ONBOARD THE STAR OF THE SEAS -- The Star of the Seas is big. Huge, even. But it wears its size well.
Boarding Royal Caribbean International's second Icon-class ship for a preview sailing the week after spending five days on the Utopia of the Seas brought the size picture into relief. While the Star is larger than the Utopia, it carries fewer passengers, resulting in more space per passenger.
It helped that the Star was not near its 5,600-passenger capacity when we sailed out of the ship's Port Canaveral home.
Still, the ship has really good flow. One example: The family-friendly Surfside neighborhood on Deck 7 can be entered from Central Park on Deck 8 via stairs or a dry slide; from Deck 7 past the aft bank of 12 elevators; or from Deck 6 between the entrances to Adventure Ocean and Playmakers. All three entries lead past a colorful, three-deck flamingo that serves as a Surfside landmark and meeting point.
And escalators connect the Deck 2 gangway to the Deck 4 Casino Royale and the Deck 5 Royal Promenade through the middle of the ship.
"You can get from Deck 2 to 8 without having to go forward and aft, essentially," said Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean's chief product innovation officer. "We interconnect neighborhoods in a way we've never done before."
First Call: Star of the Seas
Water, water everywhere
Like the Icon, the Star leans heavily into water experiences, with seven pools and the Category 6 waterpark in the Thrill Island neighborhood.
The line added a hot tub in the Star's Chill Island neighborhood on Deck 15 between The Lime and Coconut bar and the AquaDome Market. From here, guests can easily stroll into the food hall for a bite, Sprinkles for a treat or the Swim & Tonic swim-up bar.
The swim-up bar -- which seems to be a particular obsession of Royal designers, since Schneider said all future private destinations will have them -- is a great place to cool off and mingle, though I can foresee it feeling crowded.
Much more space to spread out is available at the Royal Bay Pool, with its in-water loungers. But the showstopper remains the infinity-edge Hideaway Pool in the aft adults-only section. One tip: Bring a hat. There is no shade to block the Caribbean sun when you're in the water.
But the Hideaway is not the most exclusive pool experience on the Star. That distinction belongs to The Grove in the Suite Neighborhood (as the name implies, it's for suite guests only) where a pool and a hot tub flank a dedicated bar and alfresco dining area.
The Star's Category 6 waterpark remains unchanged from the Icon. The sister ships' Frightening Bolt waterslide, billed as the tallest drop slide at sea, remains closed after a scary incident on the Icon's slide.
Though debuting with only five of its slides in action, the Star does add a new thrill: A skywalk and ropes course 154 feet over the ocean called the Crown's Edge. Strapped in a harness, guests walk around a giant Royal Caribbean logo on a deck-high path, then in front of the logo over the sea, ending at a breakaway platform. Without warning, this platform drops, leaving you dangling over the water as you zip back around the logo to the starting platform. Truth be told, I found the dismount to be scarier than the surprise drop.
New food hall faves
The AquaDome Market on the Star features three new eateries: La Cocinita for Latin American fare, Pig Out BBQ for brisket and pulled pork, and Mai Thai for pad thai and beef panang.
The food hall was my favorite place to dine on the ship, with its expansive views and laid-back feel. The portion sizes and limited menus at the five stalls (Creme de la Crepe and Feta Mediterranean are Icon holdovers) encourage guests to try all the different cuisines in the bright, airy space. La Cocinita's Cuban sandwich was satisfying yet surprisingly light, and I had to get seconds of the savory pad thai.
Schneider said the AquaDome enables Royal to experiment with different cuisines from ship to ship. "This has been a really great concept for us to play with," he said.
Great Scott! 'Back to the Future' wows
The Star of the Seas is debuting several entertainment offerings, including one that traveled here from 1985: "Back to the Future: The Musical."
This show captivated in its first performance before a live audience (and with a special guest in attendance: franchise co-creator Bob Gale). The special effects were so good, I really felt like I was in a Broadway theater. You'd better believe that DeLorean flew!
The ice-skating show "Sol" made its debut in the ship's Absolute Zero venue, and it weds Latin, country and pop hits with hypnotizing visuals in a story that follows the sun from party to party from Miami to California.
At Perfect Day at CocoCay, the Oasis-class Symphony of the Seas docked next to the Star. I had the rare experience of looking down on one of the largest ships in the world from the largest ship in the world.
Despite its impressive size, the Star of the Seas combines wide promenades, plenty of pools, panoramic views and interconnected neighborhoods with novel transitions to create an easy-to-navigate and open onboard experience.
Royal Caribbean's multiple undertakings
Executives onboard for the Star of the Seas preview cruise provided a glimpse of what to expect from Royal Caribbean in the coming years.
The next Icon ship, Legend of the Seas, is expected next year, and an unnamed fourth Icon ship in 2027. A seventh Oasis-class ship is due in 2028, and the company is working on a smaller class of ships, the Discovery series.
"There's an opportunity to build ships that have a lot of the same amenities and activities but on a slightly smaller platform," said Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty. "And that is very much in the dream engine."
Also on the smaller side, but in a major scale, is Royal Caribbean Group's entry into river cruising with Celebrity River Cruises, with the first two ships expected in 2027, then ramping up to four ships a year over the next two years.
"We will be a significant player in that river space," Liberty said, adding that there's "an avalanche of demand" for the product.
Finally, Royal plans several superlatives in its upcoming private destinations, starting in December with the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, which will have the world's largest swim-up bar.
"Every pool has a swim-up bar … in all of our land-based destinations moving forward," Schneider said.
Meanwhile, Perfect Day Mexico, set to open in 2027, will not only feature the world's longest lazy river but also the world's largest sombrero (a bowl waterslide) -- not to mention several swim-up bars.