We're less than a year away from the launch of Royal Caribbean's newest mega ship, and there are already a lot of changes coming.
Star of the Seas might be the second Icon Class ship, but she's not going to be exactly the same as Icon of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean has sprinkled updates here and there, but you might be curious what exactly the company has lined up for the ship.
There will be more reveals coming leading up to the ship's launch, but here's a list of what we definitely know will be different about Star of the Seas.
A new Broadway musical
Perhaps the biggest reveal so far has been the announcement that Back to the Future: The Musical will be performed on Star of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean has a history of integrating Broadway show musicals on its ships, but it's been a few years since the last one. In fact, the last few new Royal Caribbean ships did not get a Broadway musical.
With Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is looking to make big a splash, and they will offer a hit musical on the ship.
There will be slight adjustments to the running time of the show, but it will be the full musical and the best part is it's included with your cruise fare. There's no additional cost to see the show onboard.
Royal Caribbean is working alongside the original creatives from the musical to make the iconic production come to life.
The first facial recognition cabins
Star of the Seas will be the first cruise ship to embrace facial recognition as a way to make it easier to get to your cabin.
Before you get too excited, this will be a limited test. Royal Caribbean likes to embrace new technology by easing into it first.
A small amount of cabins will serve as a pilot program. Beyond that, no other details are known at this time.
Based on a patent that Royal Caribbean filed, the idea is you could open your stateroom door with your face instead of a SeaPass card.
Star won't be bigger than Icon
It may come as a surprise that Royal Caribbean won't make Star of the Seas the biggest cruise ship in the world.
It's been Royal Caribbean's pattern to always build bigger and bigger cruise ships, but that won't be the case here.
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider confirmed this back in January 2024, "Star will not be a foot bigger. It will be 1198ft long."
"We don't feel a need to do that right now. Maybe we'll change our mind. Never say never. But that isn't the design intent."
The chief dog officer will also be on Star
Of all the things Royal Caribbean introduced on Icon of the Seas, arguably the addition of a "family dog" was one of the biggest hits with guests.
There will be another dog that lives on Star of the Seas. The dog's name is Sailor, and guests will be able to see and meet Sailor around Star.
Why a dog? The idea is since the Icon Class ships are so family focused, it makes sense to have a dog that makes it feel like home.
Enhancing the family area of the ship
Icon of the Seas introduced the first family neighborhood, but Star of the Seas will expand it.
The idea is to "double down" on the family component to this ship, and to do that, they want Surfside to appeal to older kids as much as younger kids.
Royal Caribbean thinks Surfside was originally intended for ages 0-6, but Star will increase the age range appeal to about 10 years old.
They'll do that by adding new features to Splashaway Bay and the Playscape.
Moreover, the Water's Edge pool will transition from parent and kid space to more of a kid pool. Originally the cruise line wanted to give a space for parents and kids to enjoy together, but in practice, kids took it over. So it makes more sense to embrace that trend.
A new theme to the supper club restaurant
There will be a new theme to the supper club restaurant on Star.
Instead of a New York theme that was found in the Empire Supper Club on Icon of the Seas, Star will have a Chicago theme to it.
Known as the Lincoln Park Supper Club, this will be a glitzy extra cost restaurant with themed menu, music, all paired to the Chicago and Chicagoland area.
Royal Caribbean also let slip that on the unnamed third Icon Class ship, this restaurant will be themed to Hollywood.
A new hot tub
One of the primary focuses of Icon of the Seas was more aquatic offerings than ever before, and Star of the Seas will up the pool fun with a new hot tub.
It's not a major change, but Royal Caribbean had originally planned to add this hot tub on Icon of the Seas but removed it for fear the ship was too heavy.
As it turns out based on sea trials, it could have worked.
As a result, there will be a new hot tub on Star that doesn't exist on Icon.
The Pearl will look even better
The signature Pearl on the Royal Promenade will be even more impressive.
The Pearl will be improved to be more spectacular visually. Instead of a single color light ring in the back of each of those 3500 plus tiles, this version will have full multicolor rings.
The advantage is the Pearl will have much richer color throughout the entire Pearl, and that means Royal Caribbean can do more with utilizing it as a show element.
A new specialty restaurant concept
There's one restaurant that won't make it from Icon to Star, and that's Pier 7.
There's no word what will replace it, but we do know something else will be offered there on Star of the Seas.
For now, it's a white space reserved for something to be revealed later.
