Record bookings show travelers are hooked on mega cruise ships, even though ports, itineraries and audience size pose real trade-offs.
A look inside Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas features one of the largest waterparks and swim-up bars at sea.
- The giant ship attracts passengers with a wide range of facilities including water parks, theaters and ice rinks.
- Cruise lines are investing heavily in larger ships, and ships such as Royal Caribbean’s Icon Class are seeing record bookings.
- Disadvantages of huge ships include potential crowds, limited itineraries, and difficulty in experiencing everything on board.
Amy Balderrama Amaya had a huge success on her first cruise.
The 23-year-old boarded Royal Caribbean International’s Star of the Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, in January with her boyfriend and his family. Valderrama Amaya spent a week exploring the 250,000-ton ship, from watching the Torque show at the Aqua Theater to skating on the ship’s ice rink.
“It was a lot of fun going to the rink, especially being on a cruise ship in the middle of the water,” the Seattle resident told USA TODAY. “For example, (who) could say something like that?”
Valderrama Amaya researched the ship before setting off on a cruise to the Bahamas, Mexico and Honduras, but admitted he was “a little underwhelmed” when he saw it in person. “Even on the last day, I was honestly a little confused because it was so big, but it was so much fun,” she said. “In a way, I almost feel spoiled to be able to experience such a big ship on my first cruise ship.”
This stacked amenity lineup has made the Star ship a huge hit for Royal Caribbean, generating buzz online and posting record bookings. Megaships are more than just that. Megaships often feel like the new normal across industries.
Here’s why guests keep coming back, and why these big ships aren’t as popular as they seem.
Why are passengers drawn to giant ships?
“I think the appeal for most people is kind of the theory that bigger is better,” said Raquel Major Holland, owner of Major Adventure Travel Agency. “So, especially newer cruisers, they automatically assume that bigger ships are better than smaller ones because they have more amenities, and that’s what they do.”
These include a combination of water parks, roller coasters, rock climbing walls, surf simulators, theaters, and more, as well as restaurants, bars, pools, and sundecks. “There’s something for everyone on board,” she said, noting that ships often have entire areas geared toward children and families, while other areas are designed solely for passengers 18 and older.
Giant ships are so large that guests may not even feel like they’re on a cruise. This is a potential perk for those wary of being in the open ocean. “What I’ve learned is that a lot of my clients like big ships because they’re like floating cities,” Major Holland said. “There’s a lot to see and do, but a lot of it doesn’t have much of a view of the ocean, especially if you’re in the indoor boardwalk area.”
However, there are also drawbacks. While many of the ships are designed to “spread people out,” Major Holland noted that it can feel crowded, especially at popular venues like buffets. “It can be difficult to get reservations for things like aqua shows and comedy shows because there are a lot of people on board trying to go to these shows,” she said.
Itineraries may be more limited than smaller vessels, as some ports cannot accommodate vessels of that size. And while the giant ship is a destination in itself for many guests who book a cruise, Major Holland noted that even on a seven-night itinerary, it can be difficult to see and do everything.
Still, demand for these vessels remains strong. She does a lot of bookings for her clients, but she noticed that uploading videos about older, smaller boats to social platforms didn’t get as many views. “I feel like there’s a high demand for megaships,” Major Holland said.
The cruise industry is trending
Cruise lines appear to have gotten the memo.
Royal Caribbean recently began construction on its fifth Icon-class ship, scheduled to launch in 2028, the company announced in January. The ship’s existing sister ships, Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas, are the world’s largest cruise ships, each accommodating 5,610 two-person guests.
Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, said in a January earnings call that while Star of the Seas and Celebrity Cruises’ new (small) ship Celebrity Excel have exceeded expectations, the upcoming Icon Class ship Legend of the Seas is seeing “very strong booking trends.”
Norwegian Cruise Line plans to launch Norwegian Aura, the largest ship in its fleet, in 2027, and Carnival Cruise Line will begin accepting the largest ship in its and parent company Carnival’s history in 2029.
Marilyn McAleer, a cruise travel analyst at Focus Light, traced the beginnings of the megaship to the launch of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas in 2009. “Everything exploded in the late 2000s when Oasis came out and was much larger than other ships,” she said. “And it had an incredible amount of creativity.”
The cruise line has introduced a neighborhood concept, for example by dividing the ship into separate areas. After that, ships continued to get “bigger and more creative.”
There are many benefits for companies.
McAleer noted that these types of large ships have striking visuals that are well-suited to today’s social media environment and are particularly popular among millennials and other young travelers the industry has been reaching out to. The Cruise Lines International Association’s 2025 State of the Cruise Industry Report found that Millennials and Gen
“And with the ship, you know, as we look into the future, there’s always going to be global disruption…and they set the ship as a destination, so they don’t have to leave the ship,” McCarea added.
Large ships may seem less efficient from a sustainability perspective, but it’s not that simple.
Matthew Collette, a professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at the University of Michigan, previously told USA TODAY, “For example, a ship carrying 4,000 passengers will not require four times as much power as four ships carrying 1,000 passengers to navigate.” However, he noted that comparisons are complicated by the type of itinerary the ship takes and the technology of the port.
Various factors also affect the environmental footprint, such as whether a ship connects to shore power at the port or uses cleaner-burning fuels such as liquefied natural gas (also known as LNG). “So this is another kind of wrinkle: a more modern, larger ship could be better if it had better fuel,” Collett said at the time.
Not all ships are getting bigger.
Although the giant ships have gotten a lot of attention, there are still many others in operation. According to the State of the Cruise Industry report, 34% of CLIA member ships sailing between 2023 and 2028 will be small ships with fewer than 1,000 lower berths (the standard fixed bed in a cabin), and 39% will be medium-sized ships with between 1,000 and 3,000 lower berths. A further 28% are large vessels with more than 3,000 lower berths.
“The balance of this fleet highlights the range of options available to travelers, from small ship expeditions and luxury experiences to larger ships with extensive amenities and entertainment,” CLIA, the industry’s leading trade association, told USA TODAY in an email. “There are ships to meet the needs of almost every type of traveler.”
The organization and its member organizations also work with destinations and ports that “support their tourism management needs while protecting the economic benefits that cruise tourism brings to local communities.”
While a range of large cruise ships are scheduled to be launched in the coming years, the long-term future remains an open question, especially given the significant growth in the luxury cruise market, which tends to be smaller in size, McCarea said.
“So there are a lot of destinations,” she said. “Some destinations are refusing entry to these huge cruise ships. I don’t think we can expand any further because we can’t sustain 7,000 people disembarking at the same time.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. Please contact us at ndiller@usatoday.com.
