Super Star Gemini in Brisbane today

[i_love_cruising]

Did anyone happen to go to Portside today to see Super Star Gemini? I just saw that she was in Brisbane today and was due to sail at 7.00pm. Really peeved I forgot all about it :mad:

 

Sarah

[staceymrow]

no. I didnt see it but DH rubbed it in that he did !!!!! :mad:

[i_love_cruising]

Bugger!! He didn't happen to take any photos did he?

[shortstuffy]

Bugger!! He didn't happen to take any photos did he?

 

 

Some nice pics of Superstar Gemini ariving in Brisbane at this link:

 

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=546455

[fishtaco]

Some nice pics of Superstar Gemini ariving in Brisbane at this link:

 

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=546455

I think theQE2 looks the best

[shortstuffy]

At only 19,000 tons and only 163m long, Superstar Gemini is only a "tiddler" compared to Pacific Star, Pacific Sun and Pacific Dawn. She only carries a total of 819 passengers, built more like a luxurious superyacht than for crossing open oceans. Don't know how she would handle rough seas.

[LouLou28]

At only 19,000 tons and only 163m long, Superstar Gemini is only a "tiddler" compared to Pacific Star, Pacific Sun and Pacific Dawn. She only carries a total of 819 passengers, built more like a luxurious superyacht than for crossing open oceans. Don't know how she would handle rough seas.

 

Wow ... she is small. I thought the Superstar liners were supposed to be HUGE! (Shows you what I know!!!):rolleyes:

[NSWP]

What are Star Cruises, e.g. ships like Gemini and Aquarius like? I am looking at doing an Aquarius Cruise next year from Singapore to Singapore, through. Some good flycruise deals around for the above.:confused:

[Riffraff]

I got down to Portside just a few minutes before it left - the observation deck was closed (of course:( ) but I managed to get some photos. She is noticeably smaller than Pacific Star, but she looked really nice and with the lights on you could see she looked nice inside. There seemed to be a nice back deck area.

We'll get the photos up here shortly..

[NSWP]

Yes, just checked out Gemini ship Stats, 164m long, oversized yacht, smaller than Pacific Princess, which I travelled on. Would be plenty of Oriental tucker and Tiger beer on board, both of which I am fond of.!!

 

:)

[bobsydney]

Hi all

 

I was one of the lucky (or unlucky) people who got off the Gemini in Brisbane yesterday after a 2-day cruise from Sydney. We've wanted to try out the Gemini for quite a while but hadn't had the chance so took the opportunity to do this short segment when came on sale a few weeks back ... a surprise birthday present for my spoilt wife!!

 

The ship is certainly small but at the same time its public spaces are surprisingly roomy which probably reflects the fact that that it has nothing like the number of passengers of larger ships. The food was very very good as was the service from staff (who mostly hailed from the Phillippines rather than Malaysia as I had assumed they would). The restaurant (which was anytime rather than set time dining, and with choice of a table for 2 or sharing with others) was great. Although I didn't have dinner there, the buffet option also seemed to be very good and served the same dishes as on offer in the restaurant as well as a few others. As for service, the wait staff in particular are fantastic and really switched on ... as an example, I bought a beer at one bar on Sunday and the next afteroon, the waiter remembered both my name and my choice of beer. And that happened more than once

 

Because of its size, however. leisure time options on board are very limited compared to what you get on a bigger ship. To be honest, I think I would go stir crazy on board if I did a longer cruise on her like the Brisbane-Darwin or Brisbane-Perth legs of the around Australia cruise she is currently doing.

 

Having said that, I think she is ideally suited to the destination intensive cruises she does out of Singapore and I would very happily do such cruise on her there. Alas, I think the opportunity for me is gone as she is only in the Star fleet for another 12 months and I have my cruise schedule mapped out until 2009!

 

Incidentally, shortstays, those on board say she handles heavy seas very well. Apparently, the first night out of Perth while going around Cape Leeuwin towards the Bight, they hit very heavy seas and the 7.5 metre swell that had waves coming over the bow. Most of the cruisers fared far worse I was told than the ship in those seas!! The crockery etc on tables also didn't fare very well!!

 

Cheers

Bob

[Forever dreaming]

What are Star Cruises, e.g. ships like Gemini and Aquarius like? I am looking at doing an Aquarius Cruise next year from Singapore to Singapore, through. Some good flycruise deals around for the above.:confused:

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

My first cruise was on the Gemini - Went from Singapore to Ko Samui, Bangkok, Sihanokville(sp?) (Cambodia) back to Singapore. Had a fantastic time. The Gemini is a lovely ship. It didnt feel small at all and there was plenty of room for the 800 cruisers on board. We didnt have much movement as the South China sea is pretty sheltered but did get about 2 metre waves at one stage and didnt notice at all. I felt the ship was layed out in a way that was really easy to get around. The walking deck went around the entire ship which was great for walking or running (not me!!:eek: ).I was able to go right onto the front of the ship to see the waves hitting the bow and the observation decks were easy to get to. The pool was better placed as it only had chairs, tables and lounges around it. The cruises used the pool deck as a sundeck and werent interested in who was in the pool which suited me fine as I like to slink in unseen. It did have a great bar there which was very popular but it had a wall which separated the pool. My only comparison is Pacific Star which I felt was quite cluttered. Had to keep walking inside to get to another section of the deck and had to walk through the suite corridor to get to the observation deck so only use that for sailaway. The pool alway had everyone watching it as they were eating or whatever. So noway was I going to be able to slink in that!!:o

 

The staff were absolutely fantastic- were waited on hand and foot - which got a bit embarrassing for me as I'm not use to someone rushing up and carrying my food to my table for me. I also found the food standard/variety/presentation to be a couple of notches above pacific star too. In the buffet and the restaurant.

 

But the down side was the music was really old fashioned. The entertainment wasnt as personal and the onboard activities werent neally as good. There were about 40 people under 60 me being one of them. This didnt bother me at all but the ship then caters for that demographic.

 

Now dont get me wrong this sounds like I didnt like the Star and thats not the case as I was only comparing the two ships as I have only been on two. Given the choice again I would choose the Star anyday as the feel of the ship was more layed back and had a fun atmosphere. The music and entertainment was so much more suited to me and that made all the difference.

[surfoz]

Hi all

 

I was one of the lucky (or unlucky) people who got off the Gemini in Brisbane yesterday after a 2-day cruise from Sydney. Cheers

Bob

 

Hi Bob

 

Hope you enjoyed your cruise, I tried to get down the river to welcome her in and reminisce a bit but my day was just too busy!

 

Cheers

Jeff

[Skyrules]

I saw here from a taxi on Kingsford Smith Drive on my way out to the Airport yesterday afternoon - she certainly looked small against Portside.

 

Martin has some photo's yesterday eveing when he went down to Portside, but he's been wating for me to come home to upload them to my webshots page... Will do that shortly!

 

Yes, he got to go look at ships, while I sat in a motel room in Rockhampton :(

[Skyrules]

Some photo's of Superstar Gemini at Portside;

 

Backing away from the terminal on departure

 

At the wharf

[Skyrules]

And another one

[surfoz]

 

My first cruise was on the Gemini - .

 

 

It was also our first cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sailing out of Singapore harbour at night was great as was sailing into Phuket. We also liked walking out onto the bow. The ship just seemed to be more cosy or more friendly maybe because she is smaller.

[Guest012]

Tried to book on her for January Brisbane - Sydney - Brisbane 5 day cruise but she was fully booked....:(:mad: was going to be a surprise recuperation pressie for my John who is having surgery Monday:eek::eek:......will have to see what last minute specials come up with the Sun and Dawn or something else now:mad:......shiona

[kezza]

When we were in Langkowi last year, the Superstar Virgo was also in port and it made the Pacific Sky look really small. She was a big girl.

 

Kerri

[bobsydney]

I meant to do this sooner (almost ancient history now) but I thought some people might like to see a few photos I took when I got off the Gemini in Brisbane last week.

 

After seeing what everybody has written about the Portside development, it was interesting to see it in person (and to be honest it's much more people friendly than our Wharf 8 and, except for the location, right up there with the OPT at Circular Quay). I was also interested to see the Statendam in the dry dock across the river ... was a surprise and a talking point amongst passengers as we came up the river. I think it heads off today to Sydney to start its Australian cruise season.

 

Pics are attached (must be an easier to upload pics though!!)

 

Cheers

Bob

[karmac]

Bob, I'm curious as to what you mean by Portside being more "people friendly" than wharf 8 but up there with OPT. As a passenger, I think wharf 8 is better than OPT. Much more organised.

 

Karen

[bobsydney]

Bob, I'm curious as to what you mean by Portside being more "people friendly" than wharf 8 but up there with OPT. As a passenger, I think wharf 8 is better than OPT. Much more organised.

 

Karen

 

Hi Karen

To me, they each have pluses and minuses, and these are different when you are a passenger to when you are a visitor.

As a cruise tragic addicted to checking out visiting ships during the lunch hour, the OPT is perfect for close up viewing and taking photos, whereas Wharf 8 is almost at the other end of the scale. Walsh Bay, used sometimes as an overflow, is worse though just like Fishermans Island in Brisbane. Portside is great for viewing too, but it's not so handy to the city for impromptu ship watching.

As a departing passenger, I agree there is no comparison between Wharf 8 and OPT and I am glad to be leaving from there on the Sun Princess in Feb. OPT was built in another age and just can't efficiently handle the number of passengers on modern day cruise ships. I have been there many times watching the bedlam that is called boarding and having done it too, I got to say it sure ain't fun. I don't know how well Portside works since I was only an arriving passenger (who even carried off their own gear and therefore didn't have to go through the bother of searching for bags) but I assume that as a modern functional design, it works fine (or at least better than OPT).

The friends/relatives who drive me to/from the port prefer OPT to Wharf 8 though, the same as Brisbane people prefer Portside to the Sugar Wharf or Fishermans Island. They can actually see us depart if they want to hang around (and it is nice as a departing passenger to be able to wave goodbye or raise a drink to someone you know). It's also nice at Circular Quay and Portside to have somewhere comfortable to have a coffee or a bite to eat while awaiting departure ... you just can't do the same at Wharf 8 without walking half a mile, although I must admit from personal experience that the pub across the road has its pluses too.

Sorry for the long-winded clarification of my off the cuff generalisation, but was actually interesting to think about the differences.

Cheers

Bob

[karmac]

Sorry for the long-winded clarification of my off the cuff generalisation, but was actually interesting to think about the differences.

 

Cheers

Bob

 

Don't apologize Bob. And now that you have clarified, I totally agree with you. ie OPT better for visiors, wharf 8 better for passengers. Can't compare with Portside as I've never cruised from there. I'm also a tragic that likes to go look at visiting ships but don;t get the cance too often unfortunately Will be down at OPT on Saturday though to see Mercury & catch up with a friend who is sailing on her.

 

Karen

[bobsydney]

and I'll see Mercury on Monday ... am very interested in having a look as I've booked a 2009 cruise on her big sister Infinity. Might even go and have a look at Statendam sail away on Fri night too even though I had a good look at it last year ... bugger, I really am a tragic!!

 

Cheers

Bob