Construction Begins on New Mega Cruise Ship from Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean celebrated the official start of construction on another mega cruise ship this week when the first block of Star of the Seas was laid.

Star of the Seas will be the second Icon class ship from Royal Caribbean and will be one of, if not the largest cruise ship ever built when the vessel debuts in 2025. While the cruise line has not officially announced if Star of the Seas will be larger than Icon of the Seas, they have traditionally made each new ship slightly larger than the previous.

The keel laying ceremony for Star of the Seas took place at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland.  The laying of the keel marks the official start of construction on a new ship as the blocks will begin to come together to form the cruise ship.

The first block was placed on newly minted coins, a maritime tradition to bring good luck during construction.

Once all of the ship’s blocks are complete, the vessel will be floated out and move to the final stage of construction. Here, the interior of the ship will be completed before the vessel is delivered to the cruise line.

Star of the Seas will homeport at Port Canaveral starting in August 2025 and sail week long cruises to the Caribbean.  All cruises will visit CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s popular private island in The Bahamas. Cruises on Star of the Seas are now open for bookings.

Star of the Seas will have many of the same features as Icon of the Seas along with few new surprises. The ship will have a neighborhood just for families, an insane waterpark on the top deck, and over 40 dining and drink venues. There will also be an infinity pool suspended 135 feet over the ocean.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon class ships are the largest in the world at more than 250,000 gross tons. The first one, Icon of the Seas, has been completed and the crew is preparing the ship for its debut in late January 2024.

Royal Caribbean has a 3rd and yet to be named Icon class ship debuting in early 2026.