Travelling on a luxury cruise can be boring if you would only stay inside your cabin. The idea of such vacation is for you to explore not just the destinations but also the cruise ship itself.
Apart from shore side and city tours, enjoying onboard amenities including the activities prepared for the trip are a part of the whole cruise experience. This likely answers the question: What do you do when the cruise ship is not docked at ports of call listed in your itinerary?
From the time the sun rises up to the moment everyone retires to call it a night, your whole day on a cruise ship is packed with recreational activities and entertainment options.
It all begins at the reception area. In the case of SuperStar Virgo, the luxury ship that cruises from Manila to Taiwan and then to Hong Kong, it is the glamorous Grand Piazza. During the ship’s maiden voyage (in Manila as its homeport), beauty queens Kylie Versoza and Maxine Medina sashayed down its grand staircase to model the creations of Rhett Eala.
Then you have the Lido Theater, the main stage that features groundbreaking productions that blend dance, comedy, musical theater, circus acts, and concert-style performances designed for numerous types of audience. Movies are shown in between live performances.
When the Parthenon Pool is not packed, it also serves as a venue for live performances. During our cruise, a Korean TV crew filmed there on our first day, another sidelight some people don’t expect while on board. On our third day, it was the venue for the BBQ night and a live band continuously played to entertain the guests.
Beyond the theater are pop up performances in restaurants and bars inside the ship. And it’s good to note that all musicians and singers are from the Philippines, something event hosts proudly say whenever they introduce performers during shows.
For six nights, we were entertained by Music Heart Trio, Sound Clipper, Pianist Tony, and Major Impact.
Music Heart Trio brings back the classics as well as the mainstream hits with their interesting acoustic melodies. They have an extensive collection of songs such as “Anak,” which tops their list as most requested Filipino song, along with the Chinese pop songs “Xiao Wei” and “Wa Meng Ti,” Japanese song “Hello Subaru” classic standards “Tenessee Waltz,” “The Great Pretender,” “Besame Mcucho,” and The Beatles’ classic song “Yesterday,” to name a few.
This dynamic group Sound Clippers Band showcases Mandarin, Cantonese and English songs from their wide collection of chart topper hits from the 70’s, 80’s up to the present.
Meanwhile, for guests who prefer, a little less noise but equally entertaining nonetheless, they can be serenaded by the resident pianist, Tony whose repertoire ranges from all-time favorite romantic hits from the previous decades to the present.
Probably, the busiest if not the more requested act during our six-day cruise was Major Impact. The trio, backed by superb band, brilliantly mixes sophisticated music with their funny and playful antics that brings delight to anyone who watches. Major Impact showcases a wide array of repertoire ranging from the 60’s to today’s hits with power and jazz ballads performed during their sets depending on the theme of the day.