POP ICONS ADD ZEST TO ANY CRUISE, so it’s no wonder cruises with popular-culture themes are proliferating. In fact, pop culture now rules the deck on every voyage with Disney Cruises and its roaming crew of stars from Pixar, Marvel, Disney and Star Wars productions. Disney’s deck parties, 3-D movies and Broadway-style shows are designed for families, as are the staterooms, which feature split baths and extra space and storage. On select 2020 itineraries in the Caribbean, passengers can enjoy a Star Wars Day at Sea featuring a throng of Star Wars characters; and on many five-night cruises from Miami, a Marvel Day at Sea brings aboard stunt shows, movie marathons and a chance to cavort with the likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America. Disney Cruises to Alaska are headlined by Pixar Pals at Sea programs put on by the characters of Toy Story, The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc. and highlighted by an all-hands-on-deck Super Hero Shuffle.

Norwegian Cruise Line fords a similar stream of popular art with a special round-trip New York- to-Bermuda Comicon cruise May 3–10, 2020, on Norwegian Encore. Passengers will sail with a host of legendary comic-book and animated video heroes in full regalia, topped off by a three-day party in Bermuda.

Another major aspect of pop culture is music, and cruise lines are ready to rock, especially Royal Caribbean. Its Rock Legends Cruise VIII, Feb. 27–March 2, 2020, from Fort Lauderdale brings aboard 20 artists to perform some 60 shows in three venues. Among the top draws: Roger Daltrey, Uriah Heep, Elvin Bishop, UFO and Johnny Lang. That’s followed by The 80s Cruise, March 8–15, 2020, on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, a round-trip Miami voyage featuring concerts day and night with the likes of Berlin, Patty Smyth and the B-52s.

Fans of country music are in luck, too, with a special Caribbean cruise Jan. 25–Feb. 1, 2020, on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam. There will be line dancing, cornhole tournaments (bean-bag tossing) and meet-and-greet opportunities with the country stars who perform along the way, including the Oak Ridge Boys, Randy Owen, Tracy Lawrence and Pam Ellis.

There’s even a pop cruise for fans of classical music. Ponant Cruises lures members of the Boston Pops aboard to celebrate American composers on a Montréal-to-Boston sailing of Le Champlain Oct. 19–27, 2020. This cruise features concerts, chamber music and piano works by Gershwin, Copeland, Barber and Ellington.

And finally, for pop TV devotees, there’s a Golden Girls at Sea cruise aboard the Celebrity Infinity, complete with a cheesecake party, bar crawl, bingo binge, fancy-dress fest and karaoke night at the Rusty Anchor. This pop party at sea sets sail Feb. 24, 2020, with stops in Key West and Cozumel.