Royal Caribbean new cruise ship construction milestone, deployment schedule updated

January 2, 2024

onstruction of the second Icon Class ship is underway! On December 15, the keel laying ceremony for Star of the Seas took place at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

“Star of the Seas is very important for both the shipyard and the partner network: the 13,000 man-years spent on building the ship create employment and business in Varsinais-Suomi and, with the supply chains, significantly wider as well,” said CEO Tim Meyer.

“Once the ship is complete, it will strengthen a completely new kind of cruise experience with the standards set by its sister ship Icon.”

When a ship’s kneel is placed into the dry dock during construction, coins are placed beneath it as a symbol of good fortune.

Just like Icon, Star of the Seas, too, had coins left underneath the steel block of the ship’s hull by the ship’s customer and builder’s representatives.

The steel block was lowered by a crane to the bottom of the construction pool, which signified the start of the hull’s construction.

Despite this milestone, Star of the Seas won’t be ready to sail the seas until August 2025. When she enters service, she’ll sail from Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.

Thankfully, bookings are open. However, Royal Caribbean has not announced any details of how Star of the Seas will be different from Icon.

There’s some more Royal Caribbean news that you should be aware of, especially if you’re looking forward to the 2025-2026 deployments or have a holiday cruise booked onboard Oasis of the Seas in December 2023.

2025-2026 deployments changed

Royal Caribbean updated some of their 2025 and 2026 deployment schedules.

While cruises to the Northeast taking place between April 2025 and April 2026 will still be released for booking the week of February 12, 2024, the deployment of short Caribbean cruises and those departing from Los Angeles have been delayed. Short cruises are those that are 3, 4, and 5 nights long.

Rather than being released at the same time as Northeast cruises, these sailings will now come out the week of February 19, 2024.

There is some good news, though. Long Caribbean cruises (i.e., those over 7 nights) will be released one week earlier than planned, or the week of February 12, 2024.

The deployment schedule for the remainder of cruises departing April 2025 through October 2026 has yet to be announced.

While booking a cruise in March 2026 may seem like a long way away, by booking this far in advance, you can take advantage of the lowest rates, which are typically found as soon as cruises are opened for booking.

Plus, you’ll be able to frequently reprice your cruise through the final payment date.