As Royal Caribbean stirs up excitement for its second Icon Class ship, Star of the Seas, which launches this summer, some “loyal to Royal” cruisers see sneak peeks of the new ship’s entertainment as a reminder of what’s lacking on a few of the cruise line’s other mega-ships.
Headlining the entertainment that will premiere on Star of the Seas when it sets sails from Port Canaveral, Florida on Aug. 31 is a Broadway musical adaptation of an iconic film fit for an iconic family vacation — “Back to the Future: The Musical.”
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Although the time-traveling adventure sounds exciting to passengers planning to cruise on the new ship, some passengers sailing on other mega-ships are disappointed that their Royal Caribbean cruises don’t include a Broadway show at all.
When Royal Caribbean launched its fifth and sixth Oasis Class ships in 2022 and 2024, it decided not to continue its Oasis Class tradition of debuting a Broadway show on these newer ships. Instead, Wonder of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas feature Royal Caribbean-original theatrical productions in the Royal Theater.
With Icon of the Seas, the cruise line chose to produce its own Broadway-style rendition of “The Wizard of Oz,” but surprised fans by going back to a Broadway-licensed production for sister-ship Star of the Seas.
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Royal Caribbean cruisers want more Broadway shows
Some passengers were hopeful that the cruise line’s return to Broadway for Star of the Seas would mean that Royal Caribbean would add Broadway shows to Wonder and Utopia, but so far that hasn’t been the case.
In the Royal Caribbean community on Reddit, one cruiser recently expressed their frustration about the cruise line’s entertainment direction.
“In 2025 Wonder of the Seas still doesn’t have a Broadway show,” brokentr0jan wrote. “Star of the Seas has Back to the Future, Icon has the Wizard of Oz, Symphony has Hairspray, etc. It’s really disappointing that somehow this ship still does not have a show.”
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In the Reddit thread’s comments, other passengers pointed out the lack of Broadway shows on Utopia of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas, a Quantum Class ship, too. One passenger even shared that they decided against sailing on Wonder and Utopia of the Seas specifically because they don’t feature Broadway shows.
“I’ve skipped Wonder and Utopia for this reason. I’ve done every other Oasis class ships and will be doing Icon and Star,” LitigatedLaureate wrote. “I’ve kind of assumed they wanted to keep new Broadway style shows for their new class of ships. Which is why Wonder and Utopia didn’t get them. Because they knew Icon, Star, etc was coming.”
Cruisers wonder whether third Icon Class ship will get Broadway show
Loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers are curious to see what entertainment direction the cruise line will take with its third Icon Class ship, Legend of the Seas, set to launch in summer 2026.
“Icon got their own version of Wizard of Oz, Star got Back to the Future but that was a surprise for some as it was assumed they were done with licensed deals,” TheDeaconAscended wrote in the Reddit thread. “It will be interesting to see what Legend will be going with as it may soon be time to start hiring staff for the show.”
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Along with adding Broadway shows to its megaships that lack them, some cruisers also think it may be time for Royal Caribbean to replace Cats, the Broadway musical featured on Oasis of the Seas, the first ship in the Oasis Class.
“I understand some people in this subreddit might flinch at the thought of Broadway shows because of Cats, but I promise they are actually really good (minus Cats),” brokentr0jan explained.
“I’m going on the Oasis this summer. I could not believe they are still doing Cats. Almost made me want to book a different ship, if not for the deal we got,” praxtra_ noted.
“I genuinely think the cruise line underestimates the value that people think good shows provide on cruise lines,” thatawkwardmoment8 added.
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