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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.
It has been some time since Ive done a review, but I thought with Star Princess being new to Alaska, I would have something to offer here. Let’s talk about the ship first. Star Princess is big. 4300 capacity, and our sailing, the first Alaska voyage of the season, left Seattle a bit over 100% capacity. There were few children, as you might expect in May. I can see this ship going out with 4800 aboard in peak season. That would be just way too many people for me. Star Princess is less like a ship than a big hotel. There are cabins everywhere. If you have a forward cabin, when you come down the elevator or stairs you will have a walk past the Cabana Mini Suites before you get to the Piazza and the buffet, which is on Deck 9. That corridor becomes crowded. The only deck that doesn't have cabins is Deck 7. Everywhere else you are going past peoples cabins to get from here to there. All the public spaces are oriented inwards, except the pool decks on 17 and 18. You don't really see the ocean on Star Princess. The spa area is in the center of the ship, with cabins on either side facing the ocean. The gym has been moved midships, and overlooks the pool area and not the ocean. The specialty restaurants don't really have views. The massive life boats hang down so low that views are obstructed everywhere you go. There is no promenade. There's a little balcony-like space you can access but other than that, for outdoor public areas you have to go up to 17 or 18 in most cases, unless you have a cabana suite or purchased Sanctuary. Much of your view is obstructed by blue tinted glass. There is a lot of blue glass! Double height. On deck 18 there are two narrow places where the glass is single height, and people crowd that area for photos of the glaciers and fjords. We had a balcony, which is almost a must if you don't have a sanctuary suite. The public areas of the ship are broken up and don't flow. You encounter these bulkheads seemingly at random where you then have to turn left or right. It makes it seem like you are in a hotel convention center or something, where there are just lots of corridors with beige bulkhead panels guiding you to some destination further down. The interior decor is very pretty, but there's not much nautical about it. It is very serene and spa-like, with driftwood-gray and beige everywhere, with pops of blue and gold. Like an upscale hotel. Some of the artwork is good. I thought they did a great job with art on Discovery Princess, but lately the art seems more corporate. That same upscale hotel feeling. But here's the thing. Someone asked our party of six (all Platinum and Elite) if they liked Star or would they prefer a smaller ship. Four out of the six said they liked Star. So what I like and don't like seems to be in a minority and Princess evidently knows that. OK, now for the rest of the review. I could write for days but I won’t. Embarkation - the new assigned time thing seemed messy at first, but once we got into the building in Seattle things flowed pretty smooth. If they can keep people from jumping the lines outside it may end up working for them. Itinerary - Not my favorite Alaska itinerary. Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier was three hours - 6AM - 9AM. Not ideal. We didn't get that close to Dawes Glacier and then we were back out - all before breakfast. Seattle round trips require a stop in Canada. Although I think Victoria is a lovely city, getting there at 7PM on the last night for a few hours just to meet the requirement is a waste of time. So basically you are ending your cruise with two sea days. Otherwise, we had a great time in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, as usual. Food - Food is subjective, but, in general, the food we had was better than average. Some notes: Americana Cafe - really just an extension of the buffet. Nothing special here. The Eatery - this was the main buffet. Kind of a disappointment in regards to selection. The same stuff day in and day out. We did not eat dinner here. Sabatinis Italian - this place is okay. I would not pay the $60 to eat here but we had Princess Premier so it was included. The Crown Grill - the steakhouse. As usual, this place was good. The restaurant though was devoid of personality. The exact same driftwood/beige/blue designs as everywhere else. Service was good. The steaks were reasonably good quality. Umami Teppanyaki - this place was fun. However, in trying to be fun and an “experience” it was very loud. And the singing (Sweet Caroline? Really?) was too much. Food was good, though. Generous portions and good quality. Umami Hot Pot - in the same location so it is loud. Not the best atmosphere for sharing hot pot where you can't hear your table mates over the racket. But the food was good. Butcher’s Block - too much meat! I know, that’s the whole theme of the restaurant. But really, break it up with some vegetables! It was a fun place. The staff was enthusiastic and the food was decent, if just too much. We did not eat in the Main Dining Rooms. Cabins - Being the newest ship in the Princess fleet, the rooms were in terrific shape. Our deluxe balcony was very comfortable. The Princess bed is the best of the majors (again, somewhat subjective) and the bathroom was a step above most mass market cruise ships. Random Thoughts: Our balcony looked down on the Cabana area, which is exclusive to the Cabana mini suites. I had a choice to book one of those but didn't take it. I should have. The area looked really nice and it had its own hot tub that was barely used. The whole Sanctuary thing appears to be worth it on this class of ship. The outdoor areas looked really nice, as did the exclusive restaurant. This might be the way to go on these ships. We had tried to bid up to Sanctuary class but our bid was not accepted. We are 1 for 5 on minimum bids - so, not very good. There were a lot of outdoor areas that just weren't used on our Alaska cruise. The weather was a bit cool to be sitting out for breakfast - so all of the al fresco dining areas by the buffets weren't used, and tables inside were very hard to get. Likewise decks 17 and above. It was just too cold, or foggy, or windy, or whatever. Holland America ships are better designed for Alaska. There were two casino areas. One for smoking and one for non-smoking. Both were busy. The games were new and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Princess seems to have found a niche with the gambling crowd - that's why my husband's family prefers the line - and perks are transparent and (I think) relatively easy to earn compared with the other lines. Oceans Now has been totally dumbed down. It doesn't work in most areas, which totally defeats the purpose, imho. The app sucks on land but it gets better when you board. They need to fix the app and the whole log in process. No excuse for this level of incompetence at this stage. Excursions were good! Shout out to Miles and Jenkins, who led the Island hike that started out with a ride on a Zodiac from Knutson’s Bay near Ketchikan. That was a really fun morning! Not too strenuous but you do get about an hour hike in. Good fun. The pups and smores in Skagway was good as well. We go on a lot of Alaska cruises, and have been on a lot of excursions over the years. So these two kinda stood out as being above average. In summary, a good cruise but not the best. The new ship is lovely, but more like a trendy hotel in a resort city than a ship at sea. The staff was excellent, as always, and Princess has a lot of Alaska related programming to offer.
So many passengers seem to report their dissatisfactions with a cruise but I will take the opposite. This was a great cruise from Port Everglades to Seattle for Nancy and I. The food was good and of course, plenty of it. We liked eating in the dining room in the evening and Eatery for breakfast and lunch. The ship being new, does have some errors like the Arena only holds 990 passengers and there were 4000 on our voyage. Princess should broadcast the entertainment in the cabins on tv to alleviate some of the overcrowding. I like to play craps in the casino but the minimum bet is $25...too rich for me. Cabins are nicely appointed and functional...lots of hangars. It takes some getting used to navigating your way around the ship but several days after you board, it will come to you. The entertainment was excellent and the crew.
From the moment you step aboard, we want you to feel welcomed and right at home. And with attentive service from a friendly staff that knows what hospitality means, you’ll find your Princess® ship truly is your home away from home.
Photos, floor plan diagrams, amenities, and furnishings represent typical arrangements and may vary by ship and stateroom.
Entertainment Goes Next-Level
