Star Cruises SuperStar Gemini

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.

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!

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..

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.

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.

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

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

Excellent – I took my husband on this cruise for his 40th birthday. We were probably some of the youngest people on board but we still had a fabulous time! The boat was only about half full so there was plenty of room for everyone and it didn't feel over-crowded. There were a lot of Aussies on board as well as some NZ'ers and Asians. The staff were super… Read more

friendly and the cabins (we had an inside cabin) were well equiped although quite small (you don't spend a lot of time in them anyway and we certainly didn't miss having a window). You have adequate time at each port and the organised tours were wonderful. I would definitely recommend this cruise to everyone, although I don't think I would take children...the pool is fairly small and they would most likely be a bit bored (not much of a games room for them and the people in the pool didn't like kids jumping in on them!). Fabulous adventure and wonderful holiday :) We really liked the size of the boat, the friendly crew and the wonderful locations that we visited. Nothing really - we had a fabulous time

Excellent – Although it was nearly 2 years ago, we have done 4 cruises and the Gemini was the best. Shame she was sold. Would definately travel on her again. Everything. Crew staff were fabulous. Food top notch. Ports of call were outstanding. Ship was tidy. Layout great. Activities were fun. Mainly Aussies and Kiwis which was great.  Show reply