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All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) © Paul Timmerman One has to pass a stone garden via a small bridge to enter the Shogun Restaurant. This place is divided in 3 separate rooms, the Teppanyaki Room, the Tatumi room where guests sit on mats on the floor and the Samurai Room (can be closed of for private parties). Beautifully decorated in Louis XIV-style is Maxims, a restaurant seating only 50 guests and offering French cuisine. One has to make reservations in advance, and it will be difficult to obtain a seat here because of Maxims´ limited capacity. The Blue Lagoon Cafe is open 24 hours. It is the smallest restaurant onboard, offering all kinds of snacks around he clock. A nice touch are the bycicles mounted on the floor which can actually be used to sit on..... (watch out for saddle-soreness!). The Tai Pan Restaurant needs to be mentioned to. It is an extra tariff restaurant, has the atmosphere of a Cantonese restaurant and is situated adjacent to the Grand Centrum. Next to it are three small private dining rooms, each with karaoke equipment (speaking of Karaoke, the Bund Lounge on deck 7 can accommodate 63 guests in a series of small Karaoke rooms). Finally, on deck 6 two large restaurants are situated: the Garden Room Restaurant where oriental cuisine is served (seating 268) and the Windows Restaurant seating 632 and serving western cuisine. Together with the Raffles Buffet on deck 13, all these dining venues offer almost too many choices to enjoy in the limited time one has aboard Superstar Leo on its mostly short cruises.
Windows restaurant, deck 6 Superstar Leo is Star's first new ship, and although she and her sister Superstar Virgo are the largest vessels in the Star fleet, neither was designated as the lines flagship. Instead, the Megastar Aries was given this honour. She was formerly known as Hapag Lloyd's Europa, one of the worlds top cruise vessels (many critics like Berlitz have rated her the best cruise ship in the world at the time). The atrium onboard Superstar Leo is really one of it's kind, being totally different from her counterparts found on RCCL, Carnival or Princess vessels. One of the walls is black, the one with the brass elevators, and it has a black marble floor and matching black pillars, thus creating a special atmosphere. When looking up, one sees the upper decks looking like the facade of houses.
Grand Centrum; atrium Furthermore, on the ground level in the middle of the atrium, a large round table standing on a colourful Chinese carpet features an impressive flowerpiece. For those who are impressed by great views from atop a huge cruise vessel, Star has outdone herself. The Galaxy of the Stars Lounge has a capacity of over 400. Via a spiral staircase, one enters a bridge viewing area, the first in the industry according to Star. In the Far East, gambling is very poular. Superstar Leo has a beautiful casino, done in red colours, which has separate areas for VIP´s. Piracy is not unknown in the waters of the Far east, and to prevent any "uninvited guests" from boarding the ship, Superstar Leo is equipped with water canons.
Remarkable stern Superstar Leo and Virgo were to be followed by two "Scorpio" class vessels, to be named Superstar Libra and Scorpio respectively. However, the situation in the Far East was not very favourable to introduce new tonnage of this size at the time, so they were transformed before their maiden trips to Star's subsidiary, Norwegian Cruise Line and sail as Norwegian Star and Norwegian Dawn nowadays. There were plans to operate Superstar Leo under the name of Norwegian Leo for Star´s subsidiary Norwegian Cruise Line in Hawaiian waters. As gambling is not allowed there, the Leo´s casino would have to be rebuilt. In turn, NCL´s Norway would start sailing in the Far East in the Star fleet. These plans have been abandoned however. NCL has started Project America, and will position her own ships in Hawaii (see company history NCL). Because of the SARS virus in the Far East in 2003 the Superstar Leo has been shifted to Australia, to the port of Sydney. After the lung decease epidemic had ended, she returned to Singapore. Star Cruises already planned for her return to Australia but this never came to pass when in 2004, Norwegian Cruise Lines' newbuilding Pride of America partially sank just prior to completion during a storm while she was still being outfitted at her builders yard, Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven. Superstar Leo was quickly refitted, passed on to NCL, renamed Norwegian Spirit and was used to operate the already booked cruises as a stand in for Pride of America. Ever since, she has been part of the NCL fleet.
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Windows restaurant, deck 6 Garden Room restaurant, deck 6 End
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