Royal Caribbean's New Ship Star of the Seas Starts Sea Trials

Image: Star of the Seas floats out (Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean International)
Image: Star of the Seas floats out (Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean International)
Sarah Kuta
by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 1:25 PM ET, Tue May 20, 2025

Royal Caribbean’s new ship Star of the Seas has reached a key construction milestone.

This week, the ship sailed on the open ocean for the first time as experts launch a series of sea trials. 

Over the next 11 days, more than 2,000 engineers, naval architects, designers and navigation experts will conduct a wide range of technical examinations to ensure the vessel is operating as expected.

The ship will travel hundreds of mile before turning to the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, for the final phase of construction.

The new Icon Class ship is scheduled to debut in August from Port Canaveral, Florida. It will have eight neighborhoods, seven pools and more than 40 food, beverage and entertainment venues.

The ship will sail 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, including stops at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private destination in The Bahamas.

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Sarah Kuta

Sarah Kuta

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. Her work has appeared in Travel+Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, Food&Wine, Smithsonian magazine, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Robb Report, the Toronto Star, the Denver Post and many other publications. Sarah has a degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She can be reached at [email protected]  You can follow her on social media https://www.instagram.com/kutasarah/ and https://twitter.com/SarahKuta

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