Star Princess Restaurants & Dining Guide
Star Princess has enough dining options that the hardest part is not finding food, it is knowing which meals are already included and which ones are worth paying extra for.
Build the week around the included main dining rooms, Americana Diner, International Café and the casual counters, then choose specialty restaurants for a specific experience rather than because the ship has a long list of them.
Short version
- Included core: Aurora Dining Room, Celestial Dining Room, The Eatery, Americana Diner, International Café and the Lido and Promenade counters.
- Restricted: Sanctuary Restaurant on Deck 8 is exclusively for Sanctuary Collection guests.
- Casual with a charge: Alfredo’s Pizzeria and O’Malley’s can be paid individually or covered by an eligible package meal.
- Specialty: Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, The Catch by Rudi, Butcher’s Block by Dario, Umai, Makoto Ocean and Love by Britto are distinct experiences.
- Delivery: OceanNow and phone room service have separate fees unless Plus or Premier waives them.
Included restaurants, counters and Sanctuary access
The included side of Star Princess is broader than it first appears: the main dining complex, The Eatery, Americana Diner, International Café and the Lido and Promenade counters can cover most of a cruise without forcing you into paid restaurants.
Aurora, Celestial and Sanctuary dining rooms
Aurora Dining Room is the traditional-seating level on Deck 6, while Celestial Dining Room on Deck 7 handles anytime dining. These are physical levels of the three-story main dining complex, with rotating multi-course menus rather than separate cuisines.
Sanctuary Restaurant is the Deck 8 level and is exclusive to Sanctuary Collection guests. It is a cabin-benefit dining room, not a cover-charge restaurant that another guest can book or a package can unlock.
The Eatery
The Eatery is the large included buffet and food-hall venue, with changing regional dishes and familiar favorites. Use it most at breakfast or lunch when flexibility matters and everyone wants something different.
Walk the full room before making a plate because stations change by meal and day. Breakfast and lunch are its strongest planning roles when flexibility matters.
Americana Diner
Americana Diner is an included Deck 9 restaurant that serves classic favorites all day. The Americana Diner gives pancakes, omelets, shrimp and grits and burgers as representative choices.
This is a physical sit-down diner, not a rotating main-room menu or a generic buffet station. Use it when breakfast food or American comfort food suits the group better than another formal meal.
International Café
International Café is the included quick-bite counter advertised as available 24 hours, with food and specialty drinks following different rules. Sandwiches, salads, pastries and sweets can be included even when espresso drinks require payment or a beverage package.
International Café is my safest late or in-between food fallback. Use it for an easy sandwich, salad or pastry when a full meal feels like too much or the rest of the ship is between service periods.
Lido and Promenade dining
Lido Greens, Grill, Slice, Tacos and Coffee & Cones sit around the pool-deck dining zone, while the Promenade has its own Grill, Ice Cream and Slice counters. Use whichever group is closest to what you are already doing instead of crossing the ship for a nearly identical quick meal.
The Promenade is a casual outdoor route for pizza, burgers, hot dogs and ice cream. Pair these counters with pool or sea-view time and check the day’s weather and hours before relying on them.
Casual dining that is not automatically included
Alfredo’s Pizzeria
Alfredo’s is a sit-down casual-dining restaurant for handcrafted pizza, with an open kitchen and beer and wine by the glass. It carries an extra charge, although an eligible Plus or Premier casual-dining meal can cover the prix fixe selection.
That makes it different from included Lido Slice or Promenade Slice. Pay for the seated pace and full pizza experience, not because pizza is otherwise unavailable.
O’Malley’s Irish Pub
O’Malley’s is the Irish pub for food, drinks and live music, and It is fee-bearing casual or specialty dining. Pub food and beverages can follow different package rules, so confirm what the casual meal covers before ordering.
O’Malley’s works best when the atmosphere is part of the choice. Stop in for pub food and live music when that sounds fun, not use a casual-dining credit just because I happen to be walking past.
Star Princess specialty restaurants by experience
Crown Grill, Sabatini’s and The Catch by Rudi
Crown Grill is the steak, chop and seafood room, Sabatini’s serves handmade pasta with Italian entrées, and The Catch by Rudi centers on seafood and seasonal vegetables. These are three separate reservation restaurants rather than interchangeable package credits.
Choose Crown Grill for classic steakhouse expectations, Sabatini’s for pasta and The Catch for seafood. Check the reservation screen for the price and any package or premium-item details before you book.
The Butcher’s Block by Dario
The Butcher’s Block is a family-style meat experience created with Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini. Shared cuts and sides define the meal, so it is a communal format rather than another version of individually ordered Crown Grill.
Reserve it for a group comfortable sharing the menu. Dietary fit and pacing should be checked before booking because the format is part of the product.
Umai Teppanyaki and Umai Hot Pot
Umai Teppanyaki uses tableside cooking and fixed shared seating, while Umai Hot Pot gives each table its own simmering broths and cook-at-the-table meal. Treat them as two separate reservation experiences rather than interchangeable Japanese dinners.
Teppanyaki is the performance choice and Hot Pot is the cook-at-the-table choice. Reserve whichever format matters more rather than treating both as generic Japanese dinners.
Makoto Ocean
Makoto Ocean is Chef Makoto Okuwa’s modern Japanese restaurant built around Edomae-style sushi and contemporary technique. Choose it when the priority is sushi and chef-driven precision rather than the shared cooking experience at Umai.
Choose Makoto Ocean for sushi and chef-driven precision rather than a tableside show. Check the restaurant menu before booking if a particular fish or course is the reason you want the meal.
Love by Britto
Love by Britto is a multisensory seven-course dinner created by Chef Rudi Sodamin with artist Romero Britto. It is the most theatrical fine-dining experience on Star Princess and makes the most sense when the meal itself is one of the evening’s main events.
Reserve Love by Britto only when you want the seven-course art-forward dinner to be the evening’s main event. It is the kind of meal that deserves space around it rather than being squeezed between a show and another reservation.
Gelateria
Gelateria is a dessert counter for individual treats, not a multi-course specialty restaurant. Food, premium desserts and beverage-package benefits can differ, so check the displayed menu and package terms before ordering.
Packages, OceanNow and room service
Princess Plus includes four casual-dining prix fixe meals per guest, while Princess Premier includes unlimited casual and specialty dining. A casual-dining credit covers the venue’s prix fixe format, not unrestricted ordering from every à la carte option.
Casual-dining inclusions are tied to each venue’s prix fixe menu, so check the choices before using a package meal. If the dish you actually want sits outside that format, paying à la carte or choosing another restaurant may make more sense.
Without Plus or Premier, OceanNow costs $14.99 per guest for the voyage and phone room service adds $5 per stateroom order. Both delivery fees are waived with Plus and Premier, although separately priced food and drinks can still cost extra.
OceanNow is app-based delivery to eligible locations around the ship, while phone room service delivers to the cabin. Use OceanNow when convenience matters around the pool or lounge areas and save room service for the nights when staying in the cabin is part of the plan.
A practical dining route
- Embarkation: check the assigned main-dining arrangement and use International Café or another open included venue if The Eatery is crowded.
- Sea day: compare a specialty lunch or Alfredo’s with its dinner-time opportunity cost.
- Pool day: use Lido counters, and treat Promenade counters as weather-dependent alternatives.
- Special occasion: protect the full evening for Love by Britto, Umai or another paced experience.
- Port return: keep International Café, OceanNow or room service as distinct backup plans with different fees.
Reserve Love by Britto or the small Umai formats first, then The Catch, Butcher’s Block, Crown Grill and Sabatini’s based on preference. Americana Diner and the included counters should stay flexible rather than becoming unnecessary reservations.
Dietary needs, families and planning mistakes
Contact Princess before sailing for a serious allergy or dietary requirement, then confirm it with the dining team onboard. The main dining complex offers the strongest service continuity, while buffets, counters and shared cooking formats need a specific cross-contact conversation.
Families can combine the diner, buffet, International Café and outdoor counters without buying every meal twice. The best paid choice is the format the group will enjoy, not the restaurant with the highest advertised price.
- Assuming Alfredo’s is included. It is a paid casual-dining venue unless your package covers the prix fixe meal.
- Treating Sanctuary Restaurant like a public specialty restaurant. It is reserved for Sanctuary Collection guests.
- Using one menu to judge every casual counter. The Promenade, Lido and delivery options have different roles and hours.
- Counting Gelateria as a full specialty meal. It is a dessert stop.
- Choosing specialty dining by price alone. The best splurge is the experience your group actually wants.
Pair this guide with the deck guide and compare the best cabins with the cabins to avoid. If you are still deciding whether this ship fits your trip, the pros and cons is the next guide you should read.
Continue planning with the things to do, cruise tips.
How this guide was researched: This guide was checked against the cruise line’s current ship pages, deck plans, venue listings, and published policies. Details can change by sailing, so confirm booking-sensitive prices, hours, access rules, and cabin assignments before payment.
Bottom line
Star Princess has a strong included base and an unusually broad paid lineup, but those categories must remain distinct. Protect the included three-level dining experience first, then add a chef-led or interactive restaurant because its format genuinely matters.
For most travelers, one or two paid experiences are enough. Star Princess works best when the included lineup carries the week and specialty dining stays a deliberate splurge instead of becoming the default every night.
Plan the details
Use the Star overview, dining guide, restaurant directory, and main dining to compare access rules, reservation options, and sailing-specific charges before locking in your Star Princess dining plan.
