BJC

Hi there lostqeba,

 

 

Having a spare couple of minutes during lunch I endeavored to find you somewhere in the USA that handles Star Cruises, but to no avail, as I said above, as elusive as a Lottery Win!;)

 

 

This is despite a number of Press Releases from Star Cruises indicating that they had agencies all over the USA, however they must be well disguised, as Star Cruises doesn’t seem to get a mention on any of the major cruise sales web sites!:confused:

 

 

Such a pity really as there is a lot to offer the US Cruising Public in Asia, the upside however is that while North Americans miss out, the rest of us can enjoy cruising and holidaying in Asia at reasonable prices and without having to tip!:p

 

 

Sorry I couldn’t be of any assistance, I expect you need to e-mail Star Cruises direct, as has been suggested.

 

 

Regards, BJC

Welcome home WRX712, so glad to hear you had a WOW Cruise.:)

 

 

I possible, you would probably do us all a favor if you could spend a little time and do what I call a JBR, being a Just Back Report, and tell us a little of what you did and how Gemini is traveling?

 

 

We would like to know what it was like and how was the food and the shows and all that stuff, if you wouldn’t mind please.

 

 

I suppose the next question is, when is the next Cruise???;)

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi Gayle,

 

 

Never were truer words spoken in jest, I’m glad we did Alaska when we did as I doubt that our Grandchildren will get the opportunity, no I’ll get down from my soapbox.;)

 

 

I’m sure you will just love Alaska, we were just "gob smacked" at the sheer awesome splendor of it all, and to have Humpbacks swim along side the ship as we went through the Inside Passage, mind blowing.:)

 

 

Enjoy, Bruce.

Hi there Hazel,

 

 

It’s been a while since we were on the Gemini, however I must agree with Gayle, in that the vast majority would be "Baby Boomers", let’s face it we are the ones with the ways and means, you know, SKI Holidays.:)

 

 

By and large Cruise Lines seem to "target" their market, based on their cruise style, from Formal to Freestyle and or budget, the cost of the cruise and the destinations, the likes of Celebrity who we cruised with the last two times caters for formal, middle income, 50-60-70 year olds, with very few children, in that there were no more than about 12 children out of nearly 2000 passengers.

 

 

Gemini appears to be much more family orientated, with its freestyle, smart casual approach to cruising, however since moving her back to Singapore and with the Cruise Destinations available, I expect its target market age would be 40 to late 60’s.

 

 

I recall that on our Gemini Cruise, there was about 80 Year 12 Girls from a private Girls School in Perth, on their annual "Camp", I was thinking at the time, why didn’t we do that when I was at school, instead of camping out in the bush!:D

 

 

Anyway they were so well behaved, and they had a ball, the only complaint I had was that you couldn’t get near the Karaoke machine until after curfew at 10.30pm, and by that time I had lost the urge!;)

 

 

Anyway you’ll have a ball I’m sure no matter what the mix.:)

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Hi Gayle,

 

 

Thanks for the additional info on the e-mail and photos, do you recall if the PC’s had a USB plug in or not, you would think that in traveling around Asia, Star would have the latest PC’s available on their Ships, given what you can pick them up for in KH!:p

 

 

Know what you mean about the cost of some Ships Photos, however we do have a couple of photos from the Gemini back in the late 90’s, one of me with a couple of drop dead gorgeous "Show Girls" from Aus, that were dancing their way around the world, one on each arm.;)

 

 

And one of Mrs C with the Assistant CD, who was a (Sir) Cliff Richard’s impersonator, who just looked like him, and he sung just like him also, I couldn’t get Mrs C out of the Show Room all Cruise!!!:D

 

 

We only purchased one on Celebrity in June, which I think cost about $15 or $20US, so we mostly take our own.

 

 

Anyway thanks for the info, so where are you off to in January and May next?

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Thanks for the info Mike, someone might come up with the costs or will make a decision when on board.

 

 

On the Galaxy they charged an arm and a leg, we got the cheapest Internet / E-mail rate cost $70US, and because of the speed of the satellite connections we only managed to send about 6 e-mails and then they charged us another $20US for additional time.:mad:

 

 

I should have strapped a message to a passing Albatross instead, and spent the $90 on some decent Aus Merlot!;)

 

 

I did note also on Galaxy none of the PC’s had any Floppy / CD / DVD Burners or USB Plugs, they say it was to stop infections, which is valid, and had nothing to do with the fact that they had a nice little earner going downloading your Dig Photos at about $20US a time, but then again I’ve become very cynical in my old age!:p

 

 

Anyway thanks for the help mate, your probably correct in that the SD Cards I have will give me about 1000 shots at high resolution, so that should be enough.

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Hi there Mike,

 

 

Sorry mate you’ve probably answered this somewhere in this thread but I’m a lazy b... and don’t have the time to go looking, so will ask them again.

 

 

What access is there available to e-mail and the internet on Gemini, and if available what are the costs please?

 

 

Also does this and or the Photo Shop extend to downloading your JPEG photos from your SD card onto either your own USB Thumb Drive, or burn them to a CD or preferably a DVD, and again at what cost?

 

 

We have a still Dig Camera, and 3 SD cards 2 x 512 and 1 x 256 also a 1GB USB Storage, and normally take 1.2MB photos, is this enough if we can dump to the USB?

 

 

Also do they print your photos for you on Gemini, or would it be better to get it done in Singapore at the end of the Cruise?

 

 

Any assistance and or recommendations would be very much appreciated thanks mate.:)

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Morning OuiselG,

 

 

You are able to nominate a couple of Cabins you would like one either Port or Starboard sides to your TA who would get on to Star Cruises in Aus, and receive a confirmed Cabin #, we did for the HK to Singapore Cruise in May ’07.:)

 

 

It depends on what is available at the time so best to get in early, I know Tracey missed out and she booked just a couple of weeks after we did, I suppose it all depends just how many cabins have been allocated to Aus Cruisers and how popular the bookings have been.:(

 

 

Get right on to your TA and get them moving on it for you.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi WRX712,

 

 

Hope I haven’t missed you, in that you are already on your way, just wanted to wish you a most wonderful Cruise, calm seas, a clear sky and a fair breeze, as the old sailors say.

 

 

I always think of the words of Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off those bowlines, and sail away from your safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, discover, dream"!:)

 

 

So do everything and have fun, and yes, I’m very envious.;)

 

 

Regards BJC

Hi Tracey,

 

 

You picked a Ship with a long history apparently, she started life with Cunard as the Carinthia from 56-68, then went to Sitmar as the Fairland from 68-71, then re-badged by Sitmar as the Fairsea from 71-88, then went to Princess Cruise Line as the Fair Princess from 88-97, was then transferred to P&O (Aus) still as the Fair Princess from 97-01, and finally to CDS in 2001.

 

 

She had a long and distinguished career it would seem, back then I expect her original design was for the "Transport" of people, mostly migrants, rather than as a Cruise Ship, from there the story is as Mike has indicated.

 

 

The only thing one could say is that, as Mike has pointed out, they are ships of two different times, and even with refits, it would be like comparing an old FJ Holden with the new Commodore.

 

 

As a young Marine Engineer I remember taking a tour of her Engine-room back in the early 70’s when she was the Fairsea, followed by drinks in the Officers Wardroom, back then it was the height of luxury, but it today’s terms a little small and very dated.

 

 

If you liked her, you’ll love the Gemini.:)

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Hi there OuiselG and Kate and Chris,

 

 

On any of the threads in CC Boards, you will get a number for and against using the Ship organized Shore Excursions, as opposed to doing your own thing.:confused:

 

 

Let me say that by comparison to some here who have done 10-20-30 cruises and more, we are somewhat novices to cruising (4), as such we lack some of the confidence that other long time cruisers have, and therefore tend to use the Ship organized tours.

 

 

There are a number of reasons I suppose, firstly if you are visiting a Port of Call for the first time unless you do your homework you would have to leave it up to a private tour company or taxi driver to show you the places of interest.

 

 

The trap here is that you will eventually end up in a Shop or Factory and will have the hard word put on you to purchase something, and this happens all over the world with very few exceptions.:mad:

 

 

In addition to not necessarily going to all the places of interest, even if you have some idea of where you want to go, there are often communication difficulties if the driver does not have reasonable English.

 

 

I will be the first to admit that the Ship Organized Tours are normally expensive, however unless you can walk and or catch local transport such as buses or trains to visit the places you want, then so can privately organized tours, unless you get 4 or 6 people to share the cost of a mini bus or the like, if there is just two of you the cost of going private can be just as much.

 

 

One of the important things for us is the confidence in knowing that if the tour happens to go well away from where the ship is docked, such as 3 hours drive each way from Halong Bay to Hanoi, and for whatever reason the organized tour is late getting back, it is unlikely that the ship would leave without you.

 

 

However if you are doing your own thing and your late, then wave to us from the dock, as the ship will not wait for you, and I have seen this happen.:(

 

 

Now please don’t be put off doing you own thing, if you have the confidence, do your research and work out where you want to go, there are a number of local tour operators that you can often find on the web and book in advance, and or take your chances when you get ashore, there are often tour touts on the wharf, just be sure you negotiate a fair price, and tell them no shopping or you’ll end up spending much of your sightseeing time in a pottery factory, unless of course you want to!;)

 

 

Sorry but it’s been too long since we were on the Gemini and did the Malacca Straits Cruise, so I will not make any recommendations, rather leave it to those who have been there more recently.

 

 

Hope you all have a fabulous Cruise, as I know you will.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi WRX712,

 

 

You’re new so we will be forgiving, and just point out that those of us who are happy for everyone to know where we are from enter this into the Location Field in our profiles, which then appears in the Header of each message, look at the top right hand side.:)

 

 

As for the activities, they seem to vary from Cruise to Cruise mostly based on the Cruise Director at the time, which they do occasionally change, you will just have to wait, what’s it now - 13 days, and see.;)

 

 

I’m sure you will enjoy the experience, have fun.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi there WRX712,

 

 

While it has been a few years since we cruised the Straits of Malacca, let me tell you that you are in for a most wonderful cruise.:)

 

 

Firstly, if your are concerned about cruising or being at sea, from memory you are at no time out of sight from land, and most times you have Malaysia and Thailand on one side and the big Indonesian Island of Sumatra on the other.

 

 

For most part I would expect the sea to be like a mirror, you may get a small and probably unnoticeable swell when you are in the Andaman Sea to and from Phuket, but it is unlikely you will feel anything.

 

 

Like most Cruise Ships, unless you splash out on a Suite, the Cabins are "comfortable" but smallish, having said that I have been in smaller Hotel Rooms and Bathrooms in Rome then on a Ship, however let me say you will spend little time, other than sleeping and doing you ablutions, in your Cabin so it’s not that important.;)

 

 

There are lots of things to do on the ship, you will get a daily news sheet detailing what is on, however with the Cruise you are doing each morning you will arrive in a new Port, and you will go ashore and spend most of your day sightseeing and shopping!:D

 

 

At night there are Shows, Bars, Karaoke, Disco, Casino, Pools, and, and, your choice, do something different every night, I suspect you will not have time to do everything.

 

 

The Lobby / Reception Area is very nice, and I believe they often have live music, the staff are normally very friendly and helpful, there are shops and bars and other areas such as shore excursion desk this is all on Deck 5.

 

 

I expect that the food will, like most of today’s Cruise Ships, be first class, and you will have a number of choices either in the Main Dining Room or in the Buffet, and they used to have "Special Nights" like a BBQ around the Pool, your only problem will be in not putting on too much weight!:p

 

 

All in all we find "cruising" simply the best holidays ever, and I am sure you will also, simply chill out and let the wonderful Staff look after you, do as much or as little as you fancy, and as my old Nana once said "when you go anywhere new, do and eat all the things you don’t get at home!", you have a wonderful time.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC

 

 

PS. If you have any other Questions please ask, someone will know.

Hi Tracy,

 

 

Some confusion as to just whom is responsible for Visa’s, hopefully someone who has been on this cruise will be able to assist, in the mean time I have e-mailed you.:confused:

 

 

Regards, Bruce

Hi there Tracey,

Sorry it posted twice!

Hi there Tracey,

 

 

In Singapore to get to and from the Parkroyal Grand Plaza and the Terminal with your luggage I would catch a Taxi, next to the MRT and Buses they are the cheapest, except don’t get in a Mercedes as they charge more.:p

 

 

From memory the Hotel to the Terminal should be between $10 and $15 in a Taxi.

 

 

In Hong Kong the Cruise Terminal is on the Kowloon side just over the road from the Marco Polo Hotel and there is a big Shopping Complex called Harbor Town.

 

 

Anyway from there it’s a 5 minute walk to the Star Ferry Terminal if you want to cross to the HK Main Island, or about the same to the nearest MRT station, just be sure you get the MRT and not the Airport Train different lines, although I believe the Airport train goes under the harbor as well, anyway take the Ferry it’s a must do if you go to HK.:)

 

 

I would expect you will be offered a number of Shore Excursions on Gemini, in all honesty I would recommend you do HK on your own, it’s so easy to get around by MRT and bus, you could just wander around Kowloon if you wanted, there are lots of different markets and you can shop till you drop.:D

 

 

If you go to HK Island on the Star Ferry you can either catch a bus to the Peak and come down by the Tram and then a bus back to the ferry, or take a bus to the lower Peak Tram Station and go up and down on the Tram, however be warned unfortunately the pollution that drifts across from Mainland China sometimes means you can’t see anything from the Peak, just hope for a clear day.:(

 

 

In Halong Bay I am not sure if we are alongside a wharf or anchored, I checked it out via the satellite and couldn’t see, but either way if you go on a cruise of the bay in a junk it would be right there, and if you go on the bus to Hanoi they say it is 3 hours, each way!

 

 

You will need to check with your TA, but I believe that in Vietnam if you take the Gemini organized tours they have arranged for some sort of bulk Visa which is covered in the cost of your Cruise, however if you want to do your own thing, you will need to organize your own Visas before you go, anyway I would talk to your TA they may be able to assist or even organize, they can cost about $60-70 each.

 

 

The other places I have no knowledge of and hopefully someone will answer your question on these as we are also interested, having said that we will probably take the opportunity to do the "Primates" excursion to the Semengoh Orang Utang Rehabilitation Centre in Kuching.:)

 

 

Anyway hope this has been of some help.

 

 

Regards, Bruce.

Hi Mike,

 

 

Thanks for the photo, I enlarged it as best I could, got a little grainy, but I think the plug directly below the TV is the British Type G, with the 3 Square Pins, two parallel and the other one is square on to these.

 

 

However I could not make out the other outlets at the bottom below this one, I think I’ll just take the Type G, if need be they say you can borrow an adaptor from Housekeeping.

 

 

How are things with you when and where are you Cruising next?

 

 

Regards, BJC

I can’t remember what the power points were on the Gemini, as it was a few years ago since we cruised, and while they say on the Star Cruise web page that they have 110V and 220V with 2 Pin and 3 Pin outlets, they don’t say what type they are.:confused:

 

 

So could anyone who has been on the Gemini recently, and that knows about power outlets, please advise me.

 

 

I expect that because both Singapore and Hong Kong use the British Type G, that this is the 3 Pin socket Star refer to, however is the 2 Pin socket the Type C, European Round Pin or the Type A, American Flat Pin?

 

 

Which ever way I will need to take an adaptor to suit, and link in with the Type I, Australian 3 Pin plug, as such I suppose that if I want to charge the camera batteries on board as well as in Singapore and HK then I should take the British adaptor, that is if the Gemini has the Type G socket?

 

 

Any assistance would be appreciated.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC

But rather all to do with Grandchildren!:D

 

 

Ok you lot that have been in Hong Kong, and or Singapore recently, can someone recommend the best place to go, in either or both Cities, to purchase HO/OO Model Electric Train Sets, at a "good" price?:)

 

 

I thought that I would make good use of next years Cruise to do some early Christmas shopping, and get a Model Train Set for the Grandchildren, or was it for Granddad!;)

 

 

The power supply into the transformer (204/50) should be OK , however I might have to change the power plug, but that’s not a problem.

 

 

Anyway we have a couple of free days in both Cities so would be pleased of any assistance, as I can’t seem to find much via the internet.

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi Tracey,

 

 

You will note in my response to Hbellman above, we are also staying at the Grand Plaza Parkroyal in Coleman St, you must be using the same Package as we are.

 

 

Anyway while not having stayed there, it looks’ like it’s a nice hotel, based on the Trip Advisor rating, which over the years and hotels we have found to be very accurate, being based on the reviews of people who have stayed there and not just their PR machine.:)

 

 

As with most hotels we chose, it's more about location than fancy lobbies, gyms, spar’s and ball-rooms which we rarely use, as long as the beds are comfortable and the bathroom is decent, we would rather have the location.

 

 

Have you been to Singapore, do you know the area, if not e-mail me at BJC49@ Telstra.com, and I will give you some information?

 

 

Like Mike said, the only dumb question is the one not asked, so as for the business of the Laundry, is about if there were "public" washing facilities on the Gemini, some of the larger Cruise Ships have what can be described as a Laundromat, where you can wash and tumble dry your clothes, and do the ironing if you like, it’s still coin operated but cost a heap less, however Gemini does not have one.

 

 

They normally have lines in the cabins for the smalls, when we first went cruising we also tried to wash out t-shirts and shorts the same way to save a few $’s, but since then we just get it all done, having spent thousands on the holiday why try to save a few $’s and have all the hassles, so now we just pop it in the bag and it comes back the next day and the cost just gets added to the bill.;)

 

 

By the way your Cabin Stewards are very good at looking after your clothes, they check them out and back, and they normally end up little numbered tags on them, even you socks, anyway I wouldn’t worry!:)

 

 

Anyway hope your planned Cruise comes off and it is a special way to spend your 25th, I think we were on a cruise for our 30th, by the way we married young, :D anyway any other questions this is the place or you can e-mail me.

 

 

Regards, BJ and Mrs C.

Hi there Hbellman,

 

 

We like to stay down that end of town, and usually stay at the Swissotel Merchant Court, directly over the river from Clarke Quay, there is a foot bridge right outside the Hotels side door and the new MRT station is just out the front door.

 

 

If you stay there, get a room facing the river, it’s so nice to look out over all the goings on, on the river, and we did the same in the spar pool that is on the first level overlooking the river, you sit it there under the frangipani trees with a G&T and watch the world go by.:)

 

 

However on our post Cruise stopover this time we have booked, as part of a package deal, into the Grand Plaza Parkroyal Hotel just two blocks up the road from Clarke Quay, and next door to St Andrews Cathedral, and one block from the City Hall MRT.

 

 

It looks like a nice hotel and actually rates higher at 11 of 142, than the Merchant Court at 30 of 142, on the Trip Advisor Web Page.:)

 

 

We like to wander around, and to take the MRT when we go out so it’s a must to be close to a MRT Station, and both of these hotels are.

 

 

There is the Excelsior and the Peninsula Hotels just over the road from the Grand Plaza, we have stayed at the Excelsior, but it is a budget hotel with small rooms, you have to go out into the hall to change your mind!:p

 

 

Anyway there is something for you to look at, there are good maps available at a web page called streetditectory.com Singapore or something like that, Google it.

 

 

Hope this helps, let me know if you need any other info.

 

 

Regards, BJC

Hi Mike, you still out there?

 

 

It’s probably a bit late now that we have booked for May / June’07, however as you live in the area, so to speak, I thought you might be able to tell us when is the Cyclone / Typhoon season for the South China Sea, especially between HK and Singapore? :confused:

 

 

I know you have to take your chances no matter when you book, and I am sure that Star Cruises plan their cruises around the best weather conditions for the time of year and location, however I was just wondering?

 

 

Any Info much appreciated thanks mate.:)

 

 

Regards, BJC