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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.
Having been on 12 or 13 cruises now, I’m hardly a frequent cruiser but neither am I a newbie. My relationship with cruising has been love-hate from the start. Obviously more love than hate or I wouldn’t keep doing it, and I can honestly say the same about my stays at all-inclusive resorts. I’ve cruised with NCL, Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Princess. I’ve found each ship uniquely beautiful, and I’ve had minor grievances with each, too. This is to say I don’t have a favorite, but there were none that I disliked in general. The brand new Star Princess is bright and shiny-new. Nothing creaks or groans, nothing is scratched up or dented yet. The furnishings are tasteful and clean. The food was excellent all around (as expected), and the service was top notch (also as expected). Some of the new high tech features like the pre-assigned elevator system and medallions for room access (and other services) are a big improvement. It’s really great how your cabin door handle illuminates green and unlocks when you approach. These improvements solve a lot of problems with crowds gathering in elevator bays, long(er) lines forming at bars and the gangway, and lost room cards. Excursions were well done–organized, efficient, a good use of time, and with clear instructions. It’s amazing how Princess manages to get thousands of people off the ship quickly, directed to their excursion groups, and back onboard without incident. They have a great system. Overall the staff was engaged and attentive. It didn’t feel like anyone was just going through the motions or pretending to enjoy their job. It is unlike me to remember the cruise director’s name, much less to mention it in a review. Previous cruise directors have ranged from tolerable to super annoying for me, and they trended toward the latter. I don’t remember any of them. Dan Looney was different. He was somewhat corny, as is part of the job description, but his personality and presence sincerely contributed to the persona of the ship and the overall experience. He was a real human being who shared some of his life story with the passengers. He was open, funny, friendly, and extremely talented. His show was one of the real (and totally unexpected) highlights of this cruise for me, and his singing brought me to tears (in a good way). Now onto the not-so-great stuff. I’ve already said that the ship was beautiful, but I can also say that it lacked some of the wow factor I was expecting. The early promotional videos I watched influenced me to choose this ship over others because it was brand new and looked spectacular. However, I think a lot of the images shown in promos are of the specialty dining venues and areas that only the guests paying for top tier access get to see. MSC Meraviglia and Royal’s Allure of the Seas are memorable for their wow factor. This ship simply was not. The Star is massive and impressive in its architecture, and the back area of the Aurora dining room offered a beautiful view. A lot of what gets added with the mega ships, though, is floors of cabins, not common areas that can be enjoyed by passengers paying for a less-than-top-tier experience. This goes to show that bigger isn’t always better. It means bigger crowds but not a lot added in terms of common/public areas compared to smaller ships. I sailed previously on the Star Princess II, for example, and I loved the Skywalkers observation lounge. It was the best feature of that ship, its panoramic views being something I’ve talked about ever since. I was disappointed that instead of being improved upon (the Dome offers no comparison), it was completely done away with. I was also disappointed that the baked Alaska parade in the MDR on the second formal night was done away with. It was much better, in my opinion, than the staff appreciation parade in the piazza the next day, which was hard to see and poorly attended. The new baked Alaska, made in individual servings, was basically an ice cream sundae. It wasn’t awful—just something that had been a highlight for me on previous Princess cruises. Having said that, the overall food quality in the MDR was excellent. A couple of the choices Princess made for this ship were “interesting” for me, though not really a problem. One was that there was no big theater with big productions like on other ships I’ve seen. The theater does feature some cool new technology, and the shows on cruises are never a big draw for me, but I found it a bit odd that a ship this size wouldn’t have a big theater with a featured headline show. The other thing I found interesting was the photo area. It’s tucked away in a corner and open at odd times. We figured out how to access our photos in the app, but they were tiny and hard to see with the digital watermarks. We did discover that photos could be accessed in some of the large monitors by the elevators (in addition to on the computers in the photo area), but it wasn’t clear how to get to them from some of the various screen layouts. On previous cruises (across all lines I’ve traveled with), traffic patterns were such that guests had to walk through the photo areas, and photos were printed and displayed each day. It was almost impossible not to stop to look at your photos, and doing so inspired us to buy them on more than one cruise (something we hadn’t planned to do in advance). On this ship, we were forced to walk through the smoky casino multiple times instead. These decisions were likely driven by Princess’ knowledge about how to make money from passengers. More cabin fares and money tossed into slot machines is apparently much more profitable than big theater shows and photography sales. The following list of grievances falls under the heading of minor irritations: (1) The traffic pattern around the specialty coffee area created a major bottleneck at times; (2) The buffet was very crowded with too few tables and people pushing and shoving (not unlike any other mega cruise ship); (3) The scrambled eggs were consistently half raw and runny (which is also a thing on MSC ships—why????); (4) We were bothered on several occasions by noise from people dragging their chairs across balconies. I know deck furniture needs to be heavy so it doesn’t blow overboard, but attaching some simple plastic glides to the bottom of it would reduce the dragging noise dramatically; (5) The front area of the ship ahead of the dome was poorly designed for Alaska cruises. It was odd to me that some glass panels were used (I am assuming as wind breaks) but that the area wasn’t able to be closed to allow it to be enjoyed in less-than-warm weather. I understand that this ship spends its winters in the Caribbean, but I wondered why a retractable roof wasn’t used (like it is on the MSC ships I’ve enjoyed) to allow for this area to be enjoyed in both warm and cold climates; and finally (6) There was sometimes a lack of clear information and wayfinding signage. Some examples included how to use the elevators, how to use the app, and disembarkation as it related to checked baggage. We tried to enroll in the port valet program, as encouraged by the cruise line. However, the airline rejected the request (as we were later told “happens all the time”) but this was not made clear to us. We were given the wrong baggage tags and had to visit the customer service counter to figure out what happened and work out a new plan. We ended up on the bus back to the Seattle airport with some people who filled out the port valet form and assumed mistakenly that their luggage would be transferred to the airport when in fact it was still sitting at the cruise terminal. I can see how this could easily happen. Overall, this was a wonderful cruise. I would definitely sail with Princess again and would certainly recommend this ship and itinerary to others who are considering an Alaska cruise.
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.
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
