I’ve always heard mum’s friends talk about their holidays on a cruises and every one of them told that it’s a must-go for any holiday goers. Usually the cheapest one would be the cruise to nowhere. Even with that, i have seen packages being priced more than RM 1500 for a short trip.

There’s a reason why you see majority of the passengers on cruise trips are usually the elderly.

However, StarCruises.com did a promotion in Penang for a 2days 1night cruise to nowhere for a mere RM 60! (about 15-20USD). Of course that was good enough to convince me to try it out. RM60 would get you on the cruise but without any room, thus it’s known as standing package. For those who plan to play all night and don’t mind dozing on couches or even at the cinema could simply go for the standing package.

Angeline and i discussed and decided to go on a Friday evening, right after work. Not knowing if we could last through the night, we got ourselves the cheapest cabin which worked out to RM 120 per person. I made the reservation through phone (03-23021288) and was later asked to bank in the money via Maybank. I later faxed the slip to the lady who attended to me and within an hour or so i got my confirmation email. It was all very easy.

After work, we zoomed off to Swettenham Pier which is near the Penang Jetty for those who don’t know. We parked our car opposite the immigration office. The carpark attendant asked if we were boarding the cruise and we said Yes and asked why? He said it’s a flat rate of RM7 and it’s only for cruise goers. Knowing that the car would be in a safe spot, we walked towards the port and from a far we could see the huge Pisces. Of course comparing it to it’s fleet, it’s probably the smallest. But for a Penang fella like me, as long as it’s bigger than our ferries, it’s BIGGG

Those on Foursquare, don’t forget to check in here. I got my ‘I’m on a boat’ badge upon checking in

There were two separate lines; those who have paid and those who are walking in. Usually it’s not easy to walk in and be able to board, especially if it’s a weekend. Everything here was very systematic.

We were asked to surrender our ICs and in exchange we were given their StarCruises cards for identification. Once we have done that, we were ushered to board the Pisces.

As we entered, we used our StarCruises Card to gain access at the security checkpoint. We then got lost some how while trying to figure out where’s our room.

We finally found an information board that actually explained everything.

We walked and walked …

… and finally found the place.

For those who complained about how small First World rooms at Genting Highlands are, then you have to check this out. Hahaha. Of course here they try to minimize the space cause people rarely spend time in the rooms.

The washroom on Pisces.

The shower area.

Noticed the door opens till where? LOL. The tv is rather big in this small little room

… and our beds. All so cozy.

After settling down, we got explored the Pisces.

We went outside, on the deck of the Pisces and saw quite a number of people there. In fact there’s even a family who used some of the lazy chairs to get some shut eye. Probably they got themselves standing tickets thus having no room.

There’s also a swimming pool on the deck and free to be used until 10pm if i am not mistaken. I am not too sure if the pool is heated. The Pisces only disembarked about 8pm-ish. That’s why you can still some lights from the pier in some of the pictures.

After roaming around on the deck, we decided to go in and have our dinner. That alone was another treasure hunt, trying to locate the restaurant

On the way, we stumbled upon a showcase that showed the champagne bottle that was used to christened the Pisces.

We then asked a counter on where are we to have dinner and they directed us to the Mariners. Dinner and breakfast are included in the price, regardless if you are here on standing package or with a room.

As we entered, we were all greeted by the singing and dancing waiters and waitresses  of the Mariners hahaha. If memory serves me well, they were performing YMCA.

After dinner we continued exploring the Pisces. We went into the casino and played a few rounds of Roulette. Don’t expect the casino to be as big as the ones in Genting Highlands. In fact the mirrors used on the walls gave the illusion that it was big

We then left the casino and came across a Bingo session was about to start and was duped into joining it. All we had to do was buy the numbered papers and cross it as the numbers are picked at random.

Frankly this is one of the activities that is a must join if you ever board the Pisces! Really fun especially if you are as crazy as me where i got bought a few sheets of bingo paper. lol

The whole place was pack to the gills listening diligently as the numbers were called out.

After that session, we continued walking. We later realized there’s Karoake bar, a massage parlour, theater.

Before we head back to our room for some well deserved rest, i checked on google maps on our location. We were some where far up north penang, probably out of Malaysian water.

Left the tv on timer mode, so that i can watch something before dozing off. Oh yeah, if you realized i am on the upper bunker >.<!

We woke up at about 7am and quickly rushed for breakfast before the whole lot came in.

Admiral Suite, probably one of the most expensive rooms on the Pisces.

So as i stepped out to the deck, guess what happened?!

I fogged up my lense >.<!

Totally forgot not to leave it directly under the aircond outlet in the room. Had to wait for a good 10 minutes before the camera could get some decent pictures.

We could barely open of our eyes as the sun was crazily bright.

The Pisces finally docked back the Sweetenham Pier at 9am and we got back to our room to get our bags. Before leaving, we got back our ICs. All in all it was a great experience. I mean for the price we paid, i highly doubt such an offer would comeby anytime soon, unless we go for a second time.

So if you are interested, head over to StarCruises.Com or simply call them at +603-23021288

]]> http://satkuru.com/blog/2010/09/starcruises-board-the-pisces-for-rm60/feed/ 7 http://satkuru.com/blog/2008/07/redang-finale/ http://satkuru.com/blog/2008/07/redang-finale/#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:51:20 +0000 satkuru http://satkuru.com/blog/?p=1057

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Thankfully when i was in Redang the only time it rained was at night and probably drizzled a couple of times in the day. So none of our activities were jeopardized by the weather. One of the snorkeling spots that i liked was the marine park. Though some may say it’s overrated but i think for individuals like me who hardly snorkel let alone swim, this place is definitely a must-swim-location

With the white sandy beach stretching as far as your eyes could see and not forgetting the different shapes of fishes swimming in that area, no wonder this is one of the main hot spots for any tourist.

The guards had set up a perimeter around the beach and that’s as far anyone is allowed to swim cause any further than that, you could be easily drift off no thanks to the strong current. And let me stress that if ever any of you were to drop by at Redang, just get yourself a lifejacket. Regardless whether you are good swimmer or not, the jacket definitely helps a lot especially when you are swimming against the current. You wouldn’t want to look like a dog yelping for help …. lol

If you are lucky enough the people in charge of ferrying you over would bring loaves of bread. Obviously there’s a reason for doing so which is to attract fishes. During our stay in Redang, the resort brought us to Marine Park twice -_-” So the second time around, instead of swimming i walked around snapping pictures … and also threw pieces of bread to scare the daylights out of anyone

William too decided not to swim and brought his alpha as well. At one point he actually fell into the water -_-” and if wasn’t for his quick thinking, his DSLR would be fully submerged had he not lift up his hand with his camera as high as possible. Clumsy pot

Before leaving Marine Park, the rest did a few LOA pose (LOA – Lack Of Attention). hahaha and William was showing them the pictures for approval.

Besides swimming and canoeing, we also played a couple of in-house games like dart, pingpong, jenga … The next two pictures are courtesy of William

One of the most ‘potong stim’ moment was when Dolphin insisted we play scrabble. I mean who in the world goes on a holiday and crack their head over a word-making game ? Obviously the answer is those gila people in the picture above. Best part was the board wasn’t even scrabble, so the point system was different. Nevertheless, Dolphin who initiated the game got thrashed to the point where i just stopped the game instead of continuing. hahaha. You wouldn’t want a emo-dolphin during a holiday trip, it’s a big NO-NO.

Then i was humiliated in a game of Congkak #@$%#$^#. Revenge revenge …. -_-”

OH and did i say there was a Karoake room in our little resort? It wasn’t too fancy but it had all the equipments which could even put some Karoake outlets to shame ….LOL that was exaggerating -_-” The collection of songs were kinda old but it was better than nothing.

The karoake room had a battle languages. One group sang all Chinese songs and we sang all English songs, mainly Westlife. Yes yes very the sad case but what to do, the list didn’t have Flo Rida or Kanye West …. not even Cold Play, LOL. I didn’t last long in the Karoake Room, so i went back and slept off

I have been asked sooooooooooooo many times where are the chicks in bikinis and to answer that, i am gonna post one miserable picture -_-” LOL turned out that most pictures weren’t clear so i rather not post it up

Codename: Dark Horse, i am pretty sure those who were in Redang had no clue why was that name given, LOL. So it’s story telling time: Aaron, William and I realized there’s always guys surrounding her wherever she goes and thus making an assumption that they were all after her. So i teased Aaron, saying, ” Eh you could try and you can be the dark horse” Hahaha and from there on we just referred her as Dark Horse.

So with three of us all equipped with tele lens, the dark-horse-club was formed. Real sad case man three of us. So to those who would want to join the club, feel free to do so, LOL. You will be known as a Dark Horse Hunter once you are in -_-”

That’s Redang and i hope i didn’t miss out anything cause i am doubt i am gonna write another entry about Redang

Wonder when’s the next time i am ever gonna set foot on Redang

i accidentally deleted this entry just now, grrrrrrrrrrr and i had to re-write the whole thing -_-” blur-ness at it’s highest degree. bodosssss !

A couple of months back, i was sent for some sort of team building course and at one point every group was given a rubberband. We were told to come out with as many shapes as possible with that single rubberband. One particular group has this lady who was kinda loud and kept showing what she was capable off. Being the youngest in the whole lot, i stayed quiet and didn’t do much until my group leader who was easily triple my age called me out.

Satkuru, you can do or not ? The rest in our group all very old lar, how to compete that group. You so young, sure you know more things

@_@” Young ? But doesn’t mean i know how to do. I can do some basic shapes ler and that’s about it.

Basic shapes also can one. As long as we have someone who can do. Ok i tell you what, you see that lady showing off right, copy exactly what she’s doing.

@_@” Ermmm okie dokie.

So after a while it was my group’s turn or rather my turn. I did just like what that lady did and not even 5 seconds into the routine, she said out loudly that i was copying her -_-” I was already annoyed from the start of this course because i had to attend this team building thingy just to replace my mum @_@ and now i had to listen to 40 women of my mum’s age yelling at me -_-”

I looked at my team and i saw that my granny team leader looked kinda let down with that lady accusing us of copying, so i had to pull out a few tricks that i remembered doing back in primary school. for my leader’s sake. HAhaha sometimes it’s fun hanging out with old people

A hot air balloon

A plus sign or a cross

A star

Ahem, underwear

… and my personal favourite, a house

Those are the few that i showed and guess what, my group won -_-” We got 10 donkey points for my effort, hooray -_-” But the highlight was seeing how disappointed the other group was, especially the lady who couldn’t keep quiet in the first place. That was simply priceless

It very rare that i publicly thank my sis for anything because most of the time i am a total nuisance to her So ahem, i wanna thank my sister *coughs* for forcing me to play rubberbands with her when we were small @_@”