Star Cruises has announced its SuperStar Gemini shore-ex program for the year.
After a large-scale renovation, SuperStar Gemini has made a series of inaugural sailings around Asia from Singapore, Penang, Hong Kong and Sanya. From April to October, the 1,700-passenger vessel will be homeported in Shanghai for the first time and offers over 40 cruises calling at top destinations.
Among these ports are the tourist favourites Busan, Jeju and Yeosu. Passengers of SuperStar Gemini will have the option to join shore excursions to visit a number of attractions. Here is a snapshot of the unique excursions that SuperStar Gemini passengers can enjoy.
Busan
The second largest metropolis in Korea, Busan offers something for everyone. Taejongdae, a designated Busan monument, is an awe-inspiring rock-formation coastal park accented by lush forest of pine trees and over 200 varieties of trees. The park is centered on its highest peak at 250 meters and features observatory towers, lighthouses and cliffs with a panoramic oceanic view.
In downtown, Busan offers “Spa Land”, an immersive and relaxing sanctuary with a range of spas running with hot spring water originated from 1,000m underground. A favourite for both tourists and local dwellers, Spaland also completes your body healing with 13 distinctively themed saunas and an open-air foot spa.
On Dongbaekseom Island, Nurimaru APEC House is not only a landmark for hosting an APEC summit but also of architectural and aesthetic wonders. Visitors will enjoy the surrounding natural landscape and the 3-story building, a modernistic expression of “jeongja,” a pavilion in traditional Korean architectural style.
Jeju
The southern island of Korea is rich in historical heritage, vibrant local culture and boasts a kaleidoscope of tourist attractions, such as Trick Art Museum, Hanhwa Aqua Planet and Jeju Glass Castle. Fooling our vision, Trick Art Museum renders 2-dimensional wall paintings into 3-dimensional illusion, morphing it into a great place for taking fun photos.
The largest aquarium in Korea, Hanhwa Aqua Planet showcases about 45,000 aquatic animals in 450 different species such as whale sharks, Manta rays, South American sea lions and elephant seals. Jeju Glass Castle is an all-glass art theme park that features the world’s very first glass-made labyrinth, the world’s largest glass ball and largest glass diamond. It exhibits over 250 large-scale glass models as well as art masterpieces by internationally famous artists.
Nanta has wooed audiences with its sensational percussion performance based on Korean traditional drumbeats in a kitchen setting. It has become Korea’s most popular stage show since inception in 1997. The free rhythmical movements and dramatized Korean percussion were synthesized into a strikingly comedic stage show where knives and chopping boards become improvised instruments. Its popularity brought it to Broadway and galvanized international rave reviews.
Yeosu
Host of EXPO 2012, Yeosu is a port city blessed with verdant hillsides and a spate of attractions that tourists love. Starting from late April until October this year, the city will host International Garden Exposition in Suncheon Bay, showcasing global garden brilliance in one of the world’s top 5 coastal wetlands.
Suncheonman Bay Ecological Park is vegetated with rolling fields of reeds and is a winter sanctuary for over 140 species of birds, some of them rare varieties.
From April to October 2013, passengers of SuperStar Gemini will enjoy both the shopping, dining, health care and recreational activities on board, and the above sightseeing selections in shore excursions.
