staff would be great. However when I complained, we were given our requested time slot anyway, so that was good.

All in all we enjoyed our cruise. Our children had a ball and now want to go on a "big cruise". There is nothing fancy about this cruise, it is simple and basic, however if you go with an open mind it is a lovely few days at sea. The ocean was nearly always calm and we never felt sick or uneasy. Staff were extremely friendly, despite being poorly informed. We are glad that we did the Superstar Gemini and will always say we had a wonderful time, however we will not return.

Disappointed – We had previously been on the older Gemini and this one didn't come up to it. Waiting in line for the food, people just pushed in in front of us. Also entering and exiting lifts people walked all over you. One lady was walking and talking to her friends over her shoulder and cannoned into me, nearly knocking me over. Couldn't buy crisps or… Read more

souvenirs only very expensive jewellery and handbags, bet they didn't sell many.

Only a few non Asian/Indian people on board. Food good but all Asian or Indian, could get an American breakfast and hamburger, at Blue Lagoon.

Cabin crew good, but not much English. I guess this cruise didn't cater for Aussies! For the amount we paid for this trip very disappointing. Won't go again.

Great little ship and cruise! – Cruising out of Singapore in March was our 6th cruise and our second with Star Cruises. Our first cruise was on the Super Star Leo - fabulous! This ship didn't rate as highly but was still very good. Because of the proportion of Indian and Chinese passengers, the food was mostly tuned to their taste but the Western meals in the Bella Vista were… Read more

very good. The variety show was one of the best performances we have seen on any ship. One thing that upset us was the amount of smoking onboard, generally permitted in bars and lounges and even in our cabin we could sometimes smell smoke. Our cabin was very comfortable and we had a terrific Cabin Boy! Navigating our way around the ship wasn't so easy as facilities were scattered on various levels and zones. But on the whole, an enjoyable cruise!

Come on Guys we need to back up the Star line.They looked after us Aussies for many a year – Just came back from Gemini nov 2014..Had a great time..not as good as Virgo..BUT the crew were fantastic & food great..Cabin also larger than Virgo.Shows were fun & teriffic thanks to all the crew & artists..We had a great time & will be back again..Go with an open mind & enjoy it all..Thanks to Myla, TokuSan,and all who looked after us to make it a great cruise..

Very disapointed – We are in our 70 s & did 2 trips on the old Gemini & loved it so much so we decided now we are retired we would do another trip .we knew it wasn't the old Gemini but did expect something similar. The crew - cabins great the food was cold sometimes glasses for cold water were hot. People on board were very rude ,there were only 35 Australians on… Read more

board & all felt the same as we did ,we could never get in the pool or spa .when we came off we stood for 2 hours to get through boarder control discussting one lady fainted .we have been on star cruises other ships & also on p & o but we must say we did not enjoy this cruise at all cruise on 11-5-14

Not Worth – Date: 11/05/14 – 14/05/14 Ship: Gemini Destination: Penang & Langkawi Past FEW experiences with Virgo (and Caribbean): Enjoyable, memorable and satisfactory Present experience with Gemini: Not enjoyable, unsatisfactory and irate Reasons: 1. Major event at upper top deck, don’t have a chance to visit the “Observation Lounge”, unable to use… Read more

the pool as most of the time occupied by the “major event’s” guest and family member. Noisy, rude, cut queue while they are having meals at other restaurants (not designated for them). Don’t give way while taking lift even when there is a handicap person with wheelchair (yet still squeeze into lift).

2. Most food served are not hot exept Bella Vista Restaurant.

3. Request for warm water but serve another cup of plain water. Request for hot water for room but came in towels.

4. Not inform of this major event before booking of this cruise tickets. We shall be informed first before we decide whether to make the booking.

Despite all these unhappiness, crew member are very polite and keep greeting guest which warm my heart. Friendly crew Most of the things are wrong

worst cruise ever – we concur with comments posted feb 26 2013 and feb 07 2013. Our cruise departed Hong Kong 26th Mar 2014 for a 7 night cruise to Singapore. Please, please, do not consider cruising on this ship. Crew, whilst friendly, are inexperienced to the extent of being incompetent. Most have little command of the english language and it was pointless… Read more

complaining about anything as you could not make yourself understood. Food was abysmal and cold and we couldn't wait for a port so we could get a decent meal. The last two Malaysian Islands the ship anchored off held little or no value to the mostly middle aged and elderly passengers. The activities revolved around scuba diving and snorkeling . Suspect this was because the ship did not have to pay port taxes and also to save fuel for two days. Unless you were a user of the Casino there were few suitable activities to keep you entertained at sea. We have experienced many cruises and all have been a joy. This was a NIGHTMARE cruise and we wished we could have disembarked on the 2nd day. There were a few other Australian passengers onboard and those we spoke to had similar comments. Beware Onestar Gemini. nothing sadly everything

NEVER AGAIN !!! – This was our 4th time on the virgo, the last cruise was 5 years ago MY WORD !!! how things have changed, instead of fun times with friendly aussies/ kiwis and asians we were over run with arrogant rude indians !!!!! there was no organising for disembarkent ! food was not up to scatch like it was 5 years ago ! and lets forget about the buffet… Read more

unless you want to push your way through rude indians to get you food.we are a husband and wife in our 70s and cruise many times we have cruised 13 times on several differant cruise lines but this time was the WORST cruise we have ever had !! gone was the OUT OF AFRICA BAR where we spent fun nights doing karaoke . gone as well was seating in the ice cream parlour , movie theartre no longer there and the laughter .it was all replaced by gambling on board !! excellent crew we were lucky we can get off the ship poor crew have to put up with RUDE INDIANS !! too many changes in 5 years all negitive !! aussie end told to embark at 4pm !! when we reached ship it was leaving at 4pm !!

Enjoyable experience – Here are some of our good and bad experiences. We when went on this cruise with high expectations being in Asia (exotic destination). We weren't disappointed.We did enjoy it and we were happy with our room. The staff were great and we enjoyed the food and the ports. The ports: Penang was fantastic really enjoyed the terminal being so close to the… Read more

shops did Temple and sky train tour with taxi and then time for some shopping. Port Klang to KL was a bit too far of a trip, not sure if it was worth the bus trip, 90 minutes, (limited time to shop with so many bargains, all being duty free, a bit overwhelming really). Phuket was wonderful would recommend the sea canoe tour or walk around town for markets or massage/manicure etc. The Food: The Bella Vista was a bit hit or miss mainly with very plain/bland mostly boring western food for dinner, the breakfast was worth trying, we ended up going to the Noble house for lunch and dinner and really enjoyed it, sure they had some strange things like jelly fish, but they also had lovely crispy fish and barbeque chicken. I tried the buffet a few times it was fine. The gala dinner was a bit of a let down, we had to line up and book in. They ushered us into the theatre room so it wasn't too bad of a wait, we preordered some wine which they bought to the table on the night. But in the end we could only get into the Bella vista which was nothing special after all the hype and we ate there some nights anyway. I think it was all a bit of hype because everybody lined up early to get into the Samurai which was apparently fab. We didn't get to eat there as it was so busy and you had to pay alot. We found out later - it did look very good and maybe next time! We had a balcony and $400 credit which was fantastic. The pools and spas were alot quieter and not crowded to me. Some people were a bit pushy and some Indian people were extremely rude to the waiters allocating seats in the buffet areas, they didn't want to wait and just ignored them and walked straight past - queque jumping. Checkout was smooth - they take your passport and give it back at the end of the cruise. First we had to wait for the check-in to open up in the morning to take our luggage as they were running an hour or so late which seemed normal to them. We put our luggage in at 9.30am and then walked around town came back to some queues on level 1 at 12pm. Which was like organised chaos! Phuket was wonderful Lining up to get on and off the ship at the ports mainly in Singapore

Fantastic crew – I have just returned from a 5 night cruise aboard the Virgo and couldn't fault it. Firstly and foremost the crew were amazing.They are so obliging,friendly and happy. They work 12 hour shifts,7 days a week for 10 months of the year and always have a smile on their face. We left the cruise having made life long friends with some of the crew. We… Read more

mainly ate at the Bella Vista where the food and service was first class and on the odd times we went to the Mediterranean Buffet the food was good there too. I will say that the other passengers act as if they will never eat again and don't know the idea of queuing. I was aware of this beforehand so it didn't affect the enjoyment of my trip.

We also had drinks and snacks at the Blue Lagoon where the staff were amazing and had great food. This time we had a cabin on deck 6 so no free onboard food/drinks credits for us. I am going again in June and this time have booked a balcony cabin where you get $400.00 to spend...well worth it.

The entertainment and shows were professional and fun with the crew show being fantastically done. I really enjoyed attending some of the craft session with my 12 year old daughter where we got to chat to other cruisers and the crew.

There were only two negatives about this cruise. Firstly, the bed was very hard and secondly was the way the other cruisers treated the crew. I found this very upsetting and cannot understand how people can be so disrespectful to others. The crew seemed to really enjoy chatting with Australian cruisers and we were treated so well.

I enjoyed this cruise so much that within a day of returning I booked my next one. Fantastic crew and very inexpensive. Hard bed and rude other passengers

Superstar Virgo Feb - Mar 2013 – 5 day cruise on the Virgo with a 2 day stop in Singapore before and after the Cruise. The ship itself is first class all the way. Could fault nothing with the ship at all. The staff were fantastic, polite and well mannered for the duration. Hats off to them. Food - We ate at the Bella Vista and the Mediterranean . Could not fault the food at… Read more

Bella Vista. Fine dining all the way. The Mediterranean's food was good for a buffet. But you had to fight the Indians all the way. They are like vultures who have never been fed.

Ports of call Penang - An absolute disgrace this place. Dirty, smelly and vulgar. Dont know why the Virgo stops there. There are better destinations to go to.

Patong Beach Phuket - Loved it here. Loved bartering with the locals to pick up some bargains.

Kuala Lumpa - What i saw is what i expected. Loved the KL and Patronis Towers. Good experience.

Singapore - Love this city. Its that good I could move there to live. Nice and clean and the locals are friendly. Easy to get around using the MRT. Sentosa is great along with the raffles and Marina area's.

The cruise itself was fantastic. It was a good experience for my wife and myself and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to go on this cruise. I cant speak highly enough of the captain and his crew on this ship. They are the most lovely people and will help where needed. I cant say enough about them.

Now the bad side of this cruise

Recommendations

Book a balcony (red)class cabin, you wont regret it. You get so many more perks than world class (Below decks). You get to eat at 4 x restaurants and get $400 free food and drinks credit on board. Not that expensive, Eat well and meet some fantastic people.

Abominable waste of time/money – Cruise Line: All Other Reviews Ship: Superstar Gemini Sailing Date: 24/01/2013 Itinerary: Singapore to Hong Kong Woeful! From check in to disembarkation was like a zoo. Left Singapore an hour late. Food was cold and drinks were hot. Service standards appalling, unable to mix drinks, served hot water with our meals??, improper cutlery laid out… Read more

on table. Was not a meal where we did not have to ask for something. Staff seemed hesitant to attend guests as English was poorly understood/spoken. Which lead to many frustrations in problems being solved. TV and phone did not work in the cabin, it was filthy. Hair, handmarks on mirrors, light switches, even a used ashtray on the table!! Had to ask for our bathroom to be cleaned and the carpet to be vacuumed, no clean glasses, dirty ones just left there in the cabin. Shower broken, only freezing/boiling water available. Took 4 days till we could convince someone it was broken. Shore excursions ran late and had to be modified as the ship could not disembark passengers properly, took 1 hour and 45 minutes to leave the boat, restricting our tour time, no refund or extra time given.

The only fruit ever served every day was watermelon and oranges, boring! The eggs for breakfast could only be omelette, sunny side up or boiled. Everyone gave up on eggs as they were always runny and raw inside. If ice cream was served as dessert, it was bought out en masse and left on the side so when served it was a small bowl of milk, it had melted long ago, not edible but drinkable! The food temperature was always tepid to cold. In the Mariners buffet, food served in bain maries was constantly cold, nothing like cold baked beans and french toast. No juice to mention, was always cordial which they tried to pass off as juice for breakfast. All drinks served at room temperature eg sprite with ice added to make it cold! Hardly ideal for cocktails. Bartenders often missed ingredients out in the cocktails, had to show them the menu to follow the 'recipe', hit and miss. If asked for coffee, it came out with no milk provided, by the it came(after asking) the coffee was cold.

In poor condition and very dirty. Exposed plumbing in bathroom, rust and scale all over the cabin window. Dark hairs were on the bed bases. The 2 single beds were tiny and very hard. Pillows satisfactory. Stained quilt covers, poor storage. Used ashtray on table. Hot and cold water did not work. Toilet did not flush properly. Daily service to room was only to make the beds, no actual cleaning done. Used drink bottle under sofa bed. Thick dust on TV and bench area. TV and phone did not work in cabin. When complained about these things, nobody seemed to care or to fix it!

They always ran late, so you might miss another activity if there was something of interest. Some activities scheduled did not run at all and nobody was coordinating it or knew what was going on. Poor English detracted from any quizzes as passengers unable to understand the questions. Part of the ship was off bounds as still undergoing maintenance, driving range, basketball. Gym was tiny with only 4 treadmills and some weight machines. We were so bored that we took to reading a week old newspaper we had. We could not wait to reach Hong Kong, so we could just get off. There was nothing for children to do, a small room was a 'kids club'. Never saw kids in it. They always played Bingo, as they could charge for that. The casino area was huge and modern in proportion to the rest of the ship, obviously gambling was its target market and being mostly Australian passengers, this was not a big draw card. We felt like cargo with credit cards!

Ports of call were Ho Chi Minh and Nah Trang. Disembarked late in both places and put the tours under time pressure. So did not feel as though we got value as things were omitted to make up lost time. But you were generally very keen to get off the ship so you booked something.

Started in Singapore and ended in Hong Kong, they were by far the best bits, if we took the cruise component out, it would have been perfect. It was the most boring and miserable week of holidays we have ever had. We would not recommend Starcruises or this old has been ship. It was truly woeful.

Please throw me overboard – OMG we were stuck on this ship for 6 long nights . worst ever. we have cruised a few times and this was a shock. boat unfinished. carpet being layed as we entered ship. toilets disgusting no roll holders no paper towels no working soap dispensers. were promised basketball court(hasnt been built), promised driving range (hast been built) went on… Read more

for twins 18th birthday, nothing for them to do. so upset for them. our 10yr had nothing to do. kids club was small and one x box to share. looked like a 5yr and under creche. food cold and disgusting, we are all sick now, along with most of the ship. 4 out of our 8 group have been vomiting since we disembarked in Hong Kong. I have photos to prove this was a ploy to suck in all the perth people to fill the boat and get it from Singapore to Hong kong. it is basically designd as a casino ship. the $50 million refurb was spent in the casino and duty free shop. I could go on and on. please dont anybody book with Star Cruises. the only good comments of this ship below are of the old Gemini, this is no the old Gemini

No hand sanitisers anywhere, cold food, unfinished, green pool by day 4 and 5.

Worse cruise company on the planet – First of all I have been on numerous ships around the World, The new Star Cruises Superstar Gemini, was the worst, First it was not fit to set sail on the 25 January 2013 on its maiden voyage to Hong Kong. Before the 1st night was over, I regretted ever getting on board, the check in, was a joke, chickens with their heads cut off, walking… Read more

everywhere. get on board, apparently 50Million US spent on refitting the boat, not 1 cent was spent on the cabins, and I was on deck 9. We were promised staff that knew english, hahah what a joke, they didnt undertand hello. The most serious saftey issue I saw was that the muster was apparently volunatary, as we never left our cabin, as the speakers werent working, and no staff checked, after it was over, we heard something in the hallway passage, went out and went ok we dont go, only to see numerous other cabin doors open up and see that they had missed it. The ship was constantly late, disorganised, they couldnt organise anything, the entertainment was a joke, except we had a magician on who was very good. I would not classify their market for the Australian family market, as P&O do, as the kids club is a joke, and our entertainment was belly dancing adult style, and they even sold tickets to a fantasy show, Ukranian woman doing their stuff. They seemed to be position ing themselves for the casino dollar market which i have no issue in, but why advertise in Australia, we want entertainment, not to spend out hard earned on the casino floor. As for food, it was lovely, tasty always cold even in the al a carte restaurant, they tried to pass of cordial as orange juice, everytime we departed the boat it was a stuff up. The gangway of the boat at Saigon was a very steep descent, I had no idea how they thought anyone who wasnt nimble was going to do it. But its what we got all the time on this cruise with this company no thoughtfulness, not idea, and obviously a owner who has more money they sense, as he clearly employs the wrong kind of middle management. My neighbours cabin, 3 people in it, 2 life jackets, asked staff member, wheres the 3rd, the reply you will get one upstairs when you need it. Anyone heard of the Costa. Clearly no idea. I seriously could write so many more things, not worth it, I wont go on the Gemini again, let alone the Superstar Brand I got of it, alive and without food poisoning no english, no idea

Reverse racism – My partner and I just completed a five night six day cruise on the Virgo that departed from Singapore and we were pleased with the cruise itself but were horrified with the attitude of some Indian passengers. I spoke to several other passengers who were just about at the end of their patiences with the constant filthy looks from both male and… Read more ·  1

female Indian passengers. Another frustrating action was the pushing and shoving that happened when entering a restaurant or exiting a lift. If this continues it is a matter of time until someone takes matters a little further and damages the International Relationship again.

If you dont have the patience to deal with these types of passengers then please dont book this cruise. Excellent value with great staff. Rude arrogant sexist bigots

My first cruise – First time ever cruising, and I loved it. I've read the other reviews, and I agree with most ... gambling is not my thing, so I chose to ignore the machines. Rude passengers were a bit upsetting, all from apparent Indian origins, and they ignored the instructions from staff, which may have made the rest of us unsafe. I expected more shows ... I… Read more ·  1

only enjoyed two out of those offered, one being a cast of the cruise's staff. I choose to ignore R-rated shows which charge extra.

Dining for me was an experience I never have at home, silver service, amazing food, with a menu for all tastes. That was Bella Vista restaurant, where the staff were immaculate, attentive, and extremely helpful. We felt we always had personalised service there. The Mediterranean buffet was fairly good food, crowds, the same rude, pushing passengers ruined that experience, so we didn't go back. Chinese banquet was also great food, but several comments from staff brought us to believe we were not quite welcome there, the only caucasians in the room. We didn't go back there either. The Blue Lagoon cafe is a 24 hour restaurant, much more casual atmosphere, but extra cost. Food was sensational, service excellent.

Our room was extremely comfortable, a balcony suite. Housekeeping staff were on the go all day every day, our room was cleaned and made up in the morning, with a little towel animal left on the bed for us. In the evenings, we returned from dinner to find the bed turned down and a small gift left for us.

I was a little disappointed in the activities schedule. A couple of times I would choose something, only to find the limited time clashed with another activity I had chosen, then nothing else appealed to me for the day.

There was one swimming pool for adults, though many children were also swimming there. My husband was asked to leave the pool because he was wearing a 'rashie' that didn't show the brand logo others were wearing. I still haven't figured that one out. Flooring around the pool was extremely slippery.

Several bars are spread over the ship, always with attentive polite staff.

The whole embarking and debarking process was smooth and wait time was minimal. Even when we were day tripping in other countries, customs officials were fast and polite.

As I said, this is my first cruising experience (I get seasick very easily), so I have no other cruises to compare, but generally I cannot fault the cruise line or staff at all. The whole was a very positive experience. Fantastic staff, great food, great service. Other passengers caused small moments of upset due to their rudeness. Not the company's fault.

A good cruise – Virgo is a good cruise ship, diverse cross section of travellers good selection of food. Cabins were smaller than we had experienced previously (ie on Princess), but OK. Rooms could be noisy as walls are not that sound proof and the cruise caters for families ie noisy kids. Good range of restaurantss, and ate at most of the 'free'… Read more ·  3

restaurants and the ones where you pay additional. We ate at the Italian restaurant 'Palazzo', the web site advises of additional charge, its more like a full price for the meal, our bill for 8 with wine (2 bottles of low priced wine) was S$800 plus, great meal but pricy. The Japanese restaurant (Samurai) was also very good.

Bars and bar staff very good, but drinks are very full price and you have no option, ie basic wines S$35 toS$45 plus a 15% service charge, beer was S$10 plus a stubby or glass, a serious session gets a tad expensive.

Very good check in and disembarkation process.

. Food, check in process high pricing of drinks and high premium for speciality restaurants.

Audrey's 60th – It was our first cruise on the Virgo,organized by my husband for my 60th with my son daughter and their families, we had cruised on many ships. we occupied 3 junior suites on the 10th floor. All I can say is from the time we got to the cruise terminal we were met by a hostess who checked us in and organized everything for us,which was so good… Read more

especially traveling with a 2yr old, she organized all the bookings for our restaurants,shows and tours.Our suite cabin was so amazing especially the bathroom never seen anything like it. I would recommend a junior suite for sure.

We would not choose Virgo again – We have cruised 5 times previously from Australia only and found this to be quite different - as expected as it is an asian line. The food was fine, not fabulous, service in the restaurants was patchy - some nights incredibly fast, others incredibly slow. The entertainment was limited - 3 shows that were enjoyable, but it was a 5 night cruise, one… Read more

show repeated, and one night without any. Not many activities during the day - many passengers were gambling, so the ship was generally not very crowded. Childrens activities seemed wonderful and we only noticed children occasionally. Cabin was nice, but a little small - bed as hard as a rock and our steward was extremely pleasant and helpful. They have strange meal systems where guests had to present their cabin pass for every meal and be allocated a table, even at the buffet. It was not a very sociable cruise for us - always alone at our table and everyone else the same. Asian food, a good value cruise as we had a 2 for 1 deal, no tipping expected Limited activities, main focus on gambling

Will be the Last time with Star Cruises :( – Third cruise with Virgo (Redang) , previous time had good memories (Straights of Malaca in 2010 & Vietnam 2008). First time after refurb and I can only say that the Virgo has been turned into a floating Casino! The once beautiful galaxy of the stars now lined with poker machines, destroying the ambiance of this once great room and reflecting… Read more

what the owners Genting really care about

Other facilities replaced with "High rollers" clubs, as they seem to care only for Gambling customers.

Biggest shock was to come at the Buffet. The quality of the food has dropped to 1 star. it was quite embarasing to show off this Cruise Line to our friend a first time cruiser.

Do yourself a favour if cruising in Asia, avoid the Virgo and book with Royal Carribean, you will not be disapointed; i'm not after Two cruises! Relaxing on deck away from other passengers, taking in the Sunset/Sunrise. Bad Ambiance, Many Rude/Pushy Indian Passengers, Poor Food Quality.

SuperStar Virgo worst Cruise ever Singapore Aug 2012 – Australian - I had 10th floor balcony cabin, beds like concrete, but had major sag in middle and (smallest singles I have ever seen), felt like I broke my back. Toilet would never flush, phone didn't work. Food incredibly bad and so cheap every where (except Palazzo Italian where you paid, great food and worth every cent.) Breakfast was… Read more

especially awful each day and not many options. No pool bar or any kind of service around pool, which made for no atmosphere of fun anywhere at all. You had to queue for every single thing, all the time - frustrating wasting so much time. Lounge shows pathetic, worst I have ever seen - from a very embarrassing crew show to a cheap Russian strip show that was so cringe worthy .....a wierd attempt at some sort of porn. Plus people smoked heavily all over the ship, inside and out, you could never escape the smell. Final straw, a kid vomited in the pool. Total chaos disembaking and took forever. Please avoid this cruise like the plague!!! Save your money and go on the amazing Royal Caribbean or Princess ships - They are the best, best in the world! Getting off 2 days early! Many of the staff were lovely & kind people.

Superstar Virgo - July 2012 – My husband & I did the cruise from Singaporebfr 3 nights & we enjoyed it. We holiday 4 or 5 star generally but were pretty happy with our cabin on deck 10 (balcony cabin) & the general service & food. The buffet was a bit disappointing but we enjoyed eating the Bela Vista restaurant. We got a $300 credit with our booking so were able to use it on… Read more

food & drinks. Drinks are a litte expensive but that's where they make their money on board shows were good & free except for one which was adults only topless show. Pool was nice & spa was nice but a bit too hot for us. Staff were excellent, very helpful & friendly. Probably a few too many rude Indians & Asians but what can u do but that? I'm Indian ( Aussie born) so u can't all me racist. Shore trips could probably be a bit better but we enjoyed them & did some good shopping at Penang. Overall we enjoyed it & would consider similar cruising again one day. Something different from usual holiday, great staff & some nice food. Too many rude Indians & Asians who are pushy.

Bad – Very disappointed with the experience and would not do again.Had a much better time with on the much smaller ship when we did a similar trip on the Gemini where we had great food drinks and service. The ship was beautifully decked and the cabaret singers and bands were very good The food at the buffet was not good and always crowded. The pool area lacked service for drinks and food and generally the ship was overcrowded

Good – Was a wonderful experience and would go again, would like to try Virgo's other ships. Great staff, all stewards and stewardess' were very attentive and interesting to talk to. Great staff, balcony cabin gives a little space to get away from the crowds, ship is like a floating palace, very clean and safe. Took Mum and we both enjoyed the… Read more

experience - first cruise for both of us. Balcony cabin gives $400 credit for eating at better restaurant (Bella Vista) etc. Indian restaurant was also good. Live show and costume was fantastic as was Galaxy of the Stars bar. Malacca Strait was calm even though we had thunder/lightening first night. Temperatures were good, not too hot. Queuing to get into Meditteranian restaurant (many non Australians on board), rude passengers pushing, no manners (not everyone though). Queuing to get on board initially and to disembark for tours.

Beware if you don't book a tour from boat there are no taxi's available on wharf in Langkawi unless you were prepared for drivers to take you on a 3 hour tour, was very hot waiting and trying to strike a deal with drivers. Boat ride to Redang Island was interesting and very squashy. Not much to do there either unless you book a diving or snorkelling tour, but nice to see anyway.

Good – Great experience overall. I would definitely do it again but would take plenty of incidental cash with me to cover all those extra costs. Staff were excellent, they had to deal with some very rude Indian guests. I'm not being racist but I found the Indians to be very abrasive in nature and very ignorant in their behaviour. A lot of hidden costs… Read more

involved with the cruise but overall very happy with our experience. Superstar Virgo October 2010. A lot of hidden costs. Rude guests. Small cabins.

Bad – We weren't impressed. We've travelled a lot and this was the worst trip. We felt trapped on the boat, the food was hard to get eg. breakfast is from 8-10am for 2000 odd people mind you, if you wake up at say 9:45am, forget about it, you'll have to wait til 12 noon to eat lunch. There is morning tea but its stale muffins, try finding something… Read more

healthy on the ship, I couldn't find fruit anywhere. Not being able to eat adequately or frequently enough was terrible. I was sick with a cold/flu on the ship, do you think I could find a pharmacy? No can do, had to wait til KL (days away) to get Vitamin C. They have doctors and I went but I was prescribed with antibiotics when I just wanted something like echinacea to slow it down. We're the sort of people who, when travelling, get up early and get out and see as much as we can. We instead found ourselves waiting around for hours until we could get off, then it was a rush to get to see everything before having to hurry back to the ship. We're a couple in our 30's. Not, we think, suitable for young people. Its a different experience than flying, you see everything from another perspective. All the staff were friendly. Cabin clean. The food was very disappointing. We were told "meals included" yet what they faild to mention was that the meals that were included were average and we had to line up for ages to get a table. We actually ended up paying for every meal to avoid the crowds and get better quality food. There was no fridge in our cabin so, if you want a cold bottle of water, or anything else cold, you had to buy it. People were smoking outside their rooms in the corridors so you could smell smoke wherever you went. We were quite bored on the ship as everywhere you wanted to go was crowded. Malacca/Kuala Lumpur 12 hour tour was a joke as we only got to spend 1.5 hours in KL, a place we'd never been before. Indian restaurant food was way too hot (spicy), Japanese restaurant made us both ill the next day.

OK – For our first cruise it was ok...It was our honeymoon and we were very dissapointed only spending less than 2 hours in KL but I guess you never know if you dont give it a go...would be better with a group of us to annoy the Indians I would say..... Balcony class gets you the cabin credit you can use thru out your cruise...Helpful but you will… Read more

still have to put towards your meals and drinks and other excursions as the credit does not cover all things I hated the Indians on board they were rude there children very loud and rude they looked down at us all the time I even had a Indian ask my Husband (We were newly married on our honeymoon) if he could havea picture taken with me because his wife wanted to look like me...I thought that was rude for even asking...You had to line up for ages to even eat at the buffet and the food there was less than medium I would say...Go to Bella Vista that was much better