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Royal Caribbean cuts Icon of the Seas' trip a stop early and cancels its upcoming voyage. Here's why

By Steve Maugeri

September 28, 2024 / 9:04 PM EDT / CBS Miami

MIAMI — The Icon of the Seas encountered some issues during its recent voyage, forcing the world's largest cruise liner to miss a stop and return to the Port of Miami. And though the ship was scheduled to depart on another trip on Saturday, Royal Caribbean canceled that as well.

The reason: maintenance.

Passenger Greg, who is from Alabama, told CBS News Miami that his trip on the Icon of the Seas couldn't make the trip to St. Thomas and instead stayed at sea before later docking in Miami. 

"We had to go a little bit slower than normal," he said. "But we still enjoyed the cruise it was fantastic but we missed out on St. Thomas."

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson told CBS News Miami in statement that the ship returned to the docks because it needed "unplanned maintenance." 

Because of that maintenance, the cruise line had to cancel a seven-day trip that was set to depart later Saturday. The ship is expected to stay in Miami for repairs.

"It's unfortunate," said would-be passenger Mel Copeland. "These things happen. We don't hold any grudges."

Copeland was planning on leaving on that seven-day cruise. He had been planning this trip for 18 months; but now, he will end his adventure in the Magic City. 

"We know people that come here for a holiday and only come here. We're pretty fortunate," Copeland said.

Royal Caribbean's spokesperson said that they have apologized for the inconvenience and have been communicating with guests directly, adding that they'll refund a day's worth of cruise charges for customers who didn't make it to St. Thomas.

The customers who were on Saturday's canceled trip will also get a full refund and a credit they can use towards another cruise. 

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Steve Maugeri joined the CBS News Miami team in April 2024. Steve has always loved the beach and is excited to live this close to the ocean within a major city as well!

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• Addressing AGE on Cruise Ships
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Radiance of the Seas September 2024

At a glance.

Learn about the gastrointestinal illness outbreak on the Royal Caribbean International ship Radiance of the Seas, including outbreak details and actions taken in response.

Outbreak details

Cruise line: Royal Caribbean International

Cruise ship: Radiance of the Seas

Voyage dates: September 20–September 27, 2024

Voyage Number: 20118

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 167 of 2,172 (7.69%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 3 of 894 (0.34%)

Predominant symptoms: diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, muscle aches

Causative agent: unknown

Actions in response to the outbreak

In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean International and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Made announcements to notify onboard passengers and crew of the outbreak, encourage case reporting, and encourage good hand hygiene.
• Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing.
• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan.

VSP is remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures, because of the ship’s current location.

Tips for healthy cruising

Learn how passengers can protect themselves .

More information

Gastrointestinal illness is a commonly used term for acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Cruise ships report cases that meet our case definition for AGE. We define a reportable case of AGE as:

• Three or more loose stools within a 24-hour period or what is more than normal for that person OR
• Vomiting along with one of the following symptoms: diarrhea, muscle ache, headache, abdominal cramp, or fever

Case totals

Cases reported are totals for the entire voyage. It does not mean all people are sick at the same time, such as when they arrive or leave a port or ship.

The Vessel Sanitation Program helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control the introduction and spread of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships.

For Everyone

Public health.

A cruise to nowhere: Royal Caribbean sailing canceled after guests boarded

A Royal Caribbean International Alaska voyage became a cruise to nowhere over the weekend, with the line canceling the sailing after guests had already boarded.

The cruise line’s Radiance of the Seas ship experienced propulsion issues, forcing it to shorten and eventually scrap the weeklong itinerary, according to notices shared with guests. The sailing was originally set to depart from Vancouver on Friday.

Charlene Chong, who was on board with her husband, their 3-year and 11-month-old children, and her parents, said passengers were notified Saturday afternoon that the cruise was canceled. The 34-year-old teacher and her husband previously took a cruise for their honeymoon, but this marked their first trip with Royal Caribbean.

“My parents had wanted to go to Alaska for a really long time,” said Chong, who lives in Vancouver.

The cruise line warned guests several days before boarding that the ship had a “technical issue with its propulsion system,” according to an email sent to passengers that Chong shared with USA TODAY. The line later pushed the departure back by two days to allow more time for repairs.

Royal Caribbean said boarding would proceed as planned but that the terminal would close Friday evening due to U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules. Passengers would not be able to leave until the ship arrived at Icy Strait Point.

“We were going stir crazy a little bit,” said Chong.

Royal Caribbean gave guests onboard credit worth two days of their fare, a future cruise credit of the same amount, complimentary drinks and other compensation, another email said.

According to Chong, the ship sailed toward a nearby cargo port, but the captain announced Saturday afternoon that the sailing could not proceed and that guests would need to disembark by Sunday at 4 p.m. Chong said she and her family were “lucky” they were local, but she saw other guests scrambling to change their flights and find accommodations.

Your cruise was canceled: Now what?

“We understand the disappointment due to this unfortunate turn of events,” the cruise line said in a letter shared with guests. “We truly extend our sincerest apologies for the continued unforeseen disruptions to your vacation.”

Royal Caribbean gave them their money back as onboard credit with any remaining amount refunded, increased their future cruise credit to 100% of their fare and kept its open-bar policy for the remaining time on board. The line also offered to reimburse trip change fees up to $250 for guests traveling domestically and $400 for international travel and additional reimbursements for hotel and transportation costs, among other compensation.

“Due to a technical issue, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the April 26 sailing," a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "Guests will receive a full refund and 100% future cruise credit, and have been notified directly.” The spokesperson did not comment on the specifics of Chong's experience.

The ship will resume service for its May 3 sailing.

After they got home, Chong and her family booked a trip to Mexico instead – though her parents decided not to join as they were “a bit exhausted by the whole ordeal.” For now, she’s not inclined to use the future cruise credit. “I would like to go to Alaska,” she said. “I'm not sure if I want to go with them.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach him at [email protected].

Advertisement

Royal Caribbean reports dozens of cases on a cruise that left Florida on Saturday.

The ship, the Odyssey of the Seas, represents the cruise line’s second mass infection this month.

• Share full article

By Johnny Diaz

• Dec. 23, 2021

Dozens of people aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus after it set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday, according to the cruise line.

Fifty-five fully vaccinated passengers and crew members on the ship, the Odyssey of the Seas, tested positive, the cruise line said in a statement on Thursday, noting that the number represented 1.1 percent of those on board.

The ship, which was on an eight-night cruise, will not sail to Curaçao and Aruba as planned and will remain at sea until it returns to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, Royal Caribbean said.

“The decision was made together with the islands out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of Covid-19 cases in the destinations’ communities as well as crew and guests testing positive on board,” the company said. All of the people on the ship who tested positive “are fully vaccinated and mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic,” the cruise line added.

The Odyssey of the Seas , one of Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, made its maiden voyage in July. It can carry more than 5,500 guests and more than 1,600 crew members.

The health episode was reported shortly after a similar one on another Royal Caribbean ship, the Symphony of the Seas. The cruise line said this week that 48 people on that ship tested positive for Covid-19 after it set sail from Miami on Dec. 11. The ship returned to port in Miami on Dec. 18 after a seven-night Caribbean cruise.

Those cases were identified because of contact tracing after a guest tested positive, the cruise line said, adding that 95 percent of the passengers aboard the Symphony of the Seas were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and 98 percent of the people who tested positive were fully vaccinated.

Royal Caribbean requires travelers 12 and older to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and to test negative before boarding. Younger children who are not vaccinated must provide a negative P.C.R. test result before sailing and test negative at the terminal before boarding.

The company said that all of its crew members were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and were tested weekly.

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, outbreaks on cruise ships sickened people and upended the tourism industry.

Since the cruise industry restarted operations in the United States this June, efforts to keep the coronavirus at bay have been largely successful. Most companies require full vaccination for crew members and most passengers, and they put strict health and safety protocols in place.

But as the highly contagious Omicron variant drives up coronavirus cases in much of the United States and Europe , and criticism of cruise lines has mounted over a lack of transparency in reporting positive cases to passengers and crew members, many lines have adjusted their rules for masking, testing and vaccines.

Johnny Diaz is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news. He previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boston Globe. More about Johnny Diaz