Star of the Seas, the second ship in Royal Caribbean's Icon-class series, has completed its first year of service, a span that cemented Port Canaveral as the operational base for one of the largest cruise vessels afloat. The 250,800-ton ship was delivered on July 10, 2025, from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

The milestone matters for sellers of Caribbean product. A 5,610-passenger vessel sailing week-long itineraries from a single Florida homeport creates a predictable, high-volume inventory stream that agents and online sellers can build Eastern and Western Caribbean programs around.

How did the ship reach service?

After leaving its building dock, the vessel crossed the Atlantic without guests, making a technical call in Puerto Rico. It arrived at its homeport for the first time on August 9, 2026.

The naming ceremony brought a late cast change. Singer Diana Ross stepped down from godmother duties on short notice, and astronaut Kellie Gerardi christened the ship instead. The ceremony took place in the vessel's AquaDome, with presentations by the ship's entertainment teams.

Following a series of preview sailings, the 5,610-passenger ship embarked on its inaugural cruise on August 31, 2026.

What did the first year look like in deployment terms?

The maiden voyage ran seven nights to the Western Caribbean, calling at:

• Roatán, Honduras
• Cozumel, Mexico
• Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas

The ship then held a consistent pattern: week-long cruises from Port Canaveral for the entire first year. Western Caribbean ports were joined by Eastern Caribbean calls, including St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Costa Maya, St. Kitts and Puerto Rico also welcomed the vessel during the maiden season.

Every itinerary included a stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island destination in the Bahamas. That routing is deliberate. The operator steers its newest hardware toward its own shore product, keeping destination spend in-house and giving sellers a standardized port call across all sailings.

What comes next for the deployment?

Published schedules show Star of the Seas continuing seven-night cruises from Port Canaveral through April 2028. The program alternates between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, with calls at Falmouth in Jamaica and Labadee in Haiti, Royal Caribbean's private destination on the Haitian coast.

For travel sellers, the commitment means nearly two more years of stable, well-defined inventory from one homeport. Alternating region rotations simplify group planning and repricing, while the fixed CocoCay call anchors every sailing in the same private-destination experience. Royal Caribbean's published deployment keeps the vessel exactly where its first year proved demand.