Our family returned recently from a week long cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas. While the four of us (myself, husband, and two teenage boys) had been on the Icon of the Seas two years earlier, this would be the first cruise for the seven of us to try out an Icon class ship as a group. For this cruise, in addition to the four of us, we had my mother-in-law and my two parents with us. We found that there were, of course, a lot of things that we loved about the ship, but there were also a few things that we didn’t especially enjoy, and there were even some aspects to the ship or the cruise that surprised us.
The Star of the Seas first set sail with passengers in August of 2025 and is the second ship in the Icon Class. The ship, along with the other Icon Class ships, is one of the biggest ships in the world. Star of the Seas is 248,663 gross tons and at maximum capacity can hold 7,600 passengers. As a comparison, the largest Celebrity ships, the Celebrity Beyond and Ascent, are 141,420 gross tons and have a maximum capacity of 3,731. Needless to say, the Star of the Seas is quite large. Like the Oasis class of ships, Icon class ships are split up into neighborhoods, which help to make the ship feel less crowded. In addition to the ones found on the Oasis class ships, the Star of the Seas has the AquaDome observation area, the Hideaway pool deck (instead of the Solarium), and Surfside- an area for families (instead of the Boardwalk).
What We Liked
One things we really like about the Icon and the Oasis class ships is the neighborhoods. Not only does it make the ship seem less crowded, but it also provides the ship with some unique areas to spend your time. For example, Central Park is a really cool, relaxing area where you can get a glass of wine, enjoy the calmer music and eat at its restaurants.
We really like the AquaDome market on the Icon Class ships. The AquaDome market is a food hall or food court with 4 or 5 different food options that are all complimentary. Royal Caribbean wisely decided to change them up for each Icon Class ship so you would have different options depending on which ship you are on. On Star of the Seas, you could choose from Mediterranean, Barbecue, Mexican, Thai or Crepes. We tried them all and found something that we liked at each one. Generally, we found that all of the complimentary food options on board were very good, which is not something that you can say about every ship.
This did not surprise us but the service was excellent and the crew, in general, was top notch. We are accustomed to finding great service in the main dining room, but for this cruise our servers went above and beyond. Once they figured out what we like and how we like things, every night our needs and wants were anticipated. Eating in the main dining room was something that we looked forward to and really enjoyed.
As we have come to expect on Oasis class and Icon class ships, the aqua show was a major highlight for us. We enjoyed it so much that we went back and watched it a second time. On Oasis class ships, the aqua theater is located on the Boardwalk in the open air. This is a really fun space but it puts the show at the mercy of the weather, so occasionally the shows have to be rescheduled. On the Icon class ships, the aqua theater is locate inside in the area known as the AquaDome (located next to, of course, the AquaDome market). Because this space is indoors, the shows are never at risk for being rescheduled. The show on Star of the Seas was especially cool because it had a really unique segment to it toward the end, which was a surprise to us and something worth looking forward to (I won’t ruin the surprise).
What We Didn’t Like
While the ship didn’t feel incredibly crowded due to the nicely sectioned neighborhoods, it still felt incredibly big. The design of the ship was overwhelming at times. We even discovered on the last night a pool and hot tub that we didn’t even know existed. We discovered that, at least for our family, perhaps less can be more.
We found that Star of the Seas had a number of spaces that felt cramped and their design made it feel a little like an after thought. For example, we ate lunch in Izumi, which is located in Central Park, and combines both the sushi and hibachi in one space. Not only did we have to have conversation over the sounds of the clanging and chatter of the hibachi, but also the tables were so cramped that our server had to hand us our food from the other side of the wall that separated our section from the hibachi area. Other ships either have a more spread out Izumi restaurant or have the hibachi in a complete different area from the sushi bar. To us, it seemed like, as well, that activities and events were at times just stuffed into certain locations that didn’t really make sense. Bingo was in the music hall, the Moët & Chandon Wine tasting was put in Lou’s, the night club, and there was no one or two areas for trivia. We even showed up for trivia at one location to find that the area had been double booked with the art auction. Some of the decision in design and scheduling just seemed kind of weird and silly.
On the brand new ships, we are accustomed to seeing not only the best cast in the fleet but also the best production quality. When Royal Caribbean announced that Star would have Back to The Future as their main theater production, we immediately booked our cruise so we could experience it. Ta be fair, we had very high expectations, and we had even already seen a production of the show at The Fox in Atlanta, GA. While the cast was really excellent (and this was confirmed for us at the show they had the last night called Create), their talents seem squandered as they did their best to perform a version of the full broadway show that just didn’t live up to our exceptions. As a comparison, the Wizard of Oz was created especially for the space on Icon, so we were able to see the full show, which was done in a spectacular way, taking full advantage of the space and technology of the theater.
Famously, the Icon class of ships have 6 water slides in an area of thrill island known as Category 6. Category 6 boasts to be the largest water park at sea, which would be great if all 6 water slides were open and functional. When some family of ours cruised on Star of the Seas over the summer, only 2 water slides were open, and we were fortunate enough to have 4 water slides open and working. To us, this isn’t a huge deal, but it really doesn’t make sense to have so many water slides if they can’t all function and be open.
None of these dislikes ruined our cruise or even lessened our cruise, but it did cause us to reevaluate whether or not booking a cruise at this cost was really worth it. We are still on the fence about our the cruise we have booked next year on Hero of the Seas.
What Surprised Us
While we really enjoyed our cruise on Icon of the Seas, we looked forward to seeing what was new to the design of Star of the Seas. We discovered that there was almost nothing different in the design and layout of the ship. The main differences are the restaurant choices in the AquaDome Market and the different shows offered on board. We were surprised to find that there were so few changes and improvements made to Star of the Seas from Icon of the Seas. So, in a way, it surprised us that Star of the Seas had so few differences and updates for us to be surprised by.
All in all, we had a wonderful cruise together and really enjoyed our week on Star of the Seas. The fact that Star of the Seas embarks currently out of Port Canaveral is a huge plus to us because it means less of a drive for us. For our cruise on Icon, the four of us drove all of the way down to Miami from Altanta and it added on a lot of time and cost to our trip.
We love cruising on Royal Caribbean and we really like trying out their new ships. But, we also love their older, smaller ships. The Oasis class, which isn’t small by any means, still offers all of the things that we really love about cruising on Royal Caribbean at less of a cost than what the Icon class cruises cost. We really like the Odyssey of the Seas and want to get back on that ship, and Mariner of the Seas also holds a place in our hearts (it was our first cruise together). So, from now on, when booking that next family cruise, we will likely consider going on ships other than the Icon class.
Regardless of how we felt about our Star of the Seas cruise, the Icon class ships are amazing. If you and your family are looking to check them out, I would love to help with the planning. If after reading this, you are thinking that you might want to give the smaller ships a try, I can help with that too. Contact me today so we can get started.