Manila is now a cruise home port as Star Cruises launches its "Jewels of the South China Sea" cruise.

This marks the first-ever home port deployment of Superstar Virgo here in the Philippines.

As the flagship of the fleet, the 13-storey ship features 935 cabins, and carries 2,400 passengers and a crew of 1,100.

Superstar Virgo's first cruise just departed today.

The six-day-five-night cruises will run until May 29 or during the summer months.

From Manila, the ship will travel to its first stop, the port of Currimao in Laoag, later today.

Here, passengers can visit historical and cultural landmarks in the Ilocos Norte capital, such as Spanish colonial buildings and houses, Baroque churches, as well as opportunities to see the white sand beaches of Pagudpud.

Superstar Virgo will dock at the biggest port in Taiwan in Kaohsiung. After enjoying the delights of Taiwan, the cruise will voyage to Hong Kong.

Star Cruises' Superstar Virgo's home-porting in Manila acts as a catalyst for the Philippines' vision of achieving 300 cruise calls by 2021.