Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s newest flagship, is a vessel of staggering scale—the joint-largest in the world, capable of hosting 8,000 guests and measuring the length of three football pitches. This is the world that one seasoned yachting journalist, accustomed to the privacy and exclusivity of superyachts, was invited to explore. The central question: could they find quiet, escape the crowds, or even access the sea?

Scale vs. Seclusion

The journalist’s initial skepticism was rooted in the ship’s size and focus. The Icon Class ships, costing $2 billion each, were designed not to be the biggest, but the “best family vacation.” Despite the ship being anchored in the ocean, the guest experience is entirely self-contained. The closest the reviewer got to the sea was their balcony suite on deck eight, a preference shared by a fellow guest who claimed, “on here you don’t even know you’re on a boat.”

Water, Water, Everywhere (But the Ocean)

Ocean access is replaced by seven distinct swimming pools, including the largest pool ever built on a cruise ship. The vessel leans heavily into its aquatic offerings:

• Category 6 Waterpark: The top-deck family magnet, featuring the world’s tallest at-sea water slide.
• The Hideaway: An adults-only zone featuring the first suspended infinity pool at sea, a preferred location for the journalist to “ease into cruise life” with a cocktail.

A City of Neighborhoods

The ship is organized into eight distinct zones, ensuring every demographic is catered to, from babies to teens.

1. The Family Hubs:

• Surfside: The main family neighborhood, featuring a new toddler splash zone, an arcade, and bottomless soft-serve ice cream.
• Adventure Ocean: The signature kids club, catering to babies up to 12-year-olds with an arts and crafts workshop and a kids’ puppet show.
• Social020: A cool, graffiti-styled hangout for older kids, complete with gaming stations, a movie theatre, and swing chairs, operating with a 1am teen curfew.
• Ultimate Family Townhouse: A wacky, two-storey suite priced at $40k per person, per week, complete with a winding tube slide connecting the bedrooms to the living room.

2. The Adult Escapes:

• Central Park: A successful open-air neighborhood offering a welcome break from the ship’s “shopping mall vibe,” featuring thousands of plants, living walls, and virtual birdsong. It’s a key location for specialty restaurants.
• The Overlook: A hidden indoor gem under a large glass dome, providing the journalist’s sought-after “cosy book nook” with ocean-facing loungers and an adjacent bar.
• The Grove: An exclusive suite-only bar area, noted for its affable crew and excellent drinks.

Entertainment and Dining

The ship boasts 40 food and drink offerings and five world-class stage shows, many of which are included in the base fare. The journalist noted the exceptional quality of the evening entertainment, eagerly planning nights around the headliner show Back to the Future and the adrenaline-pumping ice skating production SOL.

The dining ranges from the included, value-focused Windjammer buffet to specialty venues like the excellent Izumi Hibachi & Sushi and the exclusive Lincoln Park supper club, a cocktail-paired speakeasy limited to one sitting of 40 guests per night.

The Verdict

The required sea access was found during the stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. However, the journalist felt the island’s plentiful pools, slides, and American food outlets felt like a “replica” of the ship’s own offerings.

In conclusion, while the yachting journalist ultimately doubted swapping small-scale luxury for massive cruising, they acknowledged that the Star of the Seas undoubtedly delivers on its core promise: it allows “kids of all ages to live out their best life.”