Star of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's second Icon Class cruise ship, but this new cruise ship is anything but a copy of the first ship.
Instead, Royal Caribbean identified a series of focal points to help evolve Star of the Seas and offer guests a similar yet new product.
The attention to detail on Icon has been phenomenal, and the team onboard has been performing exceptionally well. However, there were certain areas Royal Caribbean saw more opportunities for while developing Icon, as well as after the ship launched.
While Star of the Seas won't be larger than Icon of the Seas, Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer, acknowledged that size brings energy to the story. However, "the world's best family vacation was never about size... It still isn't."
Icon of the Seas measures 1,196 feet long, so passengers can expect Star of the Seas to be the same size, rather than a few inches longer to steal the title of the world's largest cruise ship.
“Star of the Seas is the second bold act of this exciting, new era of vacations first introduced with Icon of the Seas, and it’s putting the world’s best vacation on the map at yet another top travel destination,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International.
“Between Miami and Port Canaveral (Orlando), more adventurers than ever can set their sights on the only vacation that combines the best of all vacations – from the beach retreat to the resort escape and the theme park adventure – with experiences that have and will continue to make headlines and memories for years to come.”
Doubling down on youth and family
Royal Caribbean debuted the open-air neighborhood concept on Oasis of the Seas. While Central Park was carried over to Icon, the Boardwalk was replaced with Surfside, the first purpose-built neighborhood for families with young kids.
Though they built the neighborhood for families with kids between 0 and 6, they've seen "great engagement" from families with children between 0 and 10. As such, Splashaway Bay and the Playscape will have new features with "more play activations."
Additionally, they found that the Water's Edge pool "...is just expanded play for kids with parents," so rather than serve as a pool for parents to relax in while they watch their kids play, it'll function as a family pool.
Adding more play to Adventure Ocean
It isn't a Royal Caribbean cruise ship without the award-winning Adventure Ocean youth program. Guests onboard Star of the Seas can expect a refresh to the look of the kids' club, as well as more analog (i.e., non-digital games) games.
They also conducted teen focus groups and discovered they want places "to meet up and then kind of move around the ship to try to be more [like] adults," so they're going to reboot Star's teen program based on that feedback.
Read more: 5 Kids' Cruise Lines the Whole Family Will Love
Enhancements to the Ultimate Family Townhouse
Though details have yet to be revealed, passengers can expect changes to the three-story suite onboard Star of the Seas.
The Ultimate Family Townhouse on Icon of the Seas features an in-suite slide, a cinema space, a karaoke machine, an expansive, balcony, a private entrance to the Surfside neighborhood, and more.
Read more: Jaw dropping cruise ships with family suites
Kid tracking
Royal Caribbean Blog reported that Royal Caribbean was testing a way to track children on Icon. Schneider confirmed this program will likely be rolled out in full force on Star of the Seas.
The pilot program of Kidfinder on Icon is for kids 12 years and younger, allowing them to be tracked via a waterproof bracelet synced to the Royal Caribbean mobile app.
Sailor will be the second Chief Dog Officer in the fleet
"We've spent a lot of time being very careful about the introduction of the Chief Dog Officer, and that program has been so well received. We're excited to extend it," said Schneider.
Rover has become a social media Icon. In addition to guest pictures, Royal Caribbean's social media team occasionally shares glimpses into the daily life of Rover. She can be seen playing ball at Perfect Day at CocoCay, basking in the Caribbean sunsets, hosting trivia, and more!
Upon Star of the Seas' launch, Sailor will become the second-ever Chief Dog Officer!
Changes to the food and dining experience
People love to cruise with Royal Caribbean for the food, so they want to give guests different experiences to look forward to on Star of the Seas, starting with the Empire Supper Club, which has been a "smashing success."
"...we're continuing on the original vision for the supper club, and so we move, we're following the earth, so we move from the Empire State to Chicago with the introduction of the Lincoln Park Supper Club," remarked Schneider.
Now, rather than focusing on New York City, the theme, music, and menu of the Lincoln Park Supper Club will be paired with the Windy City, AKA Chicago.
In fact, they always had a desire to evolve the Supper Club concept. "I knew it was going to be successful based on the amount of research and testing we did, and we already had a vision to evolve it...it's just [a] fun creative canvas to continue to play with the things that work so well," said Schneider.
Additionally, he mentioned that Icon 3, which is still unnamed, will also have a Supper Club onboard. The theme, however, will be Hollywood.
Pier 7 was a new concept that launched on Icon of the Seas. The family-friendly brunch menu provided guests hanging out in Surfside with a new specialty restaurant that could be enjoyed throughout the day, rather than just for dinner.
While details are scarce, passengers should expect a change. Schneider explained details likely won't be revealed until about six months before Star of the Seas' launch.
Finally, Royal Caribbean is looking for ways to evolve the AquaDome Market concept. The core of the food hall-style restaurant won't be changed, though.
"[The] bones or DNA of the offering [will stay the same]," explained Schneider, "It's still great complimentary grab-and-go food, custom made...It's really just kind of the cuisine food types that we have."
New ship, new homeport, and the expansion of Royal Caribbean's destination product
Star of the Seas will precede the launch of the Royal Beach Club in Paradise Island and Cozumel, Mexico. Based on the released itineraries for Star, "[it] will for sure...go to the Royal Beach Club [in] Cozumel."
It won't open until sometime in 2026. Still, there's a lot to look forward to at this exclusive, extra-cost destination, including swim-up bars, pool cabanas available for rent, snorkeling, kayaking, restaurants, and street markets.
Moreover, the ship will sail from Port Canaveral, rather than Miami, where Icon of the Seas is based. Located about an hour from Orlando, Florida, Port Canaveral allows Royal Caribbean to access one of the largest family markets.
Upgrading The Pearl
"The pearl was novel when we created it. We didn't know what to expect in full operation," said Schneider. Moving forward, there's an opportunity to enrich the color.
"Instead of the single color light ring in the back of each of those 3,500+ tiles, they go to full multicolor rings," he continued. This will give them a broader canvas to play with as they think about the stories they want to tell.
Read more: 26 Royal Caribbean Tips & Tricks
Stateroom doors with facial recognition
Royal Caribbean's hope is to pilot facial recognition cabin doors on Star of the Seas. Though Star has been the target for a while, a lot of work goes into testing new doors.
"We don't know how far that pilot will go yet, but we're pretty confident that we will at least be able to pilot the right subset of doors," explained Schneider.
New hot tub
When Royal Caribbean was designing Icon of the Seas, they hoped to have one more hot tub onboard. It was scrapped at the last minute because they thought they did not have more water weight to play with.
Building a cruise ship, especially a new class, is always a learning process. As such, Star of the Seas will have an extra hot tub adjacent to the AquaDome and the Lime & Coconut Bar, bringing the total number of hot tubs onboard to 10!
Icon of the Seas was a "white paper" ship that started from scratch, so the approach for designing and revolutionizing Star of the Seas differed
Focus groups with guests helped give Royal Caribbean an idea of what areas they could evolve to improve the guest experience.
"We're still doing focus groups with guests. We're still pouring over all of the incoming data. That's flow analysis; that's talking to guests on board," stated Schneider.
However, the research began before Icon of the Seas' launch and continued through its inaugural season. That's how they figured out parents and kids wanted more opportunities for play in Adventure Ocean, for instance.
"The [Icon] Class will continue its tradition, evolution, [and] revolution through the process that's worked so great for us," he continued.
Star of the Seas will sail to the Caribbean from Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida
Star of the Seas will sail from Port Canaveral beginning August 31, 2025, and offer 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings, with every single itinerary scheduled to visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's award-winning private island in The Bahamas.
There are three different Eastern Caribbean itineraries:
- Perfect Day at CocoCay; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten
- Perfect Day at CocoCay; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis
- Perfect Day at CocoCay; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Star of the Seas only offers one Western Caribbean itinerary that visits Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas; Cozumel, Mexico; Roátan, Honduras; and Costa Maya, Mexico.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
