Princess Cruises
Premium Cruising
Princess is the premium cruise line I most consistently recommend for Alaska, the Mediterranean, and multi-generational family groups. The new Sphere-class Sun Princess is a genuine step up — Conde Nast Traveler named her the number one mega cruise ship two years running — and the MedallionClass technology makes the onboard experience remarkably seamless. Princess sits in a sweet spot between mass-market and luxury: better food and service than the big volume lines, but without the formality or price premium of the ultra-luxury tier.
Princess Cruises began in 1965 when Stanley McDonald chartered a single ship to carry passengers from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera. The company entered the public consciousness a decade later as the inspiration for "The Love Boat," a television series that ran for nine seasons and is widely credited with popularising cruising as a mainstream holiday concept. That cultural footprint still lingers — Princess occasionally runs themed sailings featuring cast reunions — but the modern line has evolved well beyond nostalgia. Today, Princess is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company, and operates a fleet of 17 ships sailing to more than 380 ports across all seven continents.
Princess positions itself squarely in the premium tier — above mainstream lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean, more accessible and less formal than the ultra-luxury brands. The brand philosophy centres on "come back new," a promise of enriching, relaxed travel without pretension. In practice, this translates to strong itinerary depth, flexible dining options, and the fleet-wide MedallionClass technology platform that genuinely differentiates Princess from its closest competitors. The most significant recent development is the Sphere-class ships, launched in 2024 and 2025, which introduced The Dome geodesic entertainment space, an expanded multi-level Piazza, and the Reserve and Sanctuary Collection cabin tiers — a ship-within-a-ship concept that signals Princess's upmarket ambitions. Sun Princess earned the number one ranking among mega cruise ships in the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards in both 2024 and 2025, and that recognition is well deserved.
The honest appraisal is that Princess delivers roughly 80 per cent of the luxury experience at around half the luxury price — an attractive proposition for travellers who appreciate quality food, comfortable cabins, and excellent destinations without paying Silversea or Regent premiums. The caveat is fleet consistency: the gap between a Sphere-class ship and a 28-year-old Grand-class vessel is substantial, and passengers who book based on the newest-ship marketing may be surprised by an older vessel. Choose your ship carefully, and Princess rewards you well.
Princess operates a tiered package model rather than an all-inclusive fare structure, and understanding what sits behind each tier is essential to budgeting accurately. The base cruise fare covers the cabin, main dining room meals, the World Fresh Marketplace buffet, complimentary venues like Alfredo's pizzeria and the International Cafe, all entertainment and production shows, the fitness centre, pools, and the Camp Discovery kids' programme. What it does not include is drinks, gratuities, Wi-Fi, specialty dining surcharges, spa treatments, and shore excursions — and those extras add up quickly if purchased individually.
Princess Plus, at roughly US$65 per person per day, bundles the items most passengers would buy anyway: a drinks package covering beverages up to US$15, one-device Wi-Fi powered by Starlink, crew appreciation gratuities for the full voyage, four casual dining meals, and waived delivery fees for mobile ordering and room service. The consensus in the cruising community is that Plus represents genuine value — the gratuities and Wi-Fi alone account for more than half the daily cost, so even moderate drinkers come out ahead. Princess Premier, at approximately US$100 per day, adds unlimited specialty dining, a higher-tier drinks package with no daily cap, Wi-Fi for four devices, shore excursion credit, unlimited professional photos, and reserved theatre seating. Premier is the better choice for passengers who plan to dine at Crown Grill and Sabatini's regularly and who drink above the US$15 threshold.
The fleet-wide MedallionClass technology is woven into both packages. The OceanMedallion, a small wearable device provided to every guest, enables touchless cabin entry, on-demand food and drink delivery to your exact location via the app, real-time companion locating, turn-by-turn wayfinding, and contactless payment. When it works well — and keyless entry and payment consistently do — it removes genuine friction from the day-to-day experience. The mobile ordering and personalised service features are more inconsistent, and the app's branded terminology can frustrate first-time users. But as a technology platform, MedallionClass has no real equivalent on any other cruise line, and it is a meaningful reason some passengers choose Princess over otherwise similar competitors.
Princess's dining programme has undergone a genuine uplift since culinary ambassador Rudi Sodamin began shaping the menus in 2018. The main dining rooms — typically two or three per ship — offer both traditional fixed-seating dinner (early and late sittings) and Anytime Dining, which allows flexible arrival without a fixed table. Menus rotate nightly across a multi-course format, and the standard has improved noticeably, with more thoughtful preparation and better-quality ingredients than the main dining rooms offered even three or four years ago. The World Fresh Marketplace buffet has similarly been upgraded, with expanded vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free sections that reviewers note exceed most competitor offerings.
The complimentary dining venues are a genuine strength. Alfredo's pizzeria, a sit-down restaurant serving hand-tossed pizza, salads, and antipasti, is virtually unanimously praised as one of the best pizza experiences at sea — many repeat guests cite it as their favourite venue on any line. The International Cafe in the Piazza serves pastries, panini, and soups around the clock. The pool grill handles casual daytime eating well. For passengers on the Plus or Premier packages, the OceanNow mobile ordering system allows food and drinks to be delivered to your exact location anywhere on the ship — a genuinely useful feature when it functions reliably.
Specialty dining carries surcharges unless included with Premier. Crown Grill, the signature steakhouse, runs approximately US$39 per person and is generally well regarded for aged beef and seafood, though some guests find the experience inconsistent at that price point. Sabatini's serves multi-course Italian at around US$29, and Catch by Rudi — Sodamin's personal creation — offers seafood with artistic plating at roughly US$32. The Sphere-class ships expand the options further with Umai Teppanyaki, Cielo, and additional seafood venues. Dietary requirements are accommodated with 60 days' advance notice, and vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options appear daily across all venues. Execution is willing but variable — some sailings handle special diets excellently, others less consistently.
The typical Princess passenger is a couple aged 55 to 75, though the demographic range is broader than that reputation suggests. Australian and Alaskan deployments tend to skew younger, with a 45-to-65 core, while longer voyages and world cruises attract a more senior crowd. Couples account for roughly 60 to 70 per cent of passengers, multi-generational family groups make up 15 to 25 per cent (rising during school holidays), and solo travellers represent a small but present minority. On Australian sailings, the nationality mix runs 70 to 85 per cent Australian, with New Zealand, British, and American passengers filling the balance.
The atmosphere is warm, approachable, and sociable without being boisterous. The Piazza — a multi-level, glass-wrapped atrium at the heart of every ship — functions as the social hub, with live music, street entertainment, and cafe dining creating an inviting energy that encourages mingling. Princess ships have become livelier in recent years, with more than 75 daily activities programmed on larger vessels, but the line remains more subdued than Carnival or Royal Caribbean. It is not a party ship. The dress code has relaxed considerably: most evenings are smart casual, with one or two formal nights per seven-night cruise encouraging suits and cocktail dresses in the main dining room. Enforcement is gentle, and passengers who prefer casual dress can always dine in the buffet or alternative venues.
Princess is not the right fit for everyone, and it is worth being direct about that. Party seekers, young adults without children, and travellers expecting white-glove ultra-luxury service will find it too middle-of-the-road. Budget-conscious travellers will find that packages push the total cost meaningfully above mainstream lines. Technology-averse passengers may find the MedallionClass integration — which is deeply embedded in the daily experience — more frustrating than convenient. But for couples and multi-generational groups who want premium quality, flexible dining, strong entertainment, and a relaxed social atmosphere without formality or pretension, Princess consistently hits that sweet spot between mass-market and luxury.
Captain's Circle, Princess's loyalty programme, enrols guests automatically after their first completed cruise. The programme runs four tiers — Gold, Ruby, Platinum, and Elite — earned through cruise credits or days sailed, whichever threshold is reached first. Suite bookings earn double credits. Once a tier is achieved, status is retained for life, which is a genuinely generous policy compared to programmes that require ongoing activity.
Meaningful benefits begin at Platinum, earned after five cruises or 50 days at sea. Platinum members receive access to an exclusive onboard lounge, early dining reservations, 50 per cent off Wi-Fi, and 10 per cent off spa treatments and photo packages. Elite status, at 15 cruises or 150 days, adds complimentary wine tastings, afternoon tea, mini-bar setup, canapes on formal nights, complimentary laundry, priority tender and disembarkation, and discounts on shore excursions and onboard shops. The Gold and Ruby tiers, while pleasant acknowledgements, offer minimal tangible benefits — early itinerary access and a dedicated help desk are useful but not transformative.
The programme is solid without being exceptional. The 15-cruise threshold for Elite is achievable for regular cruisers, and the lifetime status retention is appealing. However, Captain's Circle lacks the headline perks — complimentary cruises, automatic upgrades — that make some competitor programmes genuinely exciting. There is no status matching from other cruise lines, and no cross-brand recognition across Carnival Corporation's portfolio, which means a Princess Elite member receives nothing when sailing Holland America, Cunard, or any other Carnival brand. For travellers who split their cruising across multiple lines, this is a notable gap.
Princess has one of the strongest Australian presences of any international cruise line, and the commitment is growing. The line operates through Carnival Australia, the division managing Carnival Corporation's brands in this market, with a dedicated Sydney office, an Australian booking line, and a local website offering full AUD-denominated pricing. Onboard accounts on Australian deployments can be settled in Australian dollars, which removes the currency risk that complicates bookings with some international lines.
The seasonal deployment has expanded significantly. Two ships were homeported in Australia for the 2025/26 season, with departures from Sydney, Brisbane, and Hobart covering itineraries to New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji. The 2026 world cruise from Sydney — visiting 48 destinations across 31 countries — was the longest world cruise ever to sail from Australia. For the 2027/28 season, Princess has announced a return to three ships sailing from six Australian cities, marking a significant expansion and a clear signal that this market is a priority rather than an afterthought.
For Australian guests accessing Princess's global itineraries — Alaska, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean — flights route through the usual gateways. Alaska connects via Los Angeles, Seattle, or Vancouver. Europe routes through Singapore, Dubai, or a Middle Eastern hub. Asia connects through Singapore or Tokyo, typically with shorter flight times that make Asian deployments particularly attractive from Australia. Princess regularly offers Australian-market-specific promotions including fly/cruise packages, reduced deposits, and onboard credit for local departures. The combination of AUD pricing, local embarkation options, and strong seasonal deployment makes Princess one of the most accessible premium lines for Australian cruisers.
Princess's per-diem pricing sits in the middle of the premium segment — meaningfully above mainstream lines like Carnival and MSC, broadly comparable to Holland America, and generally a touch below Celebrity for equivalent cabin categories. A balcony cabin on a standard 7-to-14-night itinerary will typically fall in the range of a couple of hundred to several hundred dollars per person per night before packages, varying considerably by season, destination, and booking timing. Alaska and world cruise pricing commands a premium; repositioning cruises and shoulder-season sailings offer the strongest value.
The critical calculation with Princess is total cost rather than headline fare. Adding Princess Plus at roughly US$65 per day or Premier at US$100 per day changes the value equation substantially. A Princess Plus balcony booking often lands in similar territory to Celebrity's Always Included pricing, but with the MedallionClass technology and broader itinerary selection as differentiators. A Princess Premier booking — with unlimited specialty dining, premium drinks, and excursion credit — can approach the per-diem of some lower-tier luxury products, though the experience remains firmly premium rather than luxury. The packages represent genuine value, but you need to run the total numbers for your specific sailing rather than comparing bare fares.
Solo travellers face a standard supplement of up to 100 per cent, with no dedicated solo cabins anywhere in the fleet — a notable disadvantage compared to lines like Norwegian or Viking that offer solo-specific accommodation. Reduced supplements of 25 to 50 per cent appear periodically, particularly on repositioning cruises and longer voyages. Deposits are modest, typically a few hundred dollars per person, and Princess uses a tiered cancellation structure that escalates from deposit forfeiture to full penalty as the departure date approaches. Wave season, running January through March, consistently delivers the strongest promotional offers. For the best cabin selection and introductory pricing, booking 12 to 18 months in advance remains the standard advice.
Share your dates and preferences and we will come back with Princess Cruises cabin options, pricing, and insider tips.
