The popular cruise line says its second Icon class mega-ship, Star of the Seas, will debut with seven-night Caribbean cruises from Florida’s Port Canaveral beginning August 2025. Fares currently start at about $1,610 per person.
Like the younger sibling of a successful firstborn, Star of the Seas has an impressive legacy to live up to.
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean announced its next ship several months before its preceding sister vessel, Icon of the Seas, entered service in January 2024.
By that point, Icon — currently the world’s biggest cruise ship — had already lived up to its namesake.
Royal Caribbean saw its largest booking day when reservations for Icon of the Seas opened in October 2022. Since then, Michael Bayley, the cruise line’s president and CEO, has repeatedly called the first Icon class vessel the company’s “best-selling product.”
If Star of the Seas captures the same attention as its predecessor, the new floating resort could be just that — a star.
The sister ships would be identical in size
Royal Caribbean
Like Icon, Star would weigh 248,663 gross tons and tower at 20 decks tall and 1,196 feet long.
At full occupancy, Icon accommodates the population of a small town — 9,950 people, or 2,350 crew and 7,600 guests. Royal Caribbean has not specified Star of the Seas’ full guest capacity, but like the older ship, it would accommodate 5,610 guests at double occupancy.
Like size, activities are expected to remain consistent across both behemoth ships.
Identical to Icon, Star would have a six-slide waterpark, seven pools, the amusement park-like Crown’s Edge ride, and eight neighborhoods. The latter still includes Surfside, the go-to for families with young children, and AquaDome, home of Royal Caribbean’s signature AquaTheater.
Royal Caribbean
Icon’s $200-per-person Empire Supper Club was notably left off Star of the Seas’ list of amenities. Instead, the new vessel is expected to debut Lincoln Park Supper Club, an upcharged “1930s Chicago-inspired” restaurant with live entertainment. (No word yet on pricing.)
However, if you loved the grab-and-go sushi window, food hall, jazz venue, and swim-up pool bar that debuted on Icon, you’d be pleased to see them return on Star — along with Royal Caribbean staples like a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant, and a seafood eatery.
So, if Star of the Seas books as well as Icon, we could expect the upcoming mega-ship to be another mega-hit.
Royal Caribbean plans to keep busy in the next few years. A third unnamed Icon class vessel is scheduled to debut in 2026, followed by a seventh Oasis class vessel two years later.
