Star Princess is one of Princess Cruises’ newest ships and only one of two in the Sphere Class. It was purpose-built for cruising to Alaska, and that’s what I did as a guest of Princess Cruises in May 2026 on one of its first sailings to Alaska ever!
I took a 7-night Inside Passage sailing to Alaska leaving from Seattle, which was particularly convenient for me as a Seattle local.
My overall impression of Star Princess is that it is a gorgeous new ship, designed for socialization through communal and interactive dining experiences and with a few standout spaces like the spa and Spellbound. It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing, so read on for my honest take on the ship and the experience so you can decide if a voyage is right for you.
The Rooms
We enjoyed a Cove Balcony room on Star Princess and I was impressed by the space, layout, design, and functionality of the room. I really had no complaints about the room!
There were plenty of outlets, lots of storage, a large balcony perfect for watching the glaciers in Alaska, and a spacious bathroom.
Beekman 1802 toiletries are a nice touch and feel more elevated than I expected.
I have heard a lot of great things about the Princess beds, but I personally found mine to be a bit uncomfortable.
Dining
We enjoyed unlimited specialty dining with the Princess Premier package and it was fun to try all the different options. While we did eat at the buffet multiple times, the specialty dining was really our focus on this cruise.
The Catch by Rudi
This was probably my favorite dining experience on Star Princess. The food is seafood-forward and delicious, and it felt upscale without being stuffy. The decor was beautiful, with a blown glass sculpture running the length of the room that reminded me of the sea. This one is a can’t miss!
Umai Teppanyaki
Umai Teppanyaki is an interactive dining experience, where you sit in a U-shape around a big teppanyaki grill. A chef is in the center, cooking and entertaining you through a multi-course meal. It is in the same restaurant as the Umai Hot Pot restaurant, so if you experience one, you will kind of experience the other.
We had a lot of fun at this restaurant and found ourselves singing along, attempting to juggle eggs (this did not go well, as you can imagine!) and eating a mountain of food. I definitely recommend this dining experience!
The Butcher’s Block by Dario
This is a family-style steakhouse concept, where a host comes on the microphone and greets you, explaining how the meal works. Waiters come around with various kinds of steaks, and you can choose or refuse what you like. You can choose from a few side dishes, and there is a bottle of red wine sitting on the table for the taking.
There isn’t a menu to select from, and seatings happen at the same time. It ended up being a heavy meal with a lot of food, but perfect for red meat lovers. If you aren’t a big steak fan, I would skip this one, though it was a fun and relaxed atmosphere that I enjoyed.
Crown Grill
Grown Grill is the traditional steakhouse on board, with delicious sides, steaks, and seafood. This was a solid dining experience but not particularly memorable for me. Definitely worth a stop if you have specialty dining included or if you are a steak lover.
Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria
I attended a special wine pairing dinner at Sabatini’s the night my husband was quarantined (more on this below!), which significantly colored my enjoyment of the experience. That said, it was a nice experience but not one I would recommend paying extra for. It was a multi course meal with wine pairings from a partner winery. I love wine and love learning about wine, and I found the wines to be fine but not at all complex or impressive. If you know much about wine, you will be underwhelmed.
The food was good but I had hoped for more oomph for a paid, one-night-only special experience. I don’t believe we had the typical food served at Sabatini’s, so I can’t speak to a normal night at the restaurant and look forward to returning to try that menu as well.
LOVE by Britto
So this one is a head-scratcher for me. Multiple people told me this is their favorite dining experience with Princess and the most romantic of the options, so I had high expectations going in. I was confused and much less impressed by the food at LOVE than at many of the other restaurants onboard.
Some things to know: everything is pink. Like, everything. The cocktails are bright pink and overly sweet. The tableware is pink. There is a red heart accompaniment with the oyster appetizer. They take the love theme to the max.
What felt truly incongruous to me was the service. When I think of a romantic restaurant, I most definitely don’t think of a waiter with a microphone singing bad love songs on karaoke and encouraging diners to leave their wait staff a good tip. Yet…that is what we experienced. Frankly, nothing could have been less romantic. I’m not sure if this was a normal part of the dinner service, but I would not return to LOVE nor would I recommend it.
Makoto Ocean
I snuck in a visit to Makoto Ocean for lunch on a sea day, and was so glad I did! It is located in the Sphere, the main common area of the ship with excellent views. It serves a Japanese menu with a bento box or poke bowl as the lunch options. It is a solid sushi option, though fairly vanilla in terms of its rolls and offerings. I had the poke bowl and had some pieces of fish not properly prepared, with skin or ligaments still attached. Aside from that, it was a nice dining option and one I wish we had had time to visit for dinner as well.
The Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is Princess’ ship-in-a-ship concept for luxury travelers. Certain room categories, including suites, get access to the Sanctuary, which is a private club and dining area. We were lucky enough to be invited to experience the Sanctuary multiple times during our sailing as members of the media. Otherwise, only guests in a Sanctuary room can enjoy these benefits.
The Club is located on the top deck aft and offers a pool, hot tubs, cabanas, plenty of lounge chairs and seating areas, a bar, and even a telescope. There is also a light lunch buffet offered daily, including salads, dips, and light entrees.
Perhaps the best part, though, is the 3 pm champagne wall. Starting at 3 pm daily, you can ring a bell and a window opens in a garden wall. A hand pops out with a champagne glass, perfect for starting happy hour!
The Sanctuary also has its own dining room, which serves similar dishes to the main dining room, but in a much more private and upscale environment. If you are someone who likes a slower pace and fewer people but still want the conveniences and variety of a large ship, the Sanctuary is a great choice.
Spa and Wellness
I always look for ways to counteract all the indulgence on a cruise, and Star Princess delivers in a big way. There is a huge gym, which never felt crowded, even on sea days. It was busy, but not overly so. There were free weights, weight machines, cardio machines, yoga mats, towels, water filling stations, and infinite views.
The ship also offers a steady stream of fitness classes, some free and some paid. Outside, there is a walking/jogging path and an enclosed sports court, where you can play basketball and pickleball or tennis.
The Spa
I enjoyed a morning at The Enclave in the Lotus Spa, where guests can move between different therapies. There is a relaxation lounge with heated lounge chairs along with a steam room, dry sauna, hydrotherapy tub with massagers, and a cold shower station.
We tried to go in the afternoon one day but found it overcrowded, so we opted to return the next morning for a quieter experience. Be aware that on sea days, the afternoons will be busy and the vibe will be more “relaxed party” than “meditative.”
It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours and worth a stop.
We did not experience any spa treatments on this cruise, but Lotus Spa has a full offering of face and body treatments.
Hot Tubs
This ship has tons of hot tubs, which I loved! However…they don’t actually get that hot. I imagine this is a safety thing, but in early season sailing through Alaska, I was really craving a hot tub to warm up in after a day of sightseeing in port. What I got was a scenic view and a warm dip. If you really want to get hot, you’ll need to take a shower in your room.
The hot tubs at the back of the boat on deck 8 are spectacular. There are two of them, one on either side of a glass infinity edge (heated) pool. This was a wonderful place to hang out, have a drink and a swim, while searching for whales and taking in the scenery.
What I Loved
Spellbound
Spellbound is Princess’ immersive magic show and bar experience, and I loved every minute of it. It is an additional cost, even on top of the Princess Premier package, but I think it was absolutely worth it. The drinks were creative and tasty, the decor and experience were expertly done, and the magic show was genuinely fun to watch.
We liked it so much we considered going back a second night. Be prepared for a speakeasy vibe where the piano plays itself, a painting of Neil Patrick Harris moves in its frame, and where cocktails are presented with liberal use of dry ice. The photography opportunities are endless. Dress to impress for this night!
Ship Design
The layout is a bit confusing, honestly, but the ship is obviously new and looks it. The design is modern, the colors and the use of space in the rooms is clever, and overall, it’s a beautiful ship.
The Dome
The Dome was one of my favorite spaces onboard Star Princess. It felt light and airy, yet cozy and cocooned. I took coffee here one morning while my husband was still sleeping and grabbed a seat facing the sea. It was quiet, warm, and easy to ignore what little activity was going on around me. It’s a great space for reading, relaxing, or just watching the world float by.
The Music
There was music all over the ship, and the musicians were genuinely talented. I particularly loved sitting at Crooners bar with its gorgeous views and listening to the acoustic music.
What Didn’t Work
I really enjoyed cruising on Star Princess, but there were a few challenges to share in transparency, including one very negative experience.
Lunch Availability
I’m not sure why this was so difficult, but we really struggled to find availability for lunch on ship days. The buffet seats were usually full, and the speciality restaurants that were open were usually booked with a long wait. I kept hearing about how great Alfredo’s Pizzeria was, but in a 7 day cruise, I never got to try it because there was always a huge wait. And this is not to say I didn’t try. I think we went 5 different times trying to eat there and never could get in.
WiFi Speed
Even on the Princess Premier package, the wifi was extremely slow. My husband had planned to work for part of the trip and found it nearly unusable.
Shows and Entertainment
I saw one show on Star Princess, the Latin music performance called Viva la Musica. I couldn’t get over the fact that on a ship with employees from all over the world, there wasn’t a single Latin performer on stage. That aside, the performers simply weren’t that good, and the dance moves were simple and repetitive.
At the end of the show, they pulled people onto the dance floor, and I willingly joined in. A passenger sitting near me caught me on my way out, saying that I was a better dancer than the performers. Gratifying, as I have done a lot of Latin dancing in my life, but indicative that I wasn’t alone in my thinking.
One show was all I needed, so it’s possible that other shows were more impressive. I don’t want to say that none are worth attending, but I can’t recommend Viva la Musica.
Gluten Contamination and Ship Quarantine
Cruises can be tricky for food allergies, and for the most part, Star Princess did a good job with my husband’s gluten allergy. However, we had one major issue that threatened to derail the end of our trip that I can’t overlook.
He went to lunch at the buffet and chose an item without an ingredient label. He was hoping to ask someone about the ingredients but there was a line waiting behind him and no one working the station, so he just chose it anyway. Shortly after, he started feeling the classic symptoms of gluten consumption, which are typically GI-related if you know what I mean.
He used the Princess app to contact guest services by chat to ask if it was possible to confirm the ingredients, because he felt sick and like he had eaten gluten. They tried to call our room several times but we had unplugged the phone in order to make more room on the desk and thus didn’t receive any of the calls.
They then sent someone to the room not to answer our question about the ingredients but to interrogate him about his symptoms. We didn’t know it at the time, but we had tripped some sort of protocol.
He asked repeatedly, over the app, on the phone, and in person, if we could just confirm the ingredients in the specific salad he had eaten. He’s had a gluten allergy for 20 years, and the symptoms are consistent so he was almost certain that was what was going on, but it’s always nice to have confirmation before he douses himself with activated charcoal.
After plugging the phone back in, we got a call from the ship doctor, who asked more health questions and promptly informed my husband that he was being quarantined and prohibited from leaving our cabin for 24 hours to prevent spreading his “illness.”
It took 6 hours to get an answer about the ingredients. Spoiler: there was gluten! And several more pleading phone calls to get the ship doctor to reconsider his quarantine order since my husband was not contagious.
We fully understand and respect the need to keep infectious diseases from spreading onboard, and understand how quickly they can move in close quarters. We felt that the response completely ignored his known and documented allergy and went only on his symptoms, which are so generic as to match with a whole bunch of illnesses.
The back and forth and punitive nature of the interactions ruined a day for us and unfortunately became one of the more memorable parts of our cruise.
Wrap Up
Overall, I had a great time aboard Star Princess, though I did find it to be a little overwhelming at 4,300 guests and full capacity on my sailing. This is no fault of the ship, just an adjustment for a new cruiser. There are wonderful dining options, an excellent spa, beautiful common spaces, plenty of hot tubs, and a VIP private club worth spending up for if you can. Though we didn’t have a perfect experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to book this ship again.
