Star Princess 2025

[nasa1974]

Now that the Sun Princess is finally sailing with passengers, we need to start watching how the Star develops. With the Star being the second of the "Sphere Class" will there be any tweaks or surprises. Let's find out together.

 

Marty

[Lady Arwen]

I’m always looking forward to hearing about new ships, especially a new class.  I remember when we were all waiting with bated breath for Royal Princess.  I was so excited to sail on her in her inaugural year.  However, Sphere class is over the charts!

Edited February 28 by Lady Arwen

[h20skibum]

Wonder what lessons they learned from the first build?   I wouldn’t be surprised to see some aft facing balconies. 

[nasa1974]

It was probably mentioned in the Sun Princess thread but the keel for the Star Princess was set on December 11, 2023.

Hopefully I can find websites that will help keep us informed. Maybe @dides and a few others from the Sun thread can help out as well.

[nasa1974]

30 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m always looking forward to hearing about new ships, especially a new class.  I remember when we were all waiting with bated breath for Royal Princess.  I was so excited to sail on her in her inaugural year.  However, Sphere class is over the charts!

The thread for the Royal Princess was really special and had a great following.

[h20skibum]

There was this video of the Keel laying on December 11, 2023.

 

 

[nasa1974]

@h20skibum Thank you for the video.

[h20skibum]

How about we add some information about the Captains that have been posted to the Star.   This from the Princess news release on December 15, 2023.

 

 

 

Santa Clarita, Calif. (December 15, 2023) – Princess Cruises announced the two captains who will serve as masters of the line’s second, sensational Sphere Class cruise ship, Star Princess, during an official keel laying ceremony in Monfalcone, Italy.

Captain Gennaro Arma, who currently serves as the newbuild site lead for the construction of both Sun Princess and Star Princess, will be master of the 17th Princess ship when she debuts in summer 2025, bringing her into service from the shipyard. When Captain Arma is on leave, Commodore Nick Nash will take over the navigation and leadership of Star Princess.

 

“It is my privilege to introduce and congratulate the masters of the stunning new Star Princess,” said John Padgett, Princess Cruises president. “Captain Arma and Commodore Nash have remarkable histories with Princess, and will provide great experience and excellent leadership on our newest vessel.”

 

Commodore Nick Nash, a 33-year veteran of Princess Cruises, was promoted to the rank of commodore of the line’s global fleet in 2020. He currently serves as captain of Enchanted Princess, having navigated the ship out of the Fincantieri shipyard for the first time. Commodore Nash first joined the company in 1989 and was promoted to staff captain in 1997. In 2002, he became captain and has been at the helm of many Princess vessels. Commodore Nash also has served as President of the Nautical Institute and after two years now serves on the council. He was awarded the United Kingdom’s Merchant Navy Medal for meritorious service in 2018. He is a Chartered Master Mariner, a Fellow of The Nautical Institute, The Royal Institute of Navigation, The Royal Geographical Society and a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

 

Captain Gennaro Arma has always been passionate about the sea. He began his career with Princess Cruises in 1998 as a Cadet and moved up the ranks achieving his first command as Captain of Sea Princess in 2015, where he navigated the ship on two world cruises. He took the helm of Diamond Princess in 2018 and in 2020 and was honored with the recognition of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the highest of the orders of the Italian Republic, and selected among the 20 most influential Italian characters of the year by Vanity Fair in December 2020. Arma has also received the title of Magister of Amalfi Civilization for the Byzantine New Year, the Emanuela Loi award for courage, and the Assarmatori prize from the Italian maritime association awarded by the Minister of Transportation. He most recently served as captain of Discovery Princess. He was born in Sorrento, Italy, where he lives with his wife Mariana and his son Diego.

 

Star Princess makes her debut in August 2025, with cruises on sale now.

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel advisor, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) or by visiting the company’s website at www.princess.com.

[nasa1974]

Thanks.

[fpsphil]

Hopefully we see the fix with the high glass on the cabana balconies!

[aussiecruiser275]

2nd that im not looking forward to my 10foot high balcony rail from my C2 balcony Cabana mini - how awful and hideous it looks

[rmsmith]

15 hours ago, aussiecruiser275 said:

2nd that im not looking forward to my 10foot high balcony rail from my C2 balcony Cabana mini - how awful and hideous it looks

I wonder if we will eventually get info on why they put up the high glass on deck 9.  Managing wind seems to be the only reason I can think of. And it will indeed be interesting to see if they change it for the Star.

 

I have a cabana mini book on 9 near the front of the ship and the high glass is my only reservation with the room. I tend to like to lean against the railing and watch the ocean go by or look out while in port.  Not going to work from the room.

 

And I wonder if it might make the other areas of 9 feel cramped or otherwise closed up. 

[fpsphil]

14 minutes ago, rmsmith said:

I wonder if we will eventually get info on why they put up the high glass on deck 9.  Managing wind seems to be the only reason I can think of. And it will indeed be interesting to see if they change it for the Star.

 

I have a cabana mini book on 9 near the front of the ship and the high glass is my only reservation with the room. I tend to like to lean against the railing and watch the ocean go by or look out while in port.  Not going to work from the room.

 

And I wonder if it might make the other areas of 9 feel cramped or otherwise closed up. 

We still have our Reserve cabana reservation all the way forward deck 9. We are on a b2b so might just keep that cabana for one of the weeks and switch to something else for another week

[Steelers36]

On 2/28/2024 at 8:38 AM, nasa1974 said:

Now that the Sun Princess is finally sailing with passengers, we need to start watching how the Star develops. With the Star being the second of the "Sphere Class" will there be any tweaks or surprises. Let's find out together.

 

Marty

Really?  So soon?  PS - I bet it's a carbon copy from what we guests will see as they have no time to see how Sun shakes out.  If they build a third one, then you might see some tweaks (as in Royal Class).

Edited February 29 by Steelers36

[Sadebud]

Thank you for starting this thread.  I booked the Star's inaugural TA as a 26 day Barcelona to FLL in October of 2025 while I was onboard the Enchanted TA last November.  Super excited!

[Mikeyto]

Hello!  I just booked the Feb 14th 7 nt Eastern Caribbean on the Star earlier this morning.  I cannot wait to check out the new class of ships!

[vwlmember]

My wife and I are booked on the September 30th cruise in a D1 Premium Deluxe Balcony on deck 15. Cannot wait! 578 days and counting down!

[nasa1974]

Still searching to see if I can find construction videos for the Star.

 

 

Edited March 2 by nasa1974

[beg3yrs]

On 2/28/2024 at 7:13 AM, h20skibum said:

Wonder what lessons they learned from the first build?   I wouldn’t be surprised to see some aft facing balconies. 

I'd be absolutely surprised. This is a one year build. Project plans have been in place for years. The supply chain is long and detailed. The enemy of making a schedule on time is changes to the plan.

 

And ... the deck plans show the same aft layout as the Sun Princess.

[ian441672]

We are booked on the inaugural B2B on the Star next August in a Penthouse Signature suite - we are nervous now after all the issues around the Sun. We missed out in the inaugural for the Enchanted with COVID, so we don't want to miss out on this one too!

 

It all promises to be a fantastic ship, I just hope the kinks work out and they finish the schedule so that the production shows are 'live' and all the venues are up and ready - after all that is what you pay for, notwithstanding any 'unforeseen' surprises!

 

Anyway, fingers crossed....it's very exciting.

[dides]

22 hours ago, nasa1974 said:

Still searching to see if I can find construction videos for the Star.

 

 

How about a walk past a big ol' engine in a shed?  Gede from the Sun Princess showed us a glimpse of the Star Princess at the shipyard - check out from around 10:30 onwards on this video

 

 

[nasa1974]

@dides Thanks. You seem to know all the right spots to look. 

The video showing the keel laying showed some white tanks. I wonder of those might be the LNG tanks.

[nasa1974]

Morning. Bumping up from page 5.

Also, some information on bed location in the cabins.

The beds alternate because of the cabin set up. The special note in the description indicates where the sofa or the bed is located. In the deck diagram the indentation in the wall shows location of the bed. Hope this helps folks wanting the bed in a certain location in their room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nasa1974]

So, a few on the Sun Princess Thread seem to think the next cruise may see more pictures of cabins etc.

There was a person on YT that had a nice video of a Deluxe Balcony Cabin. Along the side were more videos about the Sun. So hopefully we will get some more ideas what the Star will look like in 2025.

 

 

[Prometheus1]

Booked on the 16 day TA on Star in 2025- So looking forward to it. I booked one of the odd shaped room/ balcony on Deck 14, I think the bridge is right above me. Haven't seen any videos or photos of those type of rooms on any of the Sun photo/video yet but I will keep looking 

Edited March 9 by Prometheus1
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