Hero of the Seas Revealed: More Pools, New Dining, and Bigger Adult-Only Spaces

Royal Caribbean just announced their fourth Icon Class ship, the largest class of ships in the world. Speculation about the name has been going on for months, so Hero of the Seas isn’t much of a surprise, but what is notable is that the ship is going to have quite a few upgrades over its predecessors. The first two in the class, Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas, were nearly identical because they were built so close together, but with a few years of time in between, Hero can take some of the learnings from the previous ships and incorporate them. Let’s dig into what’s different with Hero of the Seas.

Hero of the Seas Will Have the Most Pools at Sea

When Icon of the Seas was first announced, one of the most remarkable things was that it didn’t have one pool deck. Instead, it had 7 different pools located in different areas across the ship, splitting up crowds and offering different experiences.

On Hero of the Seas, they’re going even bigger, adding two more pools to give it the most pools at sea.

One of the new pools is called Coconut Cove. It’s located on Deck 15 next to one of The Lime & Coconut bars and outside the entrance to AquaDome Market (one deck down from Cloud 17). On previous ships, this was a seating area and whirlpool.

This new family-friendly infinity pool will offer in-water chairs to cool off and provide a view of the Central Park neighborhood.

Splashaway Bay in the kid-friendly Surfside neighborhood will also get some new water features.

Better Adult-Only Areas on Hero of the Seas

One of the biggest complaints about the Icon Class was that its adult-only area wasn’t big enough to accommodate everyone. Royal Caribbean heard that complaint and made a few changes.

First, they’re adding a second pool to The Hideaway, the adult-only area at the back of Deck 15. The second pool replaces underutilized lounger space on previous ships with a brand new pool that includes the largest swim-up bar at sea.

For the original infinity pool in The Hideaway, they’re getting rid of the poorly conceptualized extra-fee daybeds to free up space for guests.

Swim & Tonic, the original swim-up bar from Icon of the Seas, will be expanded. It will also remain adults only (originally, Royal Caribbean thought it’d be a good idea to have children swimming around at the swim-up bar).

New Slides at Category 6 Water Park

So far, the waterslides in Category 6 Water Park have been identical across the Icon Class (except for new colors on Legend of the Seas). For Hero of the Seas, they’re switching it up a bit.

Category 6 Water Park will feature two new family raft slides, including the first funnel raft slide at sea. It will replace the slingshot element found on Storm Surge on the other ships. For the second raft slide, it looks like they’re removed the bowl portion found on Hurricane Hunter.

They’ve also changed the footprint of the mat-racing Storm Chasers duo slide and added an open air section at the beginning and removed the clear sections toward the end.

New Dining Options on Hero of the Seas

You’ll have a lot of choices for where to eat on Hero of the Seas. Some new additions include:

Orleans Parish Supper Club: Each Icon Class ship has had its own unique supper club experience. These are the fanciest restaurants you can find on any Royal Caribbean ship. It offers a multi-course experience that pairs food, drinks, and music for a fully curated experience. On Hero of the Seas, the theme will be New Orleans, with live jazz and Creole-inspired cuisine.

Royal Railway – Hero Station: This venue will be the third incarnation of Royal Railway, a unique experience that seats guests in an old-school train car and takes them through a themed dining experience. When it first launched on Utopia of the Seas, the Western-themed experience seemed to be more geared toward children and families. On Legend of the Seas, it appears to be more of an adult experience with a focus on the Spice Road. They haven’t yet released what the main theme will be aboard Hero of the Seas (although shows can be swapped out).

AquaDome Market: The popular food hall concept, AquaDome Market, will make a return on Hero of the Seas. It will feature four new concepts, as well as Crème de la Crêpe and fresh juices at Simply Pressed.

Cooking Classes: Royal Caribbean is adding new hands-on cooking classes. It’s focused on family cooking and they’ll have classes that will cater to both younger cruisers and more advanced techniques. It will take place in a new venue that will be in the Surfside Neighborhood (it hasn’t been announced yet, but according to deck plans, it looks like it will take the place of Pier 7.

No More Sugar Beach?: Looking at the deck plans, Sugar Beach in the Surfside Neighborhood is noticeably absent, as it’s previous location replaced has been replaced by more cabins. It’s hard to image Royal Caribbean getting rid of the extra revenue generated by a candy store in the family neighborhood, so most likely, it’ll be combined with the new venue where the cooking classes will take place.

All your other favorite restaurants will be returning as well. For complimentary dining, you can enjoy Basecamp, El Loco Fresh, Sorrento’s, Surfside Bites, Surfside Eatery, and more. For specialty dining for an extra fee, you’ll find Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, Chops Grille, Hooked Seafood, Izumi, and Izumi in the Park.

Two-Story Casino Returns

While Royal Caribbean hasn’t been promoting this much, Hero of the Seas will have a two-story casino with a dedicated non-smoking casino on the lower level. This design will debut on Legend of the Seas this summer.

It will hopefully solve the problem of the cramped and smoky casino found on the first two Icon Class ships.

New Ultimate Family Treehouse

Royal Caribbean seems to love its high-end, over-the-top accommodation options like the Ultimate Family Townhouse on Icon of the Seas, which can cost $75,000 to $150,000 per week, or the Ultimate Family Cabana at Royal Beach Club Nassau that can run $10,000 per day.

On Hero of the Seas, they’ll debut the Ultimate Family Treehouse. It’s a three-deck treehouse that has a private rooftop terrace with a private whirlpool, a two-deck teen space, and two main bedrooms. It’s located off The Grove Suite Area.

Other Returning Favorites

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Icon Class ship if it didn’t bring back some favorites. Guests will still board by walking onto the expansive Royal Promenade and seeing the centerpiece, The Pearl.

It will still include eight distinct neighborhoods, including Central Park, which will have more than 30,500 real plants. The AquaTheater will offer impressive acrobatic shows in the AquaDome, while Absolute Zero will feature ice skating spectaculars.

Hero of the Seas Will Debut in August 2027

Hero of the Seas will set sail in August 2027. It will homeport in Miami, taking the place of Icon of the Seas, which will be moving to Galveston.

It will run 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, with every cruise visiting Perfect Day at CocoCay. The Western itineraries will visit Roatán, Cozumel, and Costa Maya, while the Eastern itineraries will visit St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

My Take: Great to See Some Changes

Personally, I’m not a big fan of when cruise lines just make a carbon copy of a ship. Beyond the fact that I like to try new ships, it often means the cruise line didn’t take the time to learn from the previous ship to adjust and optimize.

But when ships are built so close together, there isn’t much opportunity for change because much of the design is locked in years before the ship even debuts. For example, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva are nearly identical, and it wasn’t until their third ship that they could start making meaningful changes, with even bigger updates on the fourth. That seems to be the case here.

I loved my sailing on Star of the Seas (read that blog here) and thought it was one of the best-designed ships I’ve ever sailed, but I saw some pain points, and it looks like Royal Caribbean took them into account.

I especially like that Royal Caribbean is improving the adult-only area, as that seemed to be the biggest issue with the original ships. The Hideaway wasn’t originally meant to be the main adult-only pool (that was supposed to be Cloud 17), so it really didn’t have enough space or the right layout. Getting rid of those daybeds makes the space look much bigger, and the new swim-up bar will help reduce pressure on the original bar while providing better drink service.

Still, I’m surprised they didn’t address a few things. Playmakers still feels tucked away in the middle of nowhere, and having to walk through a store and Playmakers to get to Absolute Zero still feels awkward. They also brought back Crown’s Edge, which I enjoyed, but it still feels a bit half-baked and falls behind some of the complimentary offerings on competing cruise lines.

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