The second Sphere-class ship in the Princess Cruises fleet will be called Star Princess – as I predicted on Twitter ten days ago.
Like sister ship Sun Princess, Star Princess is a treasured name that is being reused for the newest and biggest class of vessels ever built for the line.
The newcomer will make her debut in August 2025, joining Sun Princess (launching next February) in Europe to celebrate the line’s 40th anniversary of sailing the Mediterranean.
Both 4,300-passenger LNG-powered ships feature a nine-deck ‘sphere’, a Dome entertainment venue, a circular Princess Arena theatre and a dining room that gives spectacular views of the wake.
Sailing into the future: Star Princess (Picture: Princess Cruises)
Star Princess will debut on August 4, 2025, sailing a nine-day Inaugural Italy & Greece round trip from Rome (Civitavecchia) to destinations including Corfu, Kotor, Mykonos, Santorini and Naples (for Capri and Pompeii), followed by a variety of nine and ten-day cruises from Rome, Athens or Trieste (Venice). These cruises go on sale with the larger Europe 2025 programme on June 1, 2023.
Sun Princess will sail a series of seven-day Mediterranean voyages in 2025 from Barcelona, Rome or Athens that will call at ports including Istanbul, Naples and Santorini.
Prediction: My tweet on May 2
In the UK, Sky Princess, Regal Princess and Emerald Princess will sail from Southampton. Those 2025 cruises go on sale on May 25.
Princess Cruises’ first Star Princess ship initially launched in 1988 as Sitmar Fair Majesty. When Sitmar Cruises merged into Princess, she entered service as Star Princess in 1989 and was christened by actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn. In 1997, the ship became Arcadia for P&O Cruises.
The second Star Princess launched in 2002, as the third Grand-class vessel. Along with (the former) Sun Princess, Golden Princess and Sea Princess, Star Princess left the fleet in 2020, becoming Pacific Encounter for P&O Cruises Australia.
Sun Princess will join the fleet in February 2024 (Picture: Princess Cruises)
After Princess Cruises named the first Sphere-class ship Sun Princess, I reasoned it might use one of the other disused names from the fleet for its follow-up.
Having visited Sun Princess at her shipyard near Venice earlier this year, I’m convinced her sister will be just as exciting.
Read my shipyard report on Sun Princess for Travel Trade Gazette here