Lesley Green

Age: 43
Occupation: Customer Services Manager
Number of Cruises: The First
Cruise Line: Star
Ship: SuperStar Virgo
Sailing Date: August 17th, 2003
Itinerary: Singapore - Phuket

Our first cruise - and we were prepared not to be impressed. How wrong we were. The ship was huge, spotless and fantastic!

CABIN
We were spoilt and had a suite. A separate lounge and diner with balcony, a bedroom with curtains round the bed, and the most fantastic bathroom that was by the window. Jacuzzi bath or a separate shower with floor to ceiling windows - they did promise us that they were one-way glass and that the fishermen in their boats could not see us!! We had a butler on 24 hr call - he was so thoughtful - calling us to remind us that we had not been to breakfast and which restaurants were still open.

RESTAURANTS
Included in the price were a 3 main restaurants or for a small supplement you could eat in one of the a-la-carte ones. There was an Indian, a Teppanyaki, an Italian [complete with Versace plates and genuine art] ... and a host of others. Food quality in all outlets was fantastic. You just looked at the menus for the day and decided which one you wanted to eat at that evening. Also great to see everyone making the effort and dressed up formally for the Captain's Dinner.

The best thing about this cruise is that each room had a credit with it of a few hundred Singapore Dollars. The better the room grade, the more credit you got. Therefore you could eat in the a-la-carte outlets and it would not cost you anything - until your credit ran out!

ENTERTAINMENT
There was entertainment every night and a full listing of things to do in the daily news paper. Admittedly we did not do much apart from sit in the lounges with a glass of champagne and watch the world float by....

The pool area was never crowded - we always got a seat and the two spas were great.

At no time did we feel we were being hassled or pushed into buying drinks, photos or trips.

PORTS OF CALL
This was a special 5 day cruise that went to Port Klang [Malaysia] where there is nothing happening but the ship calls there to restock. Kuala Lumpur is about 1 1/2 hrs drive from here.

Then on to Penang - well worth a trip to see the old colonial buildings and the fantastically refurbished E&O Hotel. They ran a free bus service from the port to the main town of Georgetown which I thought was good. Finally Phuket - the locals bought their wares to they quayside so you could do all your shopping without the need to travel. Then back to Port Klang and to Singapore.

Star cruises are owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. The ship was spotless, the crew friendly, the weather was fantastic - I could not fault it.

They should advertise this cruise more in Europe and America as it is totally recommended!!!