Before I went on a cruise ship, the only idea I had of it were scenes from the movie Titanic. I thought all cruise ships would be huge and elaborate. People had to dress up fancily and there was plenty of gambling and merrymaking to be done. Of course, the show, having been set in older times, reflected the culture of the Western world back then.

Fast forward to more modern times such as now, cruise ships have very much evolved into a different reflection of our culture. For cruise ships like the Superstar Libra by Star Cruises, the culture is one that is true to the Asian spirit. Though it is one of the smaller ships by Star Cruises, it is a great ship to get on for your virgin cruise experience. Since it was only my second ever cruise trip, I had only some idea of what to expect. But we were told there would be a gala dinner to attend on board, one that is highly anticipated by all the guests since we will be dining in the same room as the captain of the ship - quite an honour.

We started off our gala dinner with a little red and white wine as well as some freshly baked bread.

I love it when we are served more than just plain butter to go with our bread. Here, we were treated to a lovely herbed butter, a tapenade as well as a secret sauce.

We were also served a lovely smoked salmon and salsa verde starter that really got our appetites going and ready for the rest of the meal. The gala dinner proved to be really classy and while we chose to go with something a little less formal and a little more smart casual, a number of guests went full out with their attire.

We were also given the option to choose between a mushroom soup or a clear soup. We decided to pick one each just to savour the different flavours the chef cooked up.

The mushroom soup is a clear winner - it's always a good choice to make when having a western meal, anyway!

After that, we were given the choice to choose between lamb cutlets and a seafood mix for our main course. The seafood mix was a generous portion of lobster, scallops and prawns served with a creamy sauce.

The lamb cutlets were executed perfectly - still pink in the middle and paired with a nice side of sauteed mushrooms. Both mains proved to be outstanding.

Finally, for dessert, we were presented with a medley of sweet treats, which included a chocolate cake and a citrus tart, which was a nice contrast of sour and sweet.

As it was my first time attending a gala dinner, I felt the whole dinner was very well planned out - considering the whole ship was crammed into one dining hall and another restaurant upstairs. But kudos to the chefs, staff and operations team for handling the whole dinner service so well. It just shows how well organised and experienced the team is in their respective roles. We even got to experience a pretty elaborate proposal right after dessert was served! That's how professional the team is in being able to handle any situation.

Read our other reviews on Star Cruise and its other dining establishments here.

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