SuperStar Gemini

Concept and construction

The Dreamward was the first in a pair of two identical cruise ships ordered by Kloster Cruise for Norwegian Cruise Line from Chantiers de l'Atlantique. The sisters were planned with a gross register tonnage of approximately 40,000, and maximum passenger capacity of 1246 persons. However, they were also designed from the start with the concept of lengthening in mind, making it possible for the company to easily expand their capacity without having to order entirely new ships.

The lengthening was eventually carried out in March—May 1998 at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany, where the ship was cut in half and a new 40-metre (131 ft 3 in) midsection was inserted. In addition to the lengthening, the ship's funnel and radar mast were adapted so that they could be folded down, allowing her to pass under the bridges of the Kiel Canal. Coinciding with the lengthening the Dreamward was renamed Norwegian Dream. She re-emerged at 50,764 GT and with maximum passenger capacity of 2,156. A documentary film about the lengthening has been broadcast by ARTE Television on 19.01.1999

Service history

The Dreamward was delivered on 4 November 1992. She was named on 5 December 1992 at Port Everglades and started on her first cruise to Bermuda the following day. Subsequently, the ship was used for cruising from New York to the Bahamas and from Florida to the Caribbean. Her sister was a year later named as Windward. Originally both the Dreamward and Windward carried the early-90s Norwegian Cruise Line livery with a white funnel and red and blue decorative stripes on the hull. Some time before 1998 they received the new NCL livery with a dark blue funnel and an all-white hull.

Afterward, she also used for cruising around Europe. On 24 August 1999, the Norwegian Dream was involved in a collision with the container ship Ever Decent while en route from Zeebrügge, Belgium to Dover, England. Although her bow was damaged, the Norwegian Dream continued to Dover under her own power. Damages to the Ever Decent were minimal. The power on the Ever Decent was off due to a fire that occurred, and there was dense fog in the area causing the Norwegian Dream to be unable to see it and run into it. Although there were no fatalities, the accident raised some criticism of the lack of oversight and the safety of non-United States -registered cruise vessels. Following the accident, the Norwegian Dream was repaired at Lloyd Werft.

In 2004 the ownership of the Norwegian Dream was transferred to NCL's parent company Star Cruises, in preparation for possible sale or transfer to the Star Cruises fleet. On 10 December 2007, the Norwegian Dream was involved in a further collision with a barge while leaving the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. The collision caused some damage above the waterline that did not appear to be serious. The collision caused several cars and five containers to fall off the barge, which closed the port for some time.

On 23 April 2008 Star Cruises entered an agreement to sell the Norwegian Dream, as well as her fleetmate Norwegian Majesty, to the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines, which was reportedly willing to pay $218 million for the ship. International Shipping Partners was also interested in the Norwegian Dream. Louis was supposed to pay the entire $218 million upon the ship's delivery, but by 29 September 2008, when the ship should have been delivered to Louis, they canceled the deal due to "technical issues relating to the vessel." The deal for the Norwegian Majesty, however, was completed in July. In November 2008, the Norwegian Dream was laid up in Freeport, Bahamas awaiting a buyer.. The ship had a brief spell in the port of Piraeus, before relocating to Kalamata on 13 June 2011 for inspection by Louis Cruise Lines and Pullmantur Cruises. Shortly thereafter, she returned to the anchor point off Piraeus. Later, on the move yet again, Norwegian Dream was sighted at anchor in Singapore Harbour in June 2011. Star Cruises confirmed that the vessel was in Singapore for a technical dry-dock. She was also seen anchored in the harbor in Penang, Malaysia, in May 2012.

On 10 September 2012, Star cruises announced that it would refurbish "Norwegian Dream", and rename it to SuperStar Gemini. The ship would be launched in December 2012 with SuperStar Gemini having a series of 'try-out' cruises from Singapore (28-31 Dec) before inaugurating with the cruise from Penang (2 - 24 Jan) calling at Krabi / Phuket in 17 cruises; a 7 days / 6 nights special cruise (24 Jan – 1 Feb) to Singapore / Ho Chi Minh City / Nha Trang / Hong Kong; and from Sanya (1 Feb – 31 March) calling at Danang / Halong Bay / Hong Kong in 26 cruises.

From April to Oct 2013, the vessel was based at its summer home port in Shanghai, offering over 30 cruises to a number of highly popular destinations including Cheju, Busan, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Naha, Ishigaki and Keelung. A number of special chartered cross-strait itineraries from Shanghai to Taiwan were in the pipeline, subject to approval by the authorities. From Mid-October 2013, SuperStar Gemini was based in Sanya (Hainan Island), calling at Vietnam ports amongst others.

The refurbished SuperStar Gemini now houses new onboard facilities including restaurants of Chinese, Asian and international cuisines, open-deck barbecue, show lounge, karaoke, spa & health club, beauty salon, children’s playroom and swimming pool. With a passenger capacity of 1,532, the vessel will house 766 guest cabins in a variety of layouts including ergonomic ocean view rooms, stylish junior suites and deluxe executive suites. The shopping area will comprise over 400 m² of facilities, providing a premier duty-free shopping experience like no other. The estimated cost of this refurbishment is 50 million USD.

Beginning November 1, 2013, SuperStar Gemini will again homeport in Sanya to offer the wonderful 4D3N Halong Bay/Danang and 3D2N Halong Bay itineraries.

SuperStar Gemini has her recent homeport relocation in Singapore from 2 April to 31 October 2014. The new cruise itineraries include the 6Day/5Night to Kuantan, Redang and Tioman, the 6Day/5Night to Penang, Langkawi and Malacca, the 4Day/3Night cruise to Penang and Langkawi, the 4Day/3Night cruise to Kuantan and Pulau Redang, the 3Day/2Night cruise to Malacca, the 3Day/2Night cruise to Pulau Tioman, and the 3Day/2Night high seas cruise.

SuperStar Gemini will continue to homeport in Singapore for 2014 - 2015. From 2 November 2014 – 29 March 2015, SuperStar Gemini will introduce new cruise itineraries departing from Singapore including 4D3N Penang/Langkawi, 4D3N Penang/Port Klang, 3D2N Port Klang, 3D2N Melaka and 3D2N High Seas cruise.

Current plans

SuperStar Gemini will continue to homeport in Singapore from 2015 - October 2017.

Singaporean man overboard incident

On 27th November 2016, while cruising to Penang at approximately 11:05pm (GMT 8+), CCTV footage onboard the SuperStar Gemini shows a Singaporean man by the name of Wuan Poh Fatt fell overboard 9.5 nautical miles off Pulau Besar and 12 nautical miles off Tanjung Kling. He was reported missing after he failed to respond to the ship's announcements before the ship docked in Georgetown, Penang on Monday. SuperStar Gemini's master of vessel on Monday Night had sent a report to Kuala Linggi Maritime Operations Centre to search for Mr Wuan. ChannelNewsAsia has reached out to Star Cruises for comment.

Amenities