Star Cruises Superstar Aquarius is currently homeport at Kota Kinabalu offering 2D1N cruise and 4D3N cruise. 2D1N cruise to international sea on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. For 4D3N cruise, Star Cruises Superstar Aquarius offer the cruise to Puerto Princesa. Puerto Princesa is located in the midsection of Palawan Island, The Philippines and is the home to many beautiful natures and sight seeing. One of the most well knows sightseeing site at Puerto Princesa is Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Even though Sabah is near to The Philippines but I never visited The Philippines before. At the invitation of Star Cruise, I jump at the chance to cruise and visit The Philippines, my first time for both!
Check in counters are located at Jesselton Point. The Check in process is efficient and fast. After passing through the custom, we surrender our passports to the staff on site. We only need to carry our card around the ships to access to our room and to pay for services/buying merchandise onboard.
We leave Kota Kinabalu port at 4pm. All passengers are required to attend muster drill to familiarize ourselves with the emergency procedures and location of our muster station.
Welcome party at 12th floor right after we left Kota Kinabalu port
The facilities
there are whole range of entertainment, sport, and recreation on board of Superstar Aquarius. You will never get bored on board of Superstar Aquarius as they offer lots of entertainment and wide range of activities for the passengers.
Facilities on Superstar Aquarius includes:
Swimming pools
Jacuzzi (Outdoor jacuzzi)
Jogging Track
Basketball
Golf Driving Range
Ins’ Spa & Sauna (Spa and wellness services)
Skyline Karaoke (Karaoke lounge)
Genting Club
Admiral Club
Star Dust Lounge
Star Club (Games of Chance)
2 outdoors swimming pool on Superstar Aquarius
Safety boat
Duty-free shopping at 9th floor. The duty-free shopping gallery offers upmarket cosmetics, liquor, cigarettes, and branded bags. The liquors and cosmetics are selling much cheaper than the airport.
Child cares center for the kids
Restaurants
There are 6 restaurants on Superstar Aquarius. Passengers can choose to dine at 4 of the restaurants: Oceana Barbecue (Buffet restaurant)
Spices Restaurant (Buffet restaurant) Mariner’s Buffet (Buffet restaurant) Dynasty Restaurant (Buffet restaurant). Spices Restaurants is certified Halal and offer Malaysian cuisine to Muslim passengers.
Taipan Restaurant offers Chinese a la carte fine dining and Blue Lagoon offer 24-hour bistro offering local and international delicacies
The Tour
We reached Puerto Princesa at 3pm. Local band welcomes us with performance and music and we feel welcome to Puerto Princesa.
Our City tour includes a visit to Mitra Ranch, Baker’s Hill, the Immaculate Conception Church and Robinson Mall.
Tuk tuk is the main public transportation at Puerto Princesa. The drivers dress up their tuk tuk creatively with different color and logo. There is only one main road in Puerto Princesa and it gets pretty jam during the afternoon
Mitra ranch or Sta. Monica Ranch with cows and horses, beautiful view deck owned by the Philippine Senator Ramon Mitra. Mitra Ranch offers a breathtaking view of Palawan as it is a hundred feet above the city.
our next stop, Baker’s Hill is like a mini theme park where you can find many life-sized figurines of celebrities and Disney character. Baker’s Hill first started as a simple bakery, slowly develop into a theme park with establishments such as the baker’s kitchen, pizza house, hula shake, snack bar, souvenir shop, view deck, etc. Hope, a bean-filled pastry introduced by Fujianese immigrants in urban centers of the Philippines around the start of the American civil occupation. is highly recommended by our tour guide and we managed to get some from the bakery.
Located along Rizal Avenue in Barangay Liwanag, The Immaculate Conception Church is over 100 years old.
Tuk Tuk roams the city street of Puerto Princesa day and night.
Star Cruises Superstar Aquarius at Puerto Princesa port. Passengers are allowed to leave and enter the ship anytime during the port call at Puerto Princesa.
on the early morning the next day, we leave Superstar Aquarius at 7am for Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park tour. After 2 hours drive, We reached Sabang where passengers waiting for the shuttle boat to Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park . Try to reach Sabang early to avoid as the place is packed with tourists waiting for their turn to board the shuttle boat. After waiting for an hour, we finally board our shuttle boat to Puerto Princesa River National Park
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature. Only nonmotorised boats are allowed into the underground river. Our guide who also double up as the paddler gently guides our boat into the cave. The river inside the cave is wide but without any lighting. The only source of lighting is from a torch from our boat.
Our guide shows us many interesting stalactites and stalagmites in different shape. We spotted many bats along the way. Our guide warns us about water falling from the roof of the cave and some may be consist of bat droppings. Tourists are only allowed into 1.5km of the cave before turn back. After we emerge from the cave, we take another shuttle boat back to Sabang area before we continue our way back to ship on our van. As we are running late, we reached our ship at 2.40 pm. Right before Superstar Aquarius leave Puerto Princesa Port
The Show
After a shower and some rest, we gather at Stardust Lounge for photo taking session with Captain of the ship and all the senior crew members of the ship.
We then proceed to Mariners Restaurants for Gala Dinner
amazing Gala night show by performers from Las Vegas after Gala Dinner. Great way to spend our last evening on Superstar Aquarius
We joined the Bridge tour on Wednesday morning to get a chance to visit the command room of the ship. Vice-captain of the ship show us around the bridge area and show us some of the equipment.
We reach Kota Kinabalu at 2pm on Wednesday. After settling our payments, we collect our passport and proceed to disembark from the ship.
Superstar Aquarius destination cruise offers us a great experience to visit a city. We feel pampered and well fed during the whole cruise. Puerto Princesa is an interesting small town to visit and they offer types of adventures for tourists. The combination of cruise and Puerto Princesa discovery make it an unforgettable trip.
