Is the second draft your ship?
Answer once, scored without flattery.
Why Star Princess, specifically
There is an old shipyard truth: the second ship of a class is the one the first ship paid for. Star Princess inherited every Sphere idea — the glazed Dome, the sphere hung above the Piazza, the Medallion assumed from the keel — after eighteen months of her sister finding the rough edges. Same 177,800-tonne scale, same LNG power, better notes in the margins.
Her christening rewrote a small piece of company liturgy. On 6 November 2025 at Port Everglades, Camila and Matthew McConaughey named her together — a godparent couple where tradition demanded a single godmother. For a line whose entire brand is a televised promise of personal attention, choosing a family instead of a figurehead reads less like celebrity casting and more like a thesis restated.
Then she went to work: a Caribbean-forward opening, and by July 2026 she was in Alaska — where our own Skagway snapshot found her alongside seven fleetmates, though with the shortest call of the eight. More on that below, because we said we'd always tell you.
The Medallion manufactures attention with software; a second-of-class hull manufactures refinement with hindsight. Star Princess is both machines running at once — the fleet's youngest ship executing its oldest promise.
Sleeping 4,300 without losing anyone
The same vast Sphere-class accommodation plan as her sister, worn with a 2025 build sheen — and the same deliberate flattening of the old cabin hierarchy.
The manifest
Roughly 4,300 guests at double occupancy makes her, jointly with her sister, the biggest manifest Princess has ever boarded — and the reason the Medallion stops being a gadget here: on a hull this long, a door that opens itself and a locator that finds your teenagers are load-bearing features, not party tricks.
Being the 2025 delivery, everything aboard is first-owner fresh — the one advantage no refit can ever hand an older ship.
Where the money should go
The traditional logic — pay for a suite, receive the attention — is precisely what Princess set out to dismantle. Plus at $60 and Premier at $90 per person per day sell availability to every cabin on the manifest; the software neither knows nor cares what category your stateroom is.
Which reframes the upgrade question aboard Star Princess: buy square footage because you want square footage. The being-noticed part is already un-rationed.
Nights aboard the 2025 hull
The full Sphere-class venue roster in its second printing — with the first ship's queues studied, and the software still doing the fetching.
Dinner, debugged
She carries the class's headline range of restaurants and casual spots — the broadest Princess offers — and the second-ship advantage shows up at dinner most of all: service patterns arrive pre-debugged rather than being invented nightly.
Premier's unlimited specialty dining is at its most persuasive on this ship, simply because there is so much of it to be unlimited about; Plus's pair of casual meals covers the grazing days between.
After the sun quits
Evenings run on glass and geography: the Dome shifts into show mode overhead while the Piazza — three decks under a suspended sphere — hosts the ship's after-dark drift. It is a genuinely lovely way to arrange 4,300 people's night.
Say the quiet bit aloud: 4,300 guests do not fit in any theatre afloat. Booking ahead is the culture here, and reserved production-show seats are a real fraction of what Premier's $90 buys on this particular ship.
On the map
She opened Caribbean-forward from Port Everglades and reached Alaska by the July 2026 season. Sphere-class deployment favours the Caribbean and Mediterranean overall — verify the map for your dates, since flagship schedules move with demand.
Both columns of the ledger
The case for her
- The youngest hull Princess operates — a 2025 delivery with the class's first-year lessons already absorbed
- Caribbean-forward opening seasons that suit the ship's warm-weather architecture
- The full Medallion-native design, second printing: same ideas, fewer rough edges
- A christening story with actual meaning — the line's first godparent couple, named at Port Everglades
The case we still have to make
- Our July 2026 Skagway snapshot clocked her at 11 hours alongside (06:00–17:00) — the shortest Princess call in port that month, three hours less shore time than the Coral-class ships managed
- She shares her sister's arithmetic: a 250-person Dome on a 4,300-guest ship means the best room is always oversubscribed
- The experience presumes app, phone and location sharing — a trade some travellers reasonably decline
- Youngest-in-fleet steel commands top-of-fleet pricing
Fair questions, straight answers
When did Star Princess enter service?
She was delivered on 26 September 2025 and sailed her maiden voyage on 4 October 2025 — making her, as of that delivery, the youngest ship in the Princess fleet.
Who christened Star Princess?
Camila and Matthew McConaughey, at Port Everglades on 6 November 2025 — the first godparent couple in Princess history, rather than the traditional single godmother.
How big is Star Princess?
177,800 gross tons carrying roughly 4,300 guests at double occupancy — jointly with Sun Princess, the largest scale Princess has ever operated.
How long does Star Princess stay in Skagway?
In our July 2026 snapshot her Skagway call ran 06:00 to 17:00 — 11 hours, honestly the shortest of the eight Princess calls in the port that month; fleetmates managed 13 to 14. Port times vary by sailing, so check your specific itinerary.
Star Princess or Sun Princess for a first Sphere-class cruise?
Season first: Star opened Caribbean-forward, Sun leaned Mediterranean. Beyond that it's temperament — the 2025 second draft with refinements, or the 2024 original with the aura. The fit-check above and our class guide's matcher will settle it for your trip.
Get real advice on Star Princess
Which itinerary is on your shortlist?
Give us your dates, your ports and your tolerance for crowds, and we'll answer straight — Star, her sister, or a smaller Princess class, including whether her shorter port calls matter for your itinerary.
Drawn from our own guides · figures re-checked against Princess's current schedules before anything is booked.
Trying to decide whether the 2025 flagship earns her premium over the sisters below her?
Ask Seabound about Star Princess