I boarded the world's newest – and biggest – cruise ship. This is what it was like

Telegraph

9 hours ago

While Star of the Seas is still moored on the banks of Florida's Cape Canaveral, it's difficult to fully understand what being the world's biggest cruise ship – together with its sister Icon of the Seas – actually means.
The terminal building to which the ship is attached masks much of the vessel as guests approach it, and understanding where the bow begins and the stern ends after boarding is akin to estimating London's boundaries by standing in Bloomsbury.
Yet during the inaugural sailing of this planet of a vessel – a three-night journey gliding over a preternaturally calm Caribbean, including a stopover at the cruise company's private Bahamian island CocoCay – an unexpected moment of realisation occurred. It was the kind that stops other thoughts in their tracks and lands like an epiphany. 'So that's how big this thing is,' I heard myself saying out loud.
It happened on the 17th of the behemoth 's 20 decks. All except the very lowest and highest levels are accessible via elevators that express their human traffic to their chosen deck, and then on to every conceivable attraction and distraction: the seven swimming pools; a water park with six lurid waterslides that snake crazily through the air; the 40-plus restaurants; the eight 'neighbourhoods' including the family-oriented Surfside (deck seven) with its watery playgrounds and the urbane Central Park (deck eight), where you'll find a leafy promenade and 'speciality' sushi and steak houses.
'Speciality' translates to the dining venues that aren't included in the fare, and cost extra. Those who stick with the complimentary options however, won't go hungry. Windjammer (deck 15) provides a boggling selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Described by Royal Caribbean's bullish, British president Michael Bayley as 'the biggest buffet in the world', it spans not only the width of the ship, but a huge variety of cuisines.
Hovering over the display is the spectre of waste and greed – not so much the cruise line's but the consumers should they succumb to the implied invitation to eat all they can and more.
Elsewhere the main multi-deck dining room has the feel of a 19th-century eating hall with bustling waiters, a maître d', a chandelier and a pleasing soupçon of formality. Alternatively, the made-to-order burgers at Thrill Island's Basecamp (deck 16) are singularly satisfying.
But it's best to eat one only after consuming this level's other attractions: the nearby climbing wall known as Adrenaline Peak, or Crown's Edge – a pulse-pounding challenge that involves traversing a walkway that is the closest you will get to walking the plank, and which climaxes by being swept through the air and over the sea while harnessed to an overhead rail.
Only here, with nothing underfoot but the Caribbean far below, is it theoretically possible to glimpse an uninterrupted view of the ship's 364 metres – a distance that is longer, by some way, than the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, The Prince of Wales.
By late afternoon on the day that the Star had welcomed on board its first full compliment of almost six thousand guests, a conga was already pulsating to the rhythms of a professionally happy Calypso band. So too were bronzed torsos in the Swim & Tonic pool, said to be the largest swim-up bar at sea.
Never mind that Star had not yet departed Port Canaveral, the busiest cruise ship hub in the world. The waterway, itself not much wider than the length of the ship in places, also serves Elon Musk's nearby SpaceX operation. I first became aware of this when a charred reusable rocket was towed erect past the window of my stateroom while I was unpacking.
Described as an Infinite Ocean Balcony room, the floor-to-ceiling window is the width of the room. The cheapest stateroom is the windowless (and poky) cabin. Then there is the Ultimate Family Townhouse which looks as if it was designed by a 12-year-old architect. Funhouse would be more accurate. A bright red tunnel slide links the two levels.The stairs resemble a keyboard and sound notes as you ascend or descend. I'd pay not to stay there…
The Royal Loft Suite, which sleeps six and is described as the most luxurious in the line's fleet of 30 ships, is dominated by a white grand piano in the reception room from which a sweeping staircase rises to the two bedrooms and as many bathrooms. The décor is clean, relentlessly modern and might be described as glassy rather than classy.
Regardless of the accommodation category, the ship goes all out to encourage guests out of their staterooms. The rink at Absolute Zero hosts an impressive acrobatic ice show, the purpose built Aqua Theatre is a technical marvel in which the aerial and synchronised swimming show Torque is performed, while the main theatre hosts the hit West End and Broadway musical Back to The Future. The standard of the performances and the productions (especially the musical) are undeniably high. But typically for cruise companies, the artistic programming is relentlessly crowd-pleasing stuff. Would it hurt to have a small-scale genuinely challenging theatre on board?
Our arrival at CocoCay is announced with an adapted cover version of Bill Withers' classic Lovely Day – only with the title lyric adapted to Perfect Day, the moniker attached to the excursion.
A Caribbean band with shimmering dancers welcomes the stream of guests walking down the pier. As we approached the island, the words Perfect Day and CocoCay greet us like Hollywood signage. Royal Caribbean spent $250 million (£185 million) turning the isle into the idyllic 'thrill and chill' excursion during which kids can do one while the parents do the other.
Access to the island's exclusive Coco Beach Club costs extra but, apart from some of the shack shops selling pricey but not disastrously so merch (a Bahamas hoody is priced at $60), few are going to feel short changed by the fresh water lagoon. Or the white sandy beaches that shelve gently into the azure Caribbean Sea, and the adventurous Daredevil's Peak – the biggest water-slide in North America.
Ten-year-old Jacob dared me to follow him down the water park's near vertical blue flume. 'It goes straight down,' he promised as we approached the entrance. He was right. Such is the speed of the descent that water forced itself up my nose and possibly out of my eyes as the tube levelled out.
After this, the largest wave pool in the region was a breeze. Was the day perfect? Perhaps not if cultural and environmental authenticity is your thing. But it would be churlish to deny its obvious pleasures.
When Star's sibling, Icon, embarked on its maiden voyage out of Miami last year, the event was marked by a galactic firework display. No such celebration for the younger sister which, despite a few tweaks, is almost identical to Icon.
As Star departed Royal Caribbean's 25-acre private island escorted by wheeling pelicans, I was overcome by a sense of awe – for the size of the ship, yes, but also for the responsibility that goes with being in charge of £1.7 billion dollars worth of vessel and the safety of thousands of people and their families.
'We have a lot of human life and a lot of responsibility,' agrees Captain Rob Hempstead when I meet him on the bridge. In his crisp white uniform, the American, who hails from a generation of seafarers, greets me with a reassuringly firm handshake.
'My great grandpa was an admiral in the navy and commander of the Pacific Fleet around the turn of the century,' he says as we survey the seemingly infinite expanse of sky and sea blue.
Captain Rob's father was also a skipper, so it was inevitable that he too would command a ship. 'I wouldn't want to do anything else,' he says emphatically.
Back in my stateroom I enjoy perhaps the least mentioned and most basic reason to go on a cruise.
I peer down out of my open window and am mesmerised by the endless patterns caused by Star's wake as, despite her size, she moves serenely over the water.
Essentials
John Nathan was a guest of Royal Caribbean (royalcaribbean.com), which offers a seven-night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day cruise from £1,809pp for a Balcony Ocean View Stateroom, departing May 10, 2026. Includes meals and entertainment. Excludes flights.