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.