Key Aspects:
- Spellbound by Magic Castle launched on Sun Princess in 2024 and will offer new experiences aboard Star Princess when she enters service in October 2025.
- The 20th-century master magician known as Cardini will be featured in Star Princess’s reimagined ‘magical’ lounge space.
- Princess Cruises has discontinued the Spellbound dinner package on Sun Princess, and it will not be offered on Star Princess either.
Spellbound by Magic Castle, the mystical and spirited entertainment venue that debuted aboard Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess in 2024, will be offered on the cruise line’s newest ship, Star Princess, but with a twist.
Created in a collaboration between Princess Cruises and the Hollywood-based experience called The Magic Castle, Spellbound entertains cruise guests in a dedicated lounge venue where magicians perform magic acts, bartenders whip up special cocktails, and technicians stage special illusionary effects.
After its successful launch aboard Sun Princess, the concept will roll out on Star Princess when she enters service in October 2025.
The Magic Castle has altered the experience on Star Princess, however, adding a special emphasis on one of the magical world’s most iconic performers — Richard Valentine Pitchford, better known as Cardini, a master magician who died in 1973.
It is his great-nephew, Randy Pitchford, who owns The Magic Castle and has added Cardini-inspired experiences to the venue aboard Star Princess. One new offering will be a special cocktail menu at the Cardini Bar, including a drink called the Cardini, described as a butter-washed rum Old Fashioned.
“Spellbound has quickly become one of the most talked-about experiences at sea, and we’re thrilled to take it to the next level aboard Star Princess,“ said Lorna Warren, Vice President of Hotel Operations and Guest Experiences at Princess Cruises.
“By bringing to life the spirit and setting of the original Magic Castle in Hollywood, our reimagined speakeasy will deliver a one-of-a-kind venue where every guest can feel like they’ve stepped into a world of true magic,” added Warren.
There is a $45 per person up-charge to enter Spellbound by Magic Castle, and the fee includes two cocktails. Several magic shows are scheduled nightly, and reservations can be made in advance or onboard the ships.
Spellbound No Longer Features Pre-Show Dinner Package
When Spellbound by Magic Castle opened on Sun Princess a higher admission price included dinner service before the show. That option no longer exists on Sun Princess and will not be offered on Star Princess.
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The cruise line has quietly discontinued its $149 per person Spellbound dinner-and-show package; the program is now described on the line’s web site as a lounge event on both ships, with the $45 admission charge.
Guests are advised to dine in the venue of their choice at least two hours before their intended showtime.
The 4,300-guest Star Princess, second in the cruise line’s new Sphere class, is slated to enter service on October 4, 2025, sailing an 11-night Inaugural Western Mediterranean cruise roundtrip from Barcelona.
The ship is undergoing her final outfitting at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, after successfully completing sea trials from August 9 to 12, 2025.
Star Princess will reposition to Fort Lauderdale on a transatlantic voyage departing Barcelona on October 22, 205. Once homeported in Florida, the ship will sail 7- and 14-night Caribbean cruises.
The longer itineraries combine visits to Eastern and Western Caribbean destinations, including Belize City, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, Cozumel, Mexico, the private island Princess Cays, Bahamas, Puerto Plata/Amber Cove, Dominican Republic, and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.
The ship features 30 dining venues and bars, 30-plus stateroom and suite categories, and multiple entertainment venues where mainstage productions are held, along with smaller venues featuring various musical performances.
