Royal Caribbean’s new Star of the Seas after the historic icon of the seas

Royal Caribbean announced its next ship months before its predecessor, Icon of the Seas, enters service in January 2024.

By that time, Icon – currently the largest cruise ship in the world – had already lived up to its namesake.

Royal Caribbean experienced its biggest booking day ever when bookings for Icon of the Seas opened in October 2022. Since then, Michael Bayley, the cruise line’s chairman and CEO, has repeatedly called the first ship of the Icon class “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

Like Icon, Star would weigh 248,663 gross tons and have a tower 20 decks high and 1,196 feet long.

At full occupancy, Icon accommodates the population of a small city – 9,950 people or 2,350 crew and 7,600 guests. Royal Caribbean did not specify the full guest capacity of Star of the Seas, but like the older ship, it would accommodate 5,610 guests in double occupancy.

Like size, activities are expected to remain consistent on both jumbo ships.

Identical to Icon, Star would have a water park with six slides, seven pools, a Crown’s Edge amusement park-like ride and eight neighborhoods. The latter still includes Surfside, ideal for families with young children, and AquaDome, home of Royal Caribbean’s signature AquaTheater.

Icon is $200 per person The Empire Supper Club was notably omitted from Star of the Seas’ list of amenities. Instead, the new vessel is expected to debut the Lincoln Park Supper Club, a “1930s Chicago-inspired” restaurant with live entertainment. (No word yet on price.)

However, if you enjoyed the sushi window, food court, jazz bar and pool bar that debuted on Icon, you’ll be delighted to see them return on Star – along with Royal Caribbean staples like a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant and a seafood restaurant.

So if Star of the Seas charges as well as Icon, we can expect the upcoming mega-ship to be another mega-hit.

Royal Caribbean plans to keep itself busy for the next few years. An unnamed third Icon-class ship is scheduled to debut in 2026, followed by a seventh Oasis-class ship two years later.