You guys remember Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the world’s biggest cruise ship? It has just been dethroned by the cruise line operator’s latest behemoth, the Star of the Seas. Well, if ever so slightly. But hey, a win is a win. A sister ship to the Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas is a few hundred gross tons heavier and a couple of feet longer. The newest Icon Class liner made its debut this August in Port Canaveral, Orlando, and it is ready to please Cruise Junkies.
The Star of the Seas has eight neighborhoods, each one trying its hardest to out-neighborhood the others. Thrill Island is home to Category 6, the largest waterpark at sea, with six waterslides designed to eject you into therapy, plus Crown’s Edge, a skywalk 154 feet above the ocean that doubles as a test of bladder control. Chill Island tones things down with four pools, including Royal Bay, the largest pool at sea, and Swim & Tonic, the only swim-up bar you’ll need until you forget where your cabin is.
For families, Surfside is the stay-and-play spot loaded with splash zones for kids and easy access to food for parents pretending to supervise. At the other end of the spectrum, The Hideaway offers adults an infinity pool suspended over the ocean, DJs, and whirlpools—basically Ibiza on a hull.
Dining isn’t left behind either: more than 40 options onboard, from casual sushi pick-ups to a Chicago-style supper club. And then there’s the AquaDome, where divers, acrobats, and robots stage shows while you sip cocktails. Add in Broadway imports like Back to the Future: The Musical, rock-climbing walls, a FlowRider surf simulator, and enough lounges to get lost in, and you’ve got what Royal Caribbean bills as “the ultimate family vacation.”
For those who care about the numbers of this floating city, Star of the Seas has 20 decks, of which 18 are guest decks, and it is crewed by 2,350 international staff. It measures 1,196 feet (364 meters) long, 219 feet (66 meters) across, and weighs in at 248,668 gross tons. Onboard are 2,805 staterooms, capable of housing 5,610 guests at double occupancy. And for the handful of you who collect ship stats like baseball cards, the draft is 29 feet (9 meters). All of this engineering excess was put together at Meyer Turku in Finland, which can now claim bragging rights for building a small city that floats and sells margaritas.
The Star of the Seas sails 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean adventures, with the obligatory stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay. For more information on this latest behemoth of the sea for people with too much time to burn, head over to Royal Caribbean’s website and start planning how to get lost in eight neighborhoods without ever leaving the ship.
Images: Royal Caribbean.
