Princess Cruises Star Princess

Page 6

Dining

Counting the three “main” dining rooms as one, Star Princess offered seven distinct venues for us to enjoy meals with one spot, the International Café, open 24 hours. We appreciated that the main dining room is split in three—we found this slightly preferable over being seated in a single room seating more than 1,000, as is common on most ships. We also found that, for those of us on the Anytime Dining plan, two-top tables weren’t hard to come by (especially when we weren’t trying to sit down at 7 or 7:30).

Although we didn’t have much put in front of us that we didn’t like, we will say the food on Star Princess didn’t exactly aspire to greatness. It aims for the middle-of-the-road palates, delivering satisfying if not ambitious cuisine—maybe a cut above comfort food. The Alaskan dinner we enjoyed in the main dining rooms was a highlight, the tasty steak at Crown Grill was a worthwhile (and modest) splurge, and we found good, hearty breads served nightly; desserts and pastries were also generally solid. On the other hand, the ship’s salads left us wanting and the lobster entrée at Sabatini’s was poor.

Throughout, we found restaurant servers to be well trained. Star Princess may be just another Princess vessel, but this crew made it feel real, unique and warm.

	Amalfi, Capri and Portofino dining rooms	International
	The trio of main dining rooms on Star Princess delivered.
	Horizon Court	International
	The buffet venue showcased good variety and excelled with desserts.
	Sabatini’s	Italian	$20
	The specialty Italian restaurant had a pleasing setting and good service, but our entrée was a loser.
	Crown Grill	Steakhouse	$25
	The ship’s steakhouse was a handsome venue with competently prepared meats.
	Trident Grill, Prego Pizzeria and Sundaes	Pizza, Ice Cream, Cookout
	Located on the Lido Deck these eateries were noshing around Neptune’s Reef.
	International Café	International
	For coffee drinks and light meals at all hours, this was the spot.