spent 10 days in singapore then ended holiday with 5 days on the superstar virgo . my only previous cruise had been on Holland America ships, the Virgo did not compete with them but for what the cruise cost it was good.
the food was good although more controlled and much less variety,you could only go into the free food areas once and they ran your room card through the scanner to ensure you couldn't go back for another meal later so if you wanted dinner or lunch then dessert a few hours later you couldn't do that like you could in HA, there were plenty of alternatives to the buffet restaurant, an Indian, a Chinese and a Italian restaurant plus ice cream/dessert bar and outdoor grill. as a balcony class passenger we has $400 Singapore credited to our cabin for food and drink purchases and we didn't use all of that, the taverna on deck 13 was particularly nice ,best hamburgers and onion rings i have eaten, the show Rasputin was so good we saw it twice the rooms were clean but smaller then HA the bathroom smaller then HA but you didn't have to step into the bath tub to shower, there was not as much storage space as well. the staff were lovely, the other passengers were mainly from all over Asia there was lots of children, who on our trip anyway where mostly very well behaved. the prices for ship excursions in the port were well priced if limited in variety. embarkation in Singapore took over an hour of standing in line and disembarkation took about half an hour but was reasonably efficient just very crowded, the staff have to deal with people speaking many different languages.
one note of caution, although the seas were very smooth the ship had a very noticable vibration even on deck 10, when we laid down it was like a vibrating bed,and anything on the desk moved very slightly now i actually found that quite soothing but others might find it very annoying. all in all it was an enjoyable cruise just don't expect Holland American or similar standards and you won't be disappointed jackiedanny
