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Joining its sister Sun Princess® as our next ship, Star Princess® was designed to bring you to the world, and the world to you.
TLDR: Beautiful ship, interesting layout, friendly crew, overall good food, but missed opportunities. Would definitely consider sailing this ship again, but not our favorite ship/line. Background: This was our first experience with Princess, but we've cruised extensively on Virgin, Royal , and Carnival, both with our children, with friends, and as a couple. We were excited to check out the new Sphere class, and see how Princess measured up with our other experiences. When cruising, we value good food, engaging entertainment, interesting ports, and opportunities to relax. The Start: We arrived in Fort Lauderdale a day early, and stayed at Pier Sixty-Six Resort (highly recommend this resort, as it is beautiful, well-designed, and some of the best staff we've encountered). On Saturday morning, we walked out on our hotel room balcony to see the Star Princess moored directly across the drawbridge from us. She looked beautiful! We took an Uber to the port at 10:30, and arrived at 11:00 (traffic was rough). We joined the line to go through security, which was long but moved at an adequate pace. We walked onboard (Green Lane) just after 11:30. Ship Design: I had researched the deck plans on the internet and YouTube in advance, and was aware of the "unique" design of the ship. It was readily apparent that many of the other passengers onboard had not familiarized themselves with the ship layout. People seemed very confused on how to find anything, and to be fair, it is not organized in the same fashion as 90% of other cruise ships. There are some noticeable flaws in the design of the ship, none of which are major, but together, they give the feeling that the engineers and designers weren't on the same page. The Piazza and the "Sphere" in the center of the ship are beautiful, but venues in that area aren't designed to fully encompass the views the Sphere provides. For example, there are now slot machines on one side of Deck 7, which block the exterior views on that side. The Piazza is smaller than it appears in photos, and the seating on decks 8 and 9 is not useful if you're trying to watch a show that is happening on the Deck 7 level of the Piazza. Makoto Ocean has nice ocean views, but none of the other specialty restaurants have a view of the ocean (besides Love By Britto on Deck 17 at the aft, which is only open at night, and therefore wastes it's wake views due to darkness) To be fair, there are windows in Catch by Rudi, but the lifeboats/equipment obstruct your view. Cabins: The hallways and doors on this ship are the narrowest I have encountered in nearly twenty cruises across four lines. We stayed in a Deluxe Balcony cabin on deck 15, which was well-appointed and had a comfortable bed with lots of outlets. It was the most narrow cabin we've ever stayed in, and the bathroom was laughably small. You could not get out of the shower and reach your towel without having to step out of the bathroom, because there wasn't enough space for the door to open while you reached for a towel. The shower itself measured at 2' wide x 3.5' long, and water pressure was noticeably lacking. I could not wash my hair without tucking in my elbows, as there wasn't room to raise my elbows above my shoulders (I'm 6' tall, 210 lbs, for reference). There is a good amount of storage space in the cabin, including in the bathroom, but you can't stand in front of the wardrobe and open both doors, as the hallway is too narrow. We enjoyed the cabin, and our cabin attendant (Rosemarie) was amazing, but the narrowness of the space and the small bathroom were frustrating. Another strange design is how public your balcony is; due to ship design, there are some balconies that stick out farther than others, and some that are more recessed. As a result, you may find yourself on a balcony where everyone else can see you, or you feel like you are looking into someone else's room when you glance to either side of you. Food: We had the Premiere package, so we booked specialty dining for each evening. I booked our dining when I paid for the cruise in November 2025, and had no issue booking reservations (except for Butchers Block...there was never anything available there, so we didn't eat there). I did talk to many people onboard with the Premiere package who were unable to book reservations at specialty dining, and therefore missed out on that benefit. The first three nights, we ate at Sabbatini's, Crown Grill, and Love by Britto...and they were underwhelming. The food was average at best, service was alright, but we remarked we were feeling let down by the food quality in specialty dining. From night 4 on, however, we ate at Catch, Sabbatini's, Makoto Ocean, Catch and Umai Teppanyaki, and our experiences were wonderful. Not sure why it was so different, but service, food quality, taste, seasoning, enthusiasm, etc was noticeably better the last five nights of the cruise. We used Ocean Now and room service a couple of times, but the menu was lacking in options. The only breakfast room service available (door hanger style) was very poor, with very limited selections. We ate lunch at Alfredo's (very good), the main dining room on embarkation (lackluster), Lido and promenade deck (tacos were great, Lido pizza was serviceable, burgers, hot dogs and salads were good, Promenade pizza was flavorless and doughy), and at the Eatery for breakfast and lunch a few times. The Eatery/buffet has decent variety, but there aren't enough seats indoors and the options get very repetitive (especially at breakfast). We found our best choice was to walk through the Eatery, get food and then go back to the Americana Diner to find a seat and get our drinks. Better service back there as well. The buffet closes at strange times to prepare for the next meal, so it felt like you were constantly on the hunt for a "snack" when you got back onboard after a port day. There's no popcorn, gummy bears, pretzels, charcuterie or other snack type items we've come to love on other lines. No offense, but my idea of an afternoon snack is not a croissant or pound cake from the International Cafe. That's called "breakfast." Drinks: We are wine and cocktail drinkers, but not heavy drinkers at all. We enjoyed the cocktails from a variety of bars, but honestly, they all seemed very weak (especially when compared to drinks we had on land at restaurants/cafes in St Thomas, Sint Maarten and Grand Turk). Wines were good and we really enjoyed the Pinot Noir and Moscato offerings. Service: Our cabin steward was wonderful, and Joseph by the pool deck and Cascade bar in the Dome area was also great. Servers and wait staff in the restaurants did a good job as well, and everyone was friendly and welcoming. Special shout out to the Good Spirits team, and the Spellbound staff for really making those venues special with their service. We had no issues or complaints about any interaction with any staff member. Missed Opportunities: Here's where my personal opinion may not match yours, dear reader. This ship COULD BE really great, but there are things that hold it back. There are cool features, but the design/implementation is lacking, and it prevents the Star Princess from creating a truly exceptional experience. Here are some examples: a) The Dome area is beautiful and unique, but it's not being used well. People leave their stuff on the daybeds all day, and no one removes anything, and then staff closes the Dome each afternoon for "private events." The evening entertainment there is 30 minute Candlelight concerts, which are beautiful, but you have to come 45 minutes early to snag a seat, and there's no bar service to your seats. The Dome should be adults only (not 16+), and the "no reserving chairs" policy should be enforced. It needs to be bigger (common theme) and have a better identify of what it is. Think Mykonos beach club with acoustic guitar throughout the day, bar service to your day bed, light tapas, etc...which then flows into a club environment at night. Instead, it's chopped into a variety of uses, and doesn't excel at any of them. b) The same goes for the Wake View Terrace...beautiful infinity pool/hot tubs at the back of the ship that are constantly overrun by kids. Make that an adults only area, put in some more day beds, and watch people really utilize that (even if it is a pain to get to it, because you have to either walk through the Sanctuary restaurant or go up to Deck 9 on the Promenade (which isn't really a promenade) and then down the stairs to deck 8). c) Noise bleed from venues around the ship is a constant issue, as it's annoying to be having a nice lunch/dinner/cocktail around the Piazza while there's a line dance/Zumba/whatever happening and you hear the noise from that blasting into all the adjacent venues. d) The music and movies at the pool are at volume 100 all the time, so it's deafening and really detracts from the "layout and enjoy a drink by the pool" vibe it could have. e) There's limited seating in the Eatery, so there's a constant battle for a table, but there are a bunch of tables outside that go unused in the sun/wind/rain. Why not enclose some of those outdoor areas and incorporate sea view dining into the Eatery? Maybe add some outdoor seating to Makoto Ocean and/or Alfredo's off the Piazza as well. Entertainment/Activities: It appears from the Patter/app there are tons of things to do onboard, but it's a bit misleading. One day, I counted 71 hosted activities on the app. Of those, 41 were shopping/sales/upsell activities. Our experience was the stage shows were well done, but there were only 2 shows in 8 nights, with comedians, and solo musical acts the other nights. The Arena, Princess Live, O'Malleys and Piazza venues are all too small for the size of the ship. Shows never went beyond 45 minutes, and people would head there 30 minutes early to ensure they had a seat, so it was frustrating to spend 75 minutes sitting for a 45 minute show. The cruise director (Dan Looney) and events staff were outstanding. We enjoyed playing pickleball, Piazza dance parties, Spellbound and Good Spirits, the gym, the stage production shows, and listening to music at O'Malley's and Crooners. All of the performers were very talented. Would we cruise Star Princess again? Yes, we would, on the right itinerary and with the right people. I don't think it would be my preferred ship for family trips with teenagers or kids, and if you're looking for a "party the night away/go clubbing/grab food at 2am" type of cruise, it's certainly not for you. But if you are going with your spouse, looking for some good food and pleasant service in between ports, it would be a good fit. We enjoyed our Princess cruise experience, and overall, would rate our Star Princess experience as a 7.5/10.
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Photos, floor plan diagrams, amenities, and furnishings represent typical arrangements and may vary by ship and stateroom.
Entertainment Goes Next-Level
