|
Wishing upon a Star
Spend a few days aboard Asia's newest luxury liner, the Superstar Leo and you'll probably never want to get off…
As a young boy, I was often told that if I wanted something very badly, I had to do two things. The first obviously was to work towards achieving it. And the second was to wish very, very hard that I would get what I wanted. Over the years I realised that I could make my dreams come true, even if each one seemed like a little miracle in itself. The latest in this series of life's mini-miracles consisted of a 4-day cruise with my wife aboard the Superstar Leo. An exeprience in luxury and self-indulgence that I am not likely to forget for a long, long time.
Our first glimpse of the Superstar Leo was from a cable-car as we were returning to Singapore from Sentosa island, across the harbour. At first sight, the liner looks like a giant 13 storey yacht, with a sleek prow and flattened stern. Seen from a height, the Superstar Leo has the grace of dolphin and gave an impression of being equally swift once she was under way. That in itself was enough to get us charged up about boarding her the next day.
"Glass bubble elevators glided noiselessly behind two giant curved staircases that met on a stage, where they merged into one."
The Superstar Leo is rather deceptive in size, for she looks much smaller than she actually is. It's only when we boarded her and entered the reception area or Grand Centrum that the true size of the ship began to dawn upon us. The ceiling of the Grand Centum was around four storeys above us. Glass bubble elevators glided noiselessly behind two giant curved staircases that met on a stage, where they merged into one. A pianist tinkled away on a grand piano, while the ship's enterteainment crew serenaded the passengers. One area of the Grand Centrum holdss the reception, while another corner has a coffee bar which prepares some of the most delectable coffeee concoctions I've ever had. As privileged Balcony Class passengers, we drifted to The Café for a spot of champagne, nestled into the plush sofas and watched the world pour in. The Grand Centrum is the perfect blend of elegance, grandeur and opulence that one would expect to see in one of the world's finest luxury liners.
Once we'd checked in, we were handed Access Cards which are used as cabin door keys as well as charge crds on board the liner.As part of our check-in kit, we were provided with a map of the ship and information about various restaurants and activities on board. The kit also contained answers to frequently asked questions and so we decide that the best place to read through them would be in the comfort of our cabin.
One look at our cabin and we fell in love with it. It was quite large as ships cabins go, with a double-bed, desk, wardrobe and a wall unit. It was the attention to detail and bright bed linen that really floored us. But the best was yet to come. The cabin had a one-way glass French Window which formed the balcony wall of the cabin. From our cabin, we could look out into the sea, without anyone being able to see us! The piece de resisitance however, was a lovely balcony set with two chairs and a small table. Predictably, we spent quite a while on the balcony during our cruise.
More >>
|