Superstar Gemini

[ssv]

Will popular Scot Colin Kerr be Cruise Director on SS Gemini Asian Oddysey departing Singapore 20/05/07 ? Thought I saw something that he was back from a stint with NCL and doing a stint on Gemini along with rotations over SS Virgo and on shore duties in Asia as Senior Cruise Director for Stars Asian operations . Any info appreciated.

 

He will be Cruise Director again onboard the Gemini for today's(April 1st) weekly sailing. After this, he will be on vacation(most probably back to his hometown) till mid-may. He will be back onboard the Superstar Virgo for a special project however Ms. Eloisa Diaz will be Cruise Director till mid-June.

 

So, no, 99% says that he will not be on the Gemini for the Asian Oddysey. He MIGHT go over to the Aquarius to inaugurate the ship though as he is Fleet Cruise Director, just a guess.

[DICKY BEACH]

Hi to all. My wife and I are taking our first ever cruise in July. we are on the Gemini sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore and are 97 days away from what sounds like a great time ahead. Thank you all for the terrific info' and very interesting discussions. Does anyone have any info' re' shore excursions? I have writen to Star Cruises about a month ago and to date have recieved nothing. Do I have to wait for my tickets, etc?

 

FRANK

[deck 9 001]

Hi Frank,

 

Congrats on your upcoming Gemini cruise. You will love it.

 

Here is the link to Star Cruises homepage "destinations" page.

 

Although by no means complete, you can click the countries that apply to your cruise and see some of the shorex that are on offer.

 

If you want further info about shorex, write an email to Star's Customer Service Center. Here is the e-mail link: starcare@starcruises.com.my

 

Hope this helps you some.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Best,

Mike

[BJC]

Hi Frank,

 

I managed to get the Shore Ex List out of Star for the cruise before in May/June, it should be the same, so e-mail me at BJC49@telstra.com and I will send it to you.:)

 

By the way they will not let you pre book, but say that they will not sell the Shore Excursions for the return leg until they leave HK, so that is somthing I suppose.:rolleyes:

 

Regards, Bruce.

[kuldalai]

Looking for guidance please. Which if any of these ports lend themselves to self exploration of the town/city ? In that are the town centres accessible on foot within reasonable walking distance of the berthing point ? Or is one better to take one of the Star tours ? Especially in the case of Bangkok understand the city is quite a long trip from the berth and that you spend too much time travelling ?

Ports visiting ex Singapore SS Gemini 20/05 are Ko Si Mui, Bangkok,

Ho Chi Minh City & Da Nang. If Star tour offerings are the go then which is the recommendation as best trip to take for each of the above ports please?

[DICKY BEACH]

Hi Frank,

 

I managed to get the Shore Ex List out of Star for the cruise before in May/June, it should be the same, so e-mail me at BJC49@telstra.com and I will send it to you.:)

 

By the way they will not let you pre book, but say that they will not sell the Shore Excursions for the return leg until they leave HK, so that is somthing I suppose.:rolleyes:

 

Regards, Bruce.

Thank you, Bruce. The Shore Ex stuff looks great. I've heard many people say the excursions sold on board are expensive so I did a comparisonwith the Hong Kong tour sold on board at SGD68. This is about AUD54 and the same tour is sold at HK hotels and on the net with Hotel pick up at HKD400. That's AUD62. A bit surprising given what people say on sites like this one and others.

Thank again, Bruce

96 days to go

Frank

[BJC]

Hi Frank,

 

Ship organised Shore Excursions is the one topic that everyone has an opinion on, and it seems to be slightly biased towards “doing your own thing” for the more seasoned cruisers, and using the Ships Excursions for the new cruisers.

 

You might get the impression by reading all the Boards on CC that most people don’t tend to use the Ships, but that is because the vast majority of those who contribute to CC are the seasoned cruisers, so they tend to slant the argument their way, well that’s my theory anyway!

 

Having said that on our last cruise in the Med on Celebrities Galaxy, which was made up of mostly seasoned cruisers, at least 75% I would say, anyway at most ports of call when those of us that were booked on the Ships Shore Excursions met in the Theatre, I suspect from the numbers, better than 75% of the passengers were doing the ships excursions, which shoots my theory down.:p

 

There are certainly Ports Of Call where it is simple and easy to do your own thing, like Rhodes where it was a 10 minute walk from where the Galaxy was docked to the Old Walled City, which we just spent hours wondered around visiting the Castle of the Knights and other most interesting places, for which the ship had guided walking tours for $40 each.

 

Where as all it cost us was the entry fee to the Castle, 2 cold beers and a delicious lunch, which they didn’t get on the ships tour, and cost less than $30 for both of us!:D

 

And on Gemini, depending what you wanted to do, for both Hong Kong and Singapore we would do our own thing, because they are such easy places to get around, and of course we have been there before so know what we are doing.

 

However elsewhere we would tend to use the Gemini’s Excursions, mostly because there are not that many Tour Operators in many of the POC, and from quotes that Tracey and I have received from them, there is not a lot of savings to be had, only if you are in a party of 6 or 8 where you can hire a mini bus and split the cost between you.

 

The other concern that I have is that if, for whatever reason, your private driver runs late and or breaks down in the middle of the bush, or the like, and you miss the ship then it’s at your cost to catch up at the next POC, or fly home, where as if it is a Ships Excursion that is running late I expect they would wait, well I would hope they would wait!:eek:

 

And no matter where you go, or who you get to take you out and about, including the Ships Excursions, you’ll end up in a Carpet Shop, or Wholesale Jewellery, or Pewter, or Pottery, or, or, or, which just happens to be owned by their cousin, brother, uncle, nephew!:rolleyes:

 

44 days for us, but still not counting!;)

 

Regards, Bruce

[DICKY BEACH]

Before we join the Gemini in HK in July we are booked in to the Majestic Hotel. A friend told me that he read somewhere that this hotel has a very noisy disco in the basement and no matter what level we will be on it will be hard to sleep.:mad: Has anyone been there and should we consider changing our hotel if possible? Have already paid so there will be a cost involved.:(

[BJC]

Hi Frank,

The same applies to us, I also read that on a TripAdvisor review of the Majestic if my memory serves me correctly.

Anyway thanks for reminding me to get on to my TA, she said, at the time we booked when I mentioned the noise that she would, closer to the date, e-mail them and request a room for us on floor 10 or above.:)

I don’t suppose we will know if she is successful until we get there, however we will take some ear plugs just in case!:rolleyes:

Regards, Bruce

[DICKY BEACH]

Hi Bruce,

Looks like I'll have to wait 'till you return with a report. Best of luck. Hope the earplugs work or better still, you don't need them

Best Wishes

Frank

[laceytreigh]

Hi all,

 

As we are doing the full round trip on the Gemini in May, I have been working my fingers to the bone researching our POC !!

 

A much travelled (in Asia) friend at work reckons there will be plenty of people waiting for us at the ports offering to take us wherever. And yes, we will probably end up somewhere which is 'good for them'.

 

Here's what we think so far:

Koh Samui: hope for a car and driver for hire when we get there, otherwise on and off the local bus.

Laem Chabang: spend the day in Pattaya. Bugger driving for 2 hours to get to Bangkok. Might go there some other time.

Ho Chi Minh: thought about the Cu Chi tunnels but will prob end up exploring the city. Visit markets Fri nite. Apparently not safe to walk around in District 4 where we dock. We need to bus it to 'downtown' District 1.

Danang: prob Gemini tour to Hoi An.

HK: gotta go up to the Peak, do our own thing, shouldn't be difficult.

Halong Bay: not sure. Have done the sea canoe thing into the hongs in Phang Nha Bay in Thailand.

Nha Trang: not sure.

Kota K: probably wander the streets.

Kuching: definitely the Orangutans, maybe own steam, maybe ship tour...??

 

Anyone who has any thoughts to share, please share...........

 

We are flying blind, but as they say, there's safety in numbers.

 

Seeing as it's 10.30pm, I'm not counting today, so 5 weeks exactly to blast off!!

 

Tracey.

[laceytreigh]

Hey!! That cable car in Nha Trang must really be something!! What distance does it span?? It must be over a klm. And if it's not too 'blonde' a question.........Why don't they come into the port around the other side of the island?

 

Kuldalai, how are you going?? Are you going to introduce yourself and your group here, or do we have to wait till we board?? LOL. People may think I'm stalking them if I keep asking them if they're kuldalai!!

 

Tracey.

[BJC]

Hi Tracey,

From what I have read it is supposed to be the longest over water cable car in the world, at 3.31 KM, but they also say it only takes 9 minutes, which is moving at about 20 KPH!:eek:

Don’t know which side of the island they come in from, but looking at the way the harbour and wharf is set up it would appear that the come in from the south and under the cable cars.

The highest that the cable cars are above the water is between Pylon 2 and 3, (there are 8 in total), which ties in with the wharf.

The problem with the bigger ships docking is with their length, in that they are longer than the wharf and when they tie up alongside their after section sits under the cable cars, as the cable car station at Nha Trang end is built right at the end of the wharf.

But that is not a problem for Gemini as she is just a little shorter than the wharf, the good thing is that you will only have to walk a couple of hundred meters to get to the cable car station, and it only costs 100,000 Dong return ($7.50AU), might be worth a ride.:)

Regards, Bruce

[laceytreigh]

Hi Bruce,

I'm impressed. Where do you get your info?? I'll have to Google 'Nha Trang cable car' or something..............

We've got Google Earth, but I think we need to crash and burn it and download a newer version!

I'm trying to get contact details for a guide in HCMC, got a name and a good recommendation, but no way to contact just yet. Decided I'm not that interested in the Cu Chi tunnels, would rather spend time exploring the city, and a good guide would help.

Tracey.

[Deck10 007]

You said so many nice things about the Gemini here. Not a single bad review as I recall. So why are there so few of you on the Gemini.

Star Cruise renovated the ship to cater to your taste. They took out the casino and replace it with a dance floor and music lounge. But you didn't show up. The occcupany on the Gemini is only about 30 to 40% according to the hotel manager.

So Star Cruises is giong to re-install the casino in the existing Star Lounge and replace the much smaller existing casino and make it as an extention of the Gemini Bar Lounge.

Now you can chalk up your bar bills in the Genimi Lounge while the locals gamble away their money in the front end of the ship. Maybe this will work out better for Star Cruises.

[laceytreigh]

Hi,

Can't remember if I posted this before, and I can't be bothered looking back. Anyway, it'll be useful for the newcomers...........

According to Star Cruises, these are our port addresses:

 

Thought I could copy and paste, but it won't let me!! If anyone wants this info, please email me at ellis@tac.com.au

 

Sorry.

Tracey.

[deck 9 001]

Hi Tracey,

 

I had to jump in here and tell you that "you are cracking me up.!"

 

OMG, don't we all have those days where we can't be bothered to do something.............

 

My downstairs neighbor, just 10 minutes ago, brough me some homemade white wine in a huge frosted glass, and ya know what?!?,,,,,,,I can't even be bothered to lift the glass and try it.:rolleyes:

 

What phase is the moon in:rolleyes: ?

 

My best,

Mike:rolleyes:

[DICKY BEACH]

You mentioned you might do the Orangotans in Kuching. I did that same trip about 6 years ago and you should be aware the tour bus ends at the gat and you the face a 40 minute walk up a steady incline to the Rehab' Centre.

[deck 9 001]

Hi Dicky,

 

I believe they now have posted a "warning" sign for people with respiratory and heart trouble to beware. Also, depending on the weather, that hike can be a killer.:eek:

 

Best,

Mike

[BJC]

Hi there Deck 10,

Sorry to hear that the rest of Aus is not supporting the Gemini but there are still some of us cruising on her.

I must say that Star don’t seem to have the same level of “promotion” of their Cruises that P&O and Princess have, they seem to leave it up to the Wholesalers and Travel Agents to do their promotion for them.

They don’t seem get out to the Travel Agents for “Cruise Nights” and the like as others do, even Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, HAL, Carnival, all of which are mostly associated with the US market get out and about and sell their cruises.

The other point I would make is that the Star website would have to be one of the most ordinary sites I have come across, it is almost 20th century in its operation, I reckon it is the same as it was 10 years ago.

They do not provide the user and potential Cruiser with the same level of interactive information on ships, itineraries, ports of call, and shore excursions that other Lines do, simple things like you can’t pre-book shore excursions and the like.

It would appear that their main focus is on the Asian Gambling Market, and anyone else can come along if they like, which is a bit sad as back in the 90’s when Gemini first burst onto the cruise scene it was 90% Australians!

Too many choices now for us down under, as such all Cruise lines have to offer “something Special”, Star is somewhat lagging in this area.

Regards, Bruce

[Deck10 007]

Regarding Star Cruises website I can only say that we here are not as Internet savy as you Australians or Americans. Many people here don't have broadband service to be able to play videos.

On the promotions or specials by Star Cruises I am of the view that they have done all they could already. The gamblers get to go on board almost for free by having some points deducted from their players card.

They are selling this cruise in Malaysia for only about RM1000+ i.e. US$300 per pax. They are also selling the cruise here in Singapore for about S$500+ pp but there are no takers. The travel agent did do some advertising for them but it just doesn't sell.

My source in Star Cruise tells me that late last year the sold the cruise to some Perth area TA for A$400 and they have repackage it to incude air fare, sea port tax, etc for A$1000+. Perhaps you are going on this package. Last summer they sold this cruise to Thomson TA in the UK for 500 pounds. So to me it looks like they did all they could with the promotions but the results are still not there. I am speculating now whether they have enough revenue to pay for their fuel bills.

This 7N cruises is great for Australians but not for us. I am inclined to agree with the hotel manager that this 7N cruises is still the problem for the Gemini. So although the schedule shows the cruises till April 2008 I am speculating whether there will be some changes, if the Singapore government allows them to do so.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Bruce.

[BJC]

Hi Deck 10,

Mate In can tell you that the $400AU appears not to be reflected in the Package Prices from Australia, even with cheap Airfares from Perth, which for a 7 night Straits Cruise in an Inside Cabin based on Twin Share come out at over $2,600 EACH.

If they were selling in Aus for these prices I reckon you would get a boat full each time, as it would appear that P&O and Princess don’t seam to have a problem filling their cruises in Asia, at about the same price from what we hear, but could be wrong.

If they are not selling these cruises in Sing or KL at the prices you have quoted then they, Star Cruises, would appear to have an image problem or something is wrong with their marketing.

7 or 10 or more nights are better for us I would suspect, as if you are going O/S you don't want to travel all that way for just 3 or 4 nights or less!

I suspect they probably need to find their niche in the market, either as a Cruise line or a Floating casino Line, having said that it would appear that neither is working, which is sad, as we enjoyed our cruise and look forward to our next on Gemini.

Regards, Bruce

[kuldalai]

For those departing on Asian Oddysey ex Singapore on 20/05 Star have advised of following special entertainment on that cruise :

 

Magic@Sea sees magicians Zee Deneck and ‘International Champion of Magic’ Murray from Canada performing on Superstar Gemini on it’s special 22 day cruise departing Singapore on the 20 th of May 2007.

Besides the two magicians on board, Superstar Gemini will also have American illusionist Mike Michael s with the world’s only mechanical magician and international illusionist Tony Laffan from Australia, both making an appearance on the 22 day cruise.

 

Star's promotion here in Aus is virtually non existant and they seem to hang their marketing efforts ex Australia through wholesalers especially QANTAS and through last minute cabin offers to wholesalers to flog at the last minute .

[Deck10 007]

I didn't know I was opening a can of worms here. I know how you feel when you paid such alot of money when these gamblers (yuck!) did not have to pay any money.

To illustrate what Star Cruise is trying to do now here in Singapore, they are now advertising the Gemini as a 4N fly cruise holiday sin- phuket in today's newspaper for ( hate to mention this) $480 pp twin sharing.

[Dub Girl]

Hi All!! :)

 

Just wondering if anyone is sailing on the South China Sea Cruise on Gemini on the 19th August out of Singapore?

 

Im really looking forward to it but a bit concerned when reading that Gemini often seems to operate only 50% full.

 

Would the ship not be a bit 'dead' with no atmosphere?

 

We wil be both late 20's/early 30's and im now a bit concerned that the ship may be a bit too quite for us! :confused: