In November, Princess Cruises announced it was adding new cocktails to select menus. And they weren't just any cocktails.
The recipes were designed with Handshake Speakeasy, the Mexico City establishment that for two years in a row was named best cocktail bar in North America by 50 Best.
But the fruits of the collaboration were relatively subtle changes to the onboard experience: five new cocktails that would only be available at two venues onboard.
It is those types of targeted food and beverage moves that are shaping the cruise line's culinary evolution.
Princess Cruises is consistently rolling out celebrity liquor partnerships, menu revamps and other updates to culinary programming, keeping the onboard experience fresh without shaking up the status quo too much. Rarely are the developments particularly splashy, and they are more often a small handful of new offerings than a major replacement of or addition to what is already offered.
That style matches president Gus Antorcha's vision for the cruise line's trajectory. He describes the line's growth as series of refinements and enhancements to the onboard experience.
"You will not see a big departure from where we've been historically for Princess," he said onboard the Star Princess on an inaugural sailing from Miami in November. "This is an evolution of who we are as a brand."
He touts increases in net promoter scores as evidence that the strategy is working. While fleetwide, net promoter scores have grown by 23% since 2023, the dining experience specifically saw an even more significant improvement of 28%, Antorcha said.
Guazzetto di cozze e gamberi at Sabatini's Italian Trattoria, where a six-course Grand Tuscan Dinner is served one night per sailing. Photo Credit: Teri West
A-list partnerships
Brand partnerships, especially with celebrity-backed brands, are one category of F&B initiatives the cruise line has embraced in recent years. Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, were the Star Princess' godparents last year after their Pantalones brand of tequila partnered with Princess in 2024.
The fleet now uses the tequila in its signature 24K gold margarita, and as of November guests had ordered nearly 900,000 of them over 14 months, according to vice president of food and beverage Sami Kohen.
The offering is one component of what Princess calls its Love Line Premium Liquors collection, a selection of celebrity-branded wines and spirits it introduced in 2024 and has since expanded.
A bartender pours one of the five new Princess Cruises cocktails created in partnership with Handshake Speakeasy. Photo Credit: Teri West
Recent additions include Hampton Water, a rose brand by Jon Bon Jovi and his son Jesse Bongiovi; Archer Roose, a wine label from Elizabeth Banks and Meili Vodka by Jason Mamoa. The celebrities behind the brands have appeared in promotional materials about the partnerships.
"They are not just a name or a face," Kohen said of the celebrity partners. "They do come onboard. They create fun, great media for us."
The collaboration with Handshake Speakeasy is a similar concept to the Love Line collection. Three of the five cocktails are exclusively available in the line's Crooners bar, and the other two are just for guests with access to the Sanctuary Club.
Rob Floyd, a mixologist who has partnered with Princess as an ambassador for its beverage programming, said some of the cocktails take a week to make to allow the ingredients to infuse.
Take the banana bread old fashioned, for example, which only achieves the proper banana flavor after a multiday infusion process using a banana peel, Floyd said.
A salmon lunch at Makoto Ocean. Photo Credit: Teri West
Keeping up with trends
Beyond the world of celebrity partnerships, Princess has been tweaking its F&B offerings to meet evolving guest preferences and to stay fresh.
Zero-proof beverages is one area it has developed in recent years and that it plans to continue to evolve, Antorcha said.
The cruise line announced a menu of zero-proof drinks called the Amore Princess Zero Alcohol Collection last January, including mocktails designed by the team at the renowned Barcelona bar Sips.
Princess has also noticed a strong appetite for seafood, Antorcha said, and plans to offer more of it in response. He attributed the trend to who Princess' core customers are: active travelers over 50.
"We think that 50-plus guests are probably more health-conscious," he said.
Specialty restaurant offerings are also evolving. Makoto Ocean, a sushi restaurant that had been exclusive to the new Sphere class, was added to the Diamond Princess, which sails Japan, in January.
The line also added the steak house Crown Grill to the Diamond Princess and its sister ship the Sapphire Princess.
Last year, Princess revamped the menu of the Italian specialty restaurant Sabatini's in collaboration with Italian winemaker Frescobaldi.
A part of that revamp is a new Tuscan-style six-course meal with a wine pairing called the Grand Tuscan Dinner, which is offered one night per sailing for $99 per person.
An array of seafood bites served after the Star Princess' christening. Photo Credit: Teri West
A world of flavors
On the November evening that Princess christened the Star Princess, I was invited to partake in a food hall-style sampling of restaurants and specialty food items served onboard.
Against Miami's night sky in the ship's dome, I delighted in truffle-topped risotto freshly prepared in a block of Parmesan that was hollowed out to serve as a mixing bowl. The item is featured as the first course on a sample menu for the fleetwide Caymus Vineyards Winemaker's Dinner, a $145 experience.
One of the most popular stations that evening offered slices of freshly made pizza in the style of Alfredo's Pizzeria, a casual restaurant on the edge of the ship's atrium.
As a sashimi lover, I was thrilled to find chefs slicing and serving fresh bites from an enormous yellowfin tuna, which I later learned had weighed in at 550 pounds and had come from Japan.
During a short sailing following the christening, I enjoyed every bite of a bento box-style lunch at Makoto Ocean, where I ordered the salmon. At Sabatini's Italian Trattoria, I ordered a lovely guazzetto di cozze e gamberi, a seafood stew with a tomato base. At the Butcher's Block, I was tickled by the theater of the experience, as chefs sharpened knives in the dining room and exuberantly explained the next cut of the steak they would be serving.
Pies on display at Alfredo's Pizzeria, which was recently certified by the Italian government for its authentic pizzas. Photo Credit: Teri West
Upper crust
In the months since the Star Princess' debut, the cruise line has earned a new accolade: a certification from the Italian government for Alfredo's Pizzeria that, essentially, classifies its pizza as the real deal when it comes to Italian cuisine.
The certification, called Ospitalita Italiana, deems the pizza to be authentically Italian and of the highest quality.
"It's amazing pizza, but the Italians also think we have great pizza, which is really the bar" when it comes to measuring excellence, Antorcha said.
He clearly is proud of the recognition from the Italian government. But it's the net promoter scores that Antorcha seems to take the most pride in, and he drew a connection between the improvement he's seen in the scores and the recognition of the pizza's quality.
"Ultimately what matters is, is it having an impact on the guest experience?" Antorcha said.