Horizon Court on Star Princess

Horizon Court is Star Princess' round the clock buffet restaurant. Spanning the area between the Calypso Pool and Reef all the way aft overlooking the Terrace Pool, the 725 seat Horizon court is a large facility. Two service areas, one on each side, provide continuous service with one shutting down to permit transition to the next meal without the need to terminate all service for the preceding one. The net effect is, food appropriate for the time of day, always, will be available at one of the two areas.

The Late Night Bistro is menu/waiter service. No charges apply! For those not availing themselves of the automatic daily deduction for gratuities, tips are suggested for the Late Night Bistro.

Indoor table areas, accommodating 620 guests are comfortable with nicely cushioned chairs and sturdy, quality tables. Spacing is commodious with plenty of room for carrying and unloading trays. I encountered no hidden slopes like those we "stumbled" upon on Holland America's Zaandam. Tables I observed were promptly cleared and prepared for the next user. Outside seating for an additional 105+ guests can be found forward within the Calypso Reef, or aft, on the terrace overlooking the Terrace Pool.

Food is served from a series of counter islands, each specializing in a certain type item: fruits and cold items; breads and rolls; salads and dressings Hot self service items; hot items requiring service; etc. Passengers wander around freely, selecting items desired, standing in lines only at the busiest of service bars, typically, for the hot items. Transitions occur prior to the busiest of times so, at times when the majority of passengers are seeking meals, both service areas will be up and running, serving identical meals.

Several drink islands serving coffee, hot water for tea and cold tea are scattered throughout the main dining area.

A juicy tidbit that I find fun concerns the pattern of the carpeting laid throughout the Horizon Court and its history. When Dawn Princess was commissioned, Princess covered that ships Horizon Court with the second of the two patterns shown above. It was only after passengers began remarking about certain "phallic" aspects of the squid that Princess discovered the liberties the designer had taken. Although embarrassing, a warehouse filled with the stuff existed, so the pattern continues to be used, at least on that ship.

For Star Princess, the identical pattern was installed with one MAJOR alteration: a softer, rounded octopus has replaced the more controversial squid formerly used! Which do you prefer? If you happen to find yourself dining at Dawn Princess' Horizon Court, beware THE SQUID!!