What the retail on the largest cruise ship in the world looks like!
- Adrian Pittaway
- Sep 3
- 3 min read
The largest cruise ship in the world has been launched - Star of the Seas sailing out of Port Canaveral for Royal Caribbean Cruises. Retail operator, Heinemann Americas has launched a bold new cruise retail concept.
On behalf of the Cruise Retail Academy team, we would like to wish all of the onboard retail crew onboard the very best of success in delivering excellent guest experiences and achieving strong retail sales performance.
Let's take a quick look around the new shops....
There are 10 distinct retail venues on board, and from these the vessel will be able to deliver a next-level shopping experience for their guests, featuring everything from exclusive Royal Caribbean logo merchandise, fine watches, and fashion jewelry, perfumes and cosmetics, as well as vintage luxury leather goods and timepieces.
A standout highlight is the to be found in the liquor category with a highly curated collection of prestige and rare spirits, crafted to surprise and captivate connoisseurs with selections found nowhere else at sea.
The new retail offer builds on the success of Icon of the Seas, with a focus on curated exclusivity, elevated design, and category innovation across four distinct store formats:
In the beauty category, the Solera store has been optimized to improve visibility and guest flow - enhancing engagement and encouraging longer dwell times.
The liquor experience aboard Star of the Seas introduces several first-at-sea features, including personalized backwalls for Macallan, Hennessy, and Patron, a dedicated Johnnie Walker gondola, and a limited-edition Louis XIII monogrammed box hand-decorated exclusively for the ship, with only 30 pieces available globally. Among the rarest offerings is a bottle of Loch Lomond 50YO, one of just 100 worldwide, retailing at $34,999 USD. The store also debuts multiple exclusive barrel programs, such as Angels Envy – selected by Heinemann’s team as a first-at-sea – and the rare O.F.C Bourbon 1985.
Luxury timepieces continue to be a highlight, with personalized shop-in-shop formats from Cartier, Hublot, Breitling, Tag Heuer, Longines, Rado, and Norquain, a new brand for Heinemann. Swiss Crown complements the offer with a curated selection of pre-owned Rolex watches.
Meanwhile, the logo merchandise store “The Shop” presents a new collection designed exclusively for Star of the Seas, featuring fashion-forward apparel, collectibles, and a children’s line. The Vineyard Vines x Royal Caribbean co-branded range – first introduced on Icon and Utopia – returns with a refreshed capsule, adding a familiar yet updated touch to the onboard retail experience.
Quote from Heinemann:
“With Star of the Seas, we continue our mission to elevate cruise retail through storytelling, exclusivity, and unforgettable experiences,” said Nicolas Hoeborn, CEO of Heinemann Americas. “This launch is a testament to our strong partnership with Royal Caribbean and our shared vision for the future of travel retail.”
Together with Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas ranks among the largest cruise ships in the world, measuring 365 meters in length and accommodating up to 5,610 guests and 2,850 crew members.
We really love to see such great brand execution and also such strong focus put on the liquor category. Well done Heinemann Americas team - excellent execution!
Footnote: If you want to learn more about Heinemann as a cruise retail operator, then check out our 'Who's Who in Cruise Retail' blog post please CLICK HERE.
Comments