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Transocean Tours

MS Astor

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Werner Christian Wvhrle
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: March 14, 2002
Itinerary: World Cruise Segment

The MS "ASTOR" is an 15 year old Ship of 20606 Tons, with an Capacity of 590 Passengers, Basis 2-bed, 650 all Beds, and an Crew of 300. She is very good handled and has nice Rooms and a very nice Dining Room. All is clean and the People are very friendly, the Food is tasty and well presented, the Buffets are some repetitive. Southeast-Asia was an very interesting Target for this Cruise.

You can walk around, but it is no Promenade. The pool is a little small, the Casino is very small, on German Ships there is no Gambling. It has only two Tables for Roulette and Black Jack (one each) and 4 or 5 Automats. The Rooms are very nice and of an high Comfort, but - alas - the Showlounge has no staggered Seats and 6 Pillars in Front of the Room. This is an weak Point.

There was an Buffet in the "Overseas Club", but not with an wide selection. Buffets are too repetitive. The Service in the Dining Room is very friendly, but not polished (Waitresses from Ukraine). All service People speak more or less good German and a lot of them English also. Without German Language, there is no Contract possible for them. The Food is of an good to very good Quality, tasty and prepared by German Chief-Cook and his Team. On the other Hand, you feel, it is Budget. Expensive Items like Lobsters are missed. Hotel Director is the very experienced Austrian Wolfgang Ribitsch, who is serving different first-class-Companies for an long Time and is an Master in his Profession.

The Cabin inside was a little small, only 13 square Meters. The Closet Space is small and the Towels should be larger. The shower is very tiny.

The Cabin is fitted out very comfortable, but alas - there is only one real bed for two Persons. The second Person sleeps at night at the Sofa, which is rebuilt in an bed. It has lower Quality and is smaller than the real Bed, my wife got Pain in the Back, so we change. I myself feel no Pain, but after 2 Nights in the real Bed, i feel the Difference. This is an weak Point, too. The Cabin Isolation was acceptable.

This is the best Point of the Ship. The Shows were Cabaret-Style, but at an very high Quality and they often bring Artists for some Days from outside and change them in the next Harbour. The Programme was on German/European Taste, no Las-Vegas-Style. The Stage is small, so they would not be able to bring big Dance-Shows. But it was every night an Show and it was every Night so good, that i would not miss one.

The Ship has an outside Pool and an Inside Pool and Sauna, both are heated, but this is not necessary in that Region, the Water has without Heating 30 Celsius. There is an good Library, TV in each Cabin, no Children on Board (on an World Cruise) often Board activities.

The Harbours are as follows: Start in Benoa-Semarang-Singapore-Port Kelang-Belawan-Penang City-Pekan Kuah-Phuket-Colombo-Mangalore-Mormugao-Bombay. In each Harbour there are Excursions provided, with an good Organisation (of course: it is German) But: it is better to do the Excursions on your own. There are always a lot of Taxi Drivers, Tuk-Tuks, Rikschas and so on. With my fluent English it is no Problem, and with Dollar US in small Notes you can pay everybody. An complete Day in Penang with the Taxi for example costs Ringgit 70 on the Taximeter, this is less than Dollar 25. The Taxis have Air-condition and there is Space for 4 Persons, i did it with my Wife alone.

The Fellow Passengers are most German and an Group of Dutch of about 40 Persons, my Wife and i belong to the Dutch Group (only we are Germans with the Dutch). Our Price was less than half of the others. I would not pay the full rate for this Ship, it is not worth so much Money, but for our Price it was an very good Deal and i would book again - no Question. The Ship has on our Cruise between 420 and 470 Passengers, so it was not sold out. The exact amount changes in each Harbour, because some People are travelling individual and it was no Problem to leave the Ship in Singapore or Phuket, for Example.