What To Know Before Sailing on Royal Caribbean's Star of the Seas
Royal Caribbean's Star of the Seas is currently the largest cruise ship in the world. That sentence alone is why a lot of people book her, and honestly, it’s a fine reason. But a ship this size rewards people who show up with a plan and punishes people who wing it, and the difference between those two cruises is enormous.
I spent my sailing walking every one of her eight neighborhoods, riding what I could, and eating far more than I should have. This guide covers everything I’d tell a friend before their first Icon-class cruise, from the reservations you need to make before you ever board to the quiet corners most of the 5,600 other passengers never find.
Star of the Seas Full Ship Tour
If you’re a regular to my YouTube channel, you know I do a full ship tour on every cruise I take. Below is my complete tour of Star of the Seas, covering all eight neighborhoods deck by deck. It’s a long one, because she’s a long ship.
Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas Full Ship Tour
Key Facts on Star of the Seas
Star is the second ship in Royal Caribbean’s Icon class, following the Icon of the Seas. She’s technically a touch larger than her sister, which is how she claims the world’s largest title (cruise lines love this game, and a third Icon-class ship is on the way to play it again). I’m looking forward to sailing on the newest Icon-class ship, Legend of the Seas, in November 2026!
Booking Tips for Star of the Seas
New flagship pricing is rough in the first couple of years. There’s no way around that, but there are ways to soften it.
Fares are lowest at two moments: the day itineraries are released, and in scattered last-minute gaps when a sailing hasn’t filled. Everything in between trends up. If your dates are flexible, midweek departures during the school year price hundreds below summer and holiday weeks for the exact same ship.
CocoCay creates a great photo opp!
Join Crown & Anchor, Royal’s free loyalty program, before you book rather than after. Even early tiers earn balcony discounts, and points add up faster than you’d expect since suites and solo sailings earn double. If you play in the casino at all, ask about a Club Royale status match too. Royal matches status from other casino programs, including land-based ones, and the discounts can be dramatic.
One more thing on cabins: Icon-class ships have more stateroom categories than anything else afloat, and where you sleep changes your cruise. Surfside cabins put families with little kids steps from the kids’ zone. Adults without kids should look toward the Hideaway end of the ship instead. And on a vessel this long, midship near an elevator bank saves you literal miles over a week.
✈️ WORK WITH ME
Thinking about Star of the Seas or any Royal Caribbean sailing? I’m a travel advisor and I can book it for you at no extra cost. I’ll watch the Cruise Planner sales on your add-ons, match the right neighborhood cabin to your crew, and stack any Crown & Anchor or casino offers you qualify for. Get a free quote and grab my free travel and points tips on Substack: substack.com/@jacksonjetsetting.
Pre-Cruise Planning
This is the section that matters most on Star of the Seas, so I’m putting it before the fun stuff. Several of the ship’s headline experiences are reservation-only, and some sell out before the ship leaves the dock.
Once you’ve booked, download the Royal Caribbean app and watch your Cruise Planner. The Category 6 waterpark carries an extra charge on most sailings with timed entry, and the popular slots disappear early. Same story for Crown’s Edge, the walk-and-zip experience that dangles you over the ocean. Buy both with your cruise, not on board.
Prices in the Cruise Planner also fluctuate constantly. My standing advice: book early, then check back every few weeks. If something you bought goes on sale, cancel and rebook it. Refunds are instant and the savings are real. I’ve saved readers hundreds of dollars with that one habit.
I always recommend flying in the day before your cruise, and that goes double for a 7-night sailing on the world’s largest ship. Orlando’s airport is about 45 minutes from Port Canaveral, and there are plenty of hotel options near the port if you’d rather wake up ten minutes from the terminal.
Embarkation Day: Reserve First, Explore Second
Port Canaveral’s Icon-class terminal moves people efficiently, so pick an early arrival time when your check-in window opens. Once you’re on board, resist the urge to wander straight to the pool. Open the app first.
Entertainment reservations open on embarkation day, and the marquee shows fill within hours. Star’s headliner is a full production of Back to the Future: The Musical, and the AquaDome dive shows and the Absolute Zero ice shows go nearly as fast. None of these cost anything, but without a reservation you’re in a standby line eating into your vacation. Book the shows, then go find lunch.
Pro tip: Skip the Windjammer busyness on boarding day and head to the AquaDome Market instead. It’s a complimentary food hall most first-timers haven’t discovered yet, and on day one it’s blissfully calm. It also has some of the best food on the whole ship!
Star of the Seas Deck Plans
Before we walk the ship, a note on the deck plans, because on a ship with 20 decks they matter more than anywhere else afloat. The neighborhoods are the map: Surfside and its family cabins sit aft on deck 7, the Royal Promenade and Central Park stack midship on the lower decks, and the pool decks, Thrill Island, the AquaDome, and the Hideaway all live up top. When you're picking a cabin, pull up the official Star of the Seas deck plans on Royal Caribbean's site and check what sits directly above and below your room. You don't want to sleep under pool deck chairs being dragged at 6 a.m. or above a late-night venue. Midship on decks 9 through 12 near an elevator bank is the safe pick, and it saves you literal miles of walking over a week.
Walking the Ship: The Eight Neighborhoods
The smartest thing about the Icon class is how the neighborhoods sort the crowds. Everyone self-selects into their corner of the ship, which is how 5,600 people can feel manageable. Here’s how I’d tour her, front to back.
The AquaDome sits at the bow, a massive glass dome wrapped around a multi-story space with ocean views by day and waterfall dive shows by night. It’s the most striking room I’ve seen on any ship, and it’s also where you’ll find that food hall I mentioned. Come up here on a sea day morning with a coffee and you’ll understand the appeal of the whole class.
Midship, the Royal Promenade is the indoor main street, anchored by the Pearl. It’s a giant kinetic sphere you actually walk through, with thousands of moving tiles, and yes, it’s the most photographed spot on board. Central Park sits above with over 20,000 real plants, and it remains my favorite evening spot in the Royal fleet. Live music, open-air restaurants, and somehow, quiet.
Up top, Thrill Island houses Category 6, the largest waterpark at sea, with six slides including a free-fall drop called Frightening Bolt that will recalibrate your courage. Surfside, aft on deck 7, is the family neighborhood, and it’s the best-designed kids’ zone in cruising. Pools, a carousel, kid-height dining, and cabins right there. Parents of toddlers, this is your neighborhood, full stop.
Surfside neighborhood on Star of the Seas
Adults get their own ends of the ship too. The Hideaway is a suspended infinity-pool beach club with a DJ, while the Cove and Chill areas offer the quieter version. And the Suite Neighborhood keeps suite guests in their own restaurant, lounge, and sun deck, if your budget stretches that far.
Dining on Star of the Seas
Food is one of the biggest reasons to choose the Icon class, and you can eat very well here without spending an extra dollar. Here’s how I’d break down the lineup:
Main Dining Room: Complimentary, spanning three decks with menus that rotate nightly. The classic cruise dinner still works.
Windjammer: Complimentary. The Icon-class version is the best buffet Royal has ever run, with far more seating than the older ships.
AquaDome Market: Complimentary food hall with five stalls. A genuine upgrade over typical quick service, and my go-to lunch on board.
Surfside Eatery: Complimentary family buffet inside the Surfside neighborhood, which keeps the kid chaos delightfully contained.
Izumi in the Park: Specialty sushi right in Central Park. Grab a seat outside in the evening.
Empire Supper Club: Specialty, and the toughest table at sea. An eight-course dinner with live jazz, priced like a special occasion because it is one. Check out my full review of the experience.
Chops Grille and Giovanni’s: The reliable specialty staples. If you want several upcharge meals, a dining package bought pre-cruise beats onboard pricing by a wide margin.
Pizza fans should also find Sorrento’s on the Promenade for the late-night slice. Some traditions survive even on the world’s largest ship.
Entertainment: Book These Shows or Regret It
I touched on reservations earlier, but the entertainment lineup deserves its own section because it’s one of the biggest reasons to pick this ship over a cheaper one.
The Royal Theater hosts a full licensed production of Back to the Future: The Musical, with a flying DeLorean that I genuinely don’t want to spoil. It’s the best show I’ve seen at sea, and I don’t say that lightly after the number of cruise productions I’ve sat through. The AquaDome transforms at night for high-diving aqua shows with performers launching from platforms you didn’t notice during the day, and Absolute Zero, the ice arena, runs skating productions that would hold their own in a land venue.
Beyond the big three, live music runs constantly. The pub on the Promenade, the dueling pianos, the Latin band in the evenings, jazz in Central Park. My habit on Royal ships is to pick a different music venue each night after dinner, and Star has enough of them that a 7-night cruise doesn’t repeat.
One scheduling note: the headline shows run multiple times across the week, so if your first-choice night is taken, grab any night and set the rest of your evenings around it. The app makes swapping easy if something opens up.
A First Sea Day Done Right
Here’s how I’d spend the first full sea day, since it sets the tone for the week. Start at the AquaDome with coffee and a pastry from the market while the dome is quiet. Hit Category 6 when it opens, because the first hour has the shortest lines of the entire cruise. Lunch in Central Park, outside at Izumi if you’re treating yourself, at Park Café if you’re not.
Spend the afternoon wherever your neighborhood is, whether that’s a Surfside pool with the kids or a Hideaway lounger without them. Then build the evening backward from your show time. Dinner at 6 for an 8:30 show, or the early show and a late dinner. Either works, but pick one, because wandering into dinner at 7:45 with an 8:00 reservation across a 1,200-foot ship is how vacations get stressful.
The Spa, Gym, and Quiet Corners
The fitness center is enormous and, unusually for a cruise ship, doesn’t feel crowded even on sea days, with a full slate of classes if that’s your thing. The spa sells the usual treatments plus a thermal suite day pass, which is a nice rainy-day card to have in your pocket.
And if you just want quiet without paying for it, two spots: the outdoor seating behind the AquaDome, which most passengers never find, and Central Park after 10 p.m., when the live music winds down and you can hear actual crickets. Yes, they pipe in cricket sounds. I checked. It works anyway.
Staterooms
I mentioned neighborhoods above, but a few cabin notes from walking the corridors. The infinite balconies here includes some genuinely clever family categories with separate kid sleeping nooks, and the Surfside-facing balconies overlook the neighborhood rather than the ocean, which families either love or don’t. Standard balconies midship on decks 9 through 12 remain the safe pick for most travelers.
If you’re tempted by an interior to save money, know that Icon-class interiors are well designed, and on a ship with this much going on you won’t spend much waking time in the room anyway.
Star of the Seas Itinerary: 7 Nights with Perfect Day at CocoCay
Star sails week-long Eastern and Western Caribbean loops from Port Canaveral, and every one includes Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal’s private island. The island deserves its own planning session, and conveniently, I’ve written a complete CocoCay guide covering what’s free and what’s worth paying for. The short version: the included parts are excellent, and your drink package works on the island.
Pro tip: On CocoCay day, the ship itself is the secret. Stay aboard until mid-morning and you’ll have Category 6 nearly to yourself while everyone else fights for island loungers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Star of the Seas the biggest cruise ship in the world? Yes. At roughly 248,663 gross tonnes she currently holds the title, just ahead of her sister Icon of the Seas, with another Icon-class ship on the way.
Where does Star of the Seas sail from? Port Canaveral, Florida, on 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries that include Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Does Star of the Seas feel crowded? Less than you’d think. The neighborhood design spreads people out remarkably well. The pinch points are elevators at dinner time and debarkation morning, which is true of every big ship.
Is Star of the Seas good for adults without kids? Yes, as long as you avoid school-break sailings. The Hideaway, the bar lineup, and Empire Supper Club balance out the family focus.
Star of the Seas vs Icon of the Seas: which should you pick? They're sister ships and the experience is nearly identical. Star is slightly larger and a year newer, sails from Port Canaveral instead of Miami, and runs Back to the Future: The Musical, whereas Icon has The Wizard of Oz. Choose based on which port and sailing price works for you, not the ship itself.
Final Thoughts
Star of the Seas is the most ambitious cruise ship ever built, and what surprised me most is how well the design absorbs her own scale. Reserve the headline experiences before you board, pick your neighborhood deliberately, and bring comfortable shoes. Do those three things and she delivers a vacation that nothing else on water can match right now.
If you’d like help navigating the cabin maze or timing the Cruise Planner sales, reach out for a free quote. This is the fun part of my job!
