Destination: Phuket & Krabi, Thailand
Duration: 4 Days 3 Nights (Jun 22~Jun 25, 2014)
Day 1: Let’s Sail Away!!!
I was dying for a holiday and saw the buy 1 free 1
promotion for Superstar Libra 4D3N Penang-Phuket-Krabi-Penang Route at Kungfu
Travel (link).
I had a great time on Costa Atlantica in 2012 cruising the Mediterranean (link)
so I thought to try another cruise again and Superstar Libra just happened to
depart from Penang. I booked the cheapest option (Cabin DC) at RM2012 (All in) for
2 pax since we were short of cash here! I was aware there was some groupons
selling the same package with additional Hard Rock Hotel 1 night stay but we
weren’t too interested in that.
Our journey began with a bus ride at the bus stop in
front of my house – Penangite’s 1st time taking Rapid Penang here! Should we be feeling proud? Haha… the bus was
actually much comfortable and convenient than we’d imagined – thumbs up! We
arrived at Swettenham Pier at around 2.00pm and proceeded to queue for check in.
We were approached by a Japanese Starcruise Staff on whether we wanted to sit
with the Captain during the Gala Dinner but we turned her down since we preferred
to dine on our own so that we could do our own goofy stuffs. We were ‘forced’
to take some pictures with a mascot and some sexy girls so that they could sell
it later to us with extravaganza price.
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| Waiting for Rapid Penang! |
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| Here we are at the Pier! |
Since we took the cheapest option – there is no window or
pothole in our room (No. 2142). We went to explore the Superstar Libra after
putting our luggage in the room. It was a relative small cruise if compared to
Costa Atlantica (I guess half the size?) thus we finished our exploration
pretty quickly. The ship was quite aged and renovation was common but I guess
it was to be expected since it was an Asian Cruise.
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| Finally getting into Superstar Libra |
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| Toilet in Cabin DC Room 2142 |
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| The Family is here! |
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| Complimentary Tea from Starcruise |
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| Sammy at the Door |
We went to Mariner’s Buffet at Deck 9 to have some ‘teatime’
– Mariner’s Buffet reminded me of my company’s cafeteria – I will let you
decide whether that was a good or bad thing. *wink* The menu consisted of
salads, fried noodles, samosa, sandwiches and cakes – we were not impressed
with the food quality though. It tasted and looked like food from some 2nd
grade catering service. The cake was especially horrible – dry and tasteless
until we just couldn’t finish the smallest of pieces. Our favourite from the
teatime? – Pineapple Cream Cheese sandwich from Vegetarian Section and Orange! Yup,
I typed this correctly! It was ORANGE as in the fruit since it was sweet and
juicy and nicer than other foods in the spread. Oops!!!
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| Lots of People in Mariner's Buffet |
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| Not Impressed! |
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| Some Selections from Teatime |
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| Typical Catering Services? |
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| Swimming Pool at Deck 9 |
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| Sammy is a Rule breaker! |
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| At Deck 10 |
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| Smaller boat at the Pier |
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| Life Boat! |
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| Guess this is where "Titanic" happens |
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| Sammy trying to slam dunk? |
We booked our Gala Dinner seating in Stardust Lounge
before attending the emergency drill session when the cruise started moving. There
was this sail away party at the pool deck where Starcruise staffs danced to
Worldcup tune but it quickly turned into an auction for room upgrade to some
suite – boring! It seemed to me that Starcruise would not stop at any chance to
earn more money even during sail away party.
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| Some picture at Deck 5 before booking Gala Dinner |
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| Miniature Superstar Libra |
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| Goodbye Komtar! |
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| Goodbye Penang! |
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| Worldcup Dance! |
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| Auction? Huh? |
The sail away party was followed by BBQ Dinner which served
BBQ prawn, beef, lamb, chicken, Mackerel fish along with salads, some Chinese &
Malay dishes, Laksa & Desserts with various food stations around the pool
deck. The BBQ prawns and chicken were kind of tasteless whereby the BBQ beef
was really dry and mackerel fishy. Our favourite of the night would be the
Laksa which was kind of surprising. The desserts consisted of various cakes and
they were subpar at best. It was quite a disappointing BBQ Sail Away Dinner
actually – we expected better from Starcruise or perhaps our expectation was
too high?
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| The BBQ Station |
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| Fruit Station |
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| Lamb Station |
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| Food from BBQ - dry and tasteless mostly |
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| Better get some Vegetables then |
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| Laksa is the Best! |
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| Cake - only the strawberry cake is nice |
We tried to book shore excursion tour from the counter
but apparently our choices (Phuket Landmarks & 4 Islands Tour) were all on
waiting list due to low headcount. *sulking* Magic show was next and thankfully
it was quite entertaining with fast and exciting actions. We went up to the top
deck again after the show to shoot some night view before skipping supper (Too
full) and called it a night.
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| Some Corona? RM9/bottle! |
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| Attending Shore Excursion Talk |
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| Near the Reception Area at Deck 4 |
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| Starcruise at night |
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| Exercising in the gym? |
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| Goodnight! |
Next Day (Phuket Sightseeing & Shopping)
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