SuperStar Virgo Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Food and Entertainment

Review for Asia Cruise on SuperStar Virgo
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AWHW
10+ Cruises • Age 80s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Nov 2015
Dancers of good looks
Interactive high energy shows
A lounge

The short cruise was 4-nights from Hong Kong visiting Taiwan, and it could serve as a convenient short 'trip away from trip' for visitors to Hong Kong. Passengers are, predominantly, more than 90%, Chinese, mostly Hong Kong residents but also some Mainland Chinese, but as always there are small groups of other nationals on such a cruise on Star and the ship's first language is actually English. One should be aware that Star Cruises operates cruises that offer a different cruise experience from that of mainline European/American cruises. It is casual, emphasising on variety of food and entertainment options, and I note that the redecorated ship has more shopping spaces than before to cater for Mainland Chinese guests who are heavy shoppers. With respect to food, there are some 8 food outlets to dine at your choice, some incur a reasonable charge. The inclusive restaurants serve adequate food of quantity rather than of quality. There is still the midnight buffet now missing from Western cruises, and there is always much to eat. But the highlight on this cruise is perhaps the guest service from no less than three of Hong Kong's Michelin starred restaurants, and believe it, they include the (previously achieved) 3-star Michelin Sun Tung Lok, the 2-star Ye Shanghai. Thus for the first time, I enjoyed really good Chinese food on a cruise. Even the inclusive restaurants offer real authentic Chinese food not to be found in most ships, even the luxury ships, the food of which proclaiming to be Chinese I consider Fillipino rather than Chinese food. Star Cruises is famous for its casino operations and on this ship you can even play baccarats on your mobile, once you download an App. The shows are quite spectacular and exciting, with dancers from Brazil that really have the look (while many cruise lines employ dancers not prosessing the appearance that one expects of a dancer. The shows are more sexy oriented than on American ships and so please the eye. The service is adequate and embarkation is good if you book at least the Balcony Class. While the ship is dated it still boasts of a grand lobby second to none. Reasonably priced, this a good-valued cruise much to my liking, but it must be said that it is not in the same style as you would expect on a Princess or Royal Caribbean cruise. For me, I enjoyed Star more, both for the food and the entertainment. It can be recommended to Western cruises looking for something different in a cruise. The itinerary offers two ports, Taichung and Keelung (for Taipei) and is interesting.

Cabin Review

Cabin Balcony Class

Cabin is somewhat dated though renovated, now with a large Samsung TV that is perhaps 27 inches and there are 28 TV programmes including CNN and BBC all have stable reception. The Balcony room has water kettle for coffee and tea which you do not find on most ships.

Port Reviews

Taipei (Keelung)

The ship docks in Keelung in the centre of town, while a 10-minute walk will take you to the Main bus/train station for Taipei, reachable in half an hour. Keelung itself has night-life near the cruise terminal, if your ship stays late enough.

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