Star Princess reveals supersized features ahead of 2025 launch

Princess Cruises is going big with the line’s latest addition, the Star Princess set for its maiden voyage in October 2025.

Following its float-out ceremony from the Finantieri shipyard last month, details have emerged about what to expect from the second largest ship ever built in Italy, filling the 178,000-tonne behemoth with desirable features like a bigger Sports Court, increased capacity in onboard venues like O’Malley’s Irish Pub and expanded non-smoking casino areas.

Star Princess is only the second Sphere-class in the Princess Cruises fleet, following the Sun Princess which was launched earlier this year on a maiden voyage from Rome. The newly built ship mirrors much of her sister’s design with a larger sense of scale and space.

The LNG-powered ship has capacity for 4300 guests and mirrors a lot of the Sun Princess’ most popular features including entertainment such as Cirque Éloize in the ship’s state-of-the-art piazza-style dome—the first glass—enclosed structure of its kind built on a cruise ship.

Star Princess also features The Sanctuary Collection, Princess’ exclusive collection of suites—Sanctuary Suite, Sanctuary Mini-Suite and Sanctuary Balcony stateroom—where guests have access to a range of amenities including their own restaurant, the breezy Sanctuary Club and the Suite Lounge.

Outside of The Sanctuary, there are 29 venues for eating and drinking, most expanded to accommodate larger capacity so there’s less pressure to race for seats at venues like the art-inspired Expanded Love by Britto (20 extra seats) and the aforementioned O’Malley’s Irish Pub (32 extra seats).

star princess stateroom render

Elsewhere, there are a total of 2157 staterooms, which includes 80 suites, 123 mini suites, more than 1000 balcony cabins, and 100 family-friendly connecting rooms.

The increasingly popular trend of keeping active at sea will be taken care of by the expanded multifaceted Sports Court on Deck 19 with scope for pickleball and basketball courts as well as an open-air jogging track big enough that around 6.7 laps would equal 1.6 kilometre. Nearby: a dedicated hammock area so you can relax after your jog.

Interestingly, Star Princess’ will also feature a Splash Zone for kids. Keen cruisers may remember that Sun Princess originally promised to have a Splash Zone with Pop Jet fountains but this was pulled back in the final design. With Star Princess now going ahead with this

“After the overwhelming response to Sun Princess, we are excited to debut her sister ship, Star Princess, with added enhancements to elevate the guest experience,” said John Padgett, Princess Cruises president.

“From expanded non-smoking casino areas to new spaces to relaxation and recreation, Star Princess will deliver an unforgettable vacation for all when she launches in fall 2025.”

On the gaming side of things, the brand has also installed 68 additional slot machiens in a non-smoking section of the casino.

Star Princess will run around the Caribbean for her maiden voyage with a repositioning in Alaska in Spring 2026.

1 thought on “Star Princess reveals supersized features ahead of 2025 launch”

  1. Call me old fashioned, call me hard hearted, call me hard to get along with but there is no way I want to holiday on ships of this size. 4000 plus passengers, nah !
    100 plus cruises over the last 30 years, I kinda know what I like.

Comments are closed.