This was the 3rd time we have been on this cruise, first on the Gemini and twice on the Virgo. The first trip on the Gemini was the reason we came back. While it was a much smaller ship with no balconies, the staff and other cruisers made the trip one of the best cruises we have had, out of the 9 cruises we have done to date. (The 2nd best was Canada/Alaska on the Volendam).

Unfortunately this cruise did not meet our past Star Cruise experiences , mainly due to the fact that there were only a small number of non Indian/Asians on board. While we have cruised with many different nationalities before and have enjoyed eating (and drinking) with them and discovering were they come from, this cruise was 75% Indian and 24% Asian. As the Indian cruisers did not seem to drink or gamble and the Asian cruisers were only seen when in the casino, we found this cruise seemed to be focused on these two nationalities. The Mediterranean Buffet was in two sections, Indian and Asian, we ate there for 2 days and then had the rest of our meals at the Bella Vista after we discovered they had western style food a la carte. The meals here for breakfast, lunch and dinner were excellent and with table service you didn't have to join the queues for food.

We ate once in the pay for restaurant, namely the Italian Palazzo, we have eaten here on our previous trip and found some of the same staff still there. The food and service was excellent, as was eating off the Versace gold plates. Two issues were that there was only us two and another couple eating, and the nude painting was a bit off putting when trying to eat your food. We only ate here this trip due to our $400 dining credit, as the cost was excessive. Read more