Events by Ship:
Illness Outbreaks by Ship:
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
Incident |
| 14.12.09 | Voyager of the Seas |
KHOU-TV News reports the ship has been stuck in port (Galveston) since Sunday, and likely until Tuesday, because of dense fog. FROM A READER: Voyager finally left the dock about 9:20 Tuesday morning. RCCL allowed any who wanted off to do so, by 11 last night, and allowed them a cruise credit for a full cruise, and apparently more than half the passengers took that offer. So the ship is less than half full. No word yet on if they allowed all the lower-class staterooms to move up to newly-vacated balconies. I did see a message indicating that RCCL gave a "refund" of what you spent for your cabin, rather than giving a cruise credit you could use on any 7-day cruise. Not sure what they did for airline reservations for those wanting to leave. From another reader: According to the cruise director's post on cruise critic, 2500 people are left on the ship so way less than 50% got off. | Delayed departure / Canceled port call |
| 11.12.09 | Majesty of the Seas | The Miami Herald reports the Coast Guard found a man who was missing at sea for about two hours after falling off the ship near Biscayne Bay on Friday morning -- at about 4:30 AM the ship issued a distress call stating crewmember Robert Mado, 31 (an assistant purser), had gone overboard about five miles off the Fowey Rocks. Two hours later, authorities found Mado alive, but his health condition remains unknown. The ship was on its way to Miami from Key West. |
Crew member overboard - rescued alive |
| 9.12.09 | Oasis of the Seas | The Daily Herald (St. Maarten) reports the ship, sailed into Crown Bay, St. Thomas Tuesday morning but its entry was not without some obstruction. Despite dredging, the ship, which has sixteen passenger decks, churned up quite some silt from the bottom of the bay and issues with the gangway kept passengers delayed on board for over an hour. The delay, which also caused onshore activities and tours to suffer some setbacks, was because the gangway needed a boost to fill the space between Deck Two where cruisers disembarked and the quay wall where the behemoth was docked. There were four other ships in St. Thomas, meaning approximately 17,000 cruise passengers were in town. | Delayed disembarkation |
| 25.11.09 | Radiance of the Seas |
Posters at Cruise Critic say a Carnival ship bumped the RCI ship while maneuvering in Puerto Vallarta, denting the front of Radiance of the Seas. | Collision - "Bump" |
| 21.11.09 | Navigator of the Seas | The Nassau Guardian reports two armed men ambushed and robbed a group of 17 tourists on tour in Nassau yesterday. According to police, the visitors were on tour at Earth Village, Dunmore Street, in Chippingham just before 1 p.m. with a tour guide when two men armed with shotguns accosted them. The Bahamian man leading the tour was tied up and the tourists were ordered to the ground and robbed of cash, passports, cell phones, credit cards and personal items, said police. While this group of visitors was being robbed, another group of tourists came on the scene and they too were robbed. Shortly after this incident, a 43-year-old Canadian man visiting downtown Nassau along with his brother had his wallet snatched while walking on Bay Street near Navy Lion Road. Three officers from the Tourism Patrol Unit gave chase and arrested the 49-year-old man police suspect was responsible for the theft. | Pax robbed onshore |
| 15.11.09 | Royal Caribbean International | Jackson, NJ.com reports travellers leaving for sunny Caribbean vacations on RCI cruises from Bayonne (Cape Liberty) are returning home to find their cars have been permanently damaged. The culprit seems to be paint being used by the nearby drydock to repair a U.S. Navy ship being restored. Both Royal Caribbean and the owners of the parking garage have known about the problem for several months and failed to warn customers of the dangers posed to their vehicles. Calls from the nespaper to Royal Caribbean were deferred to the Bayonne Drydock Corporation. Calls to Central Parking (operator of the parking lot) were also not returned. | Damage to parked cars (while on cruise) |
| 9.11.09 | Mariner of the Seas | Contra Costa Times reports three ambulances and about 20 paramedics and rescue personnel were sent to a cruise ship in the Port of Los Angeles Sunday to treat three people with serious injuries and medical complications, but the injuries were unrelated, a fire official said. The injuries were reported at 6:06 AM. A pregnant woman suffering possible complications and two passengers who had slipped and fallen on the ship were taken to San Pedro Peninsula Hospital with "serious" injuries. Two of the passengers were in the ship's infirmary when Los Angeles fire paramedics arrived. The other was in a state room onboard. | Ship met by ambulances |
| 6.11.09 | Grandeur of the Seas | Hampton Roads dot com reporrts a convicted sex offender has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after he admitted downloading child pornography. The thrity-two year old man was arrested in May after he debarked the ship at the Norfolk cruise ship terminal. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents pulled him from the line and searched his laptop, which contained 69 child pornography videos. The search was conducted under a new policy that allows agents to search any electronic device carried by international travelers. | Pax arrested with child porn |
| 5.11.09 | Independence of the Seas | The Huddersfield Examiner reports a couple is suing their travel agaent after contracting food poisoning while on aboard the ship. According to the article, the couple left Southampton in June for France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. During the first few nights they sent food back several times and also saw curdled milk and yoghurts in faulty chiller cabinets. But it was two days before the end of their two-week holiday when they were hit by severe diarrhoea, fever and headaches. Mr Wormald became so ill he lost 10.5lbs in weight ... Tests showed the couple had both contracted campylobacter – a common form of food poisoning which was treated with antibiotics. | Food poisoning |
| 24.10.09 | Brilliance of the Seas | The current cruise has experienced bad weather and other problems (see October 13). The latest from a passenger is: We were due to dock in Barcelona tomorrow morning - update 7pm tomorrow night. Weather was very rough last night hardly slept. So the plan is to use the ship as a hotel tomorrow night in Barcelona and the new cruise will lose a day. Weather now is clear and sunny but still bumpy. According to a poster at Cruise Critic: I'm scheduled with 7 others to cruise the Brilliance tomorrow, Sun. Just got off the phone with RCCL, here's the update, Boarding will be on Monday now at 7:00 PM, Anyone who has scheduled their air with RCCL will be met at the Barcelona airport and transferred to a hotel, courtesy of RCCL. Outside cabins will be given a $200pp OCB, Balcony cabins will be given $300PP OCB. I'm just glad I called, because nowhere on their site are these changes. There will be an extra sea day and they will be skipping Nice, and Florence. Needless to say am very disappointed, but I'm sure we will make the best of it. Any day away from work is a vacation. |
Late disembarkation/ delayed embarkation |
| 23.10.09 | Serenade of the Seas | The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in August. On August 6, the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of zinc. | Environmental |
| 13.10.09 | Brilliance of the Seas | From a passenger: We're onboard the Brilliance of the Seas in Barcelona - we were due to depart tonight at 7pm but due to the ship arriving late after a storm ( number of windows in deck 3/4 broken ) - which can't be repaired until early afternoon tomorrow we're confined to port - The ship is in touch with Miami at the minute - we were due to be in Cannes tomorrow but its cancelled !! UPDATE: We're due to sail around noon -- crew worked throughout the night on the repairs - they have pencilled Cannes in on one of our last sea days. According to Cruisecritic poster 35 cabins were damaged. | Delay - damage in storm |
| 30.9.09 | Enchantment of the Seas |
USA Today reports thetwo ships collided in an incident that has left both vessels damaged. Carnival says the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend had just untied from its berth at the popular Mexican resort town when it was caught by heavy winds and pushed into the 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas. "Extremely strong winds pushed the vessel up against the side of Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas," the line says in a statement to USA TODAY. "The (Royal Caribbean) ship was at dock when the incident occurred. The Carnival Legend sustained broken glass and other minor damage to some open deck areas." A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said the Enchantment suffered what appears to be minor damage to the stern of the ship and some railings. Spokespeople for both lines say they have received no reports of injuries on board their respective ships resulting from the incident, which occurred at about 6:15 pm central time. Both lines say the damage to the ships is not serious and the vessels will proceed with their current itineraries. The Enchantment of the Seas is on a five-night Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. The Carnival Legend is on a seven-night Caribbean cruise out of Tampa. NOTE: Click here for two pictures of Enchantment of the Seas sent by a reader. | Collision |
| 4.9.09 | Freedom of the Seas | PorEsto! (Cozumel) reports a 50-year old male passenger from Freedom of the Seas died after falling overboard from the vessle Island Shuttle as it docked at Cozumel. The ship was maneuvering to dock at the pier when the passenger was thrown overboard and was sucked into the engine foce, severing several body parts. | Death while ashore |
| 3.9.09 | Explorer of the Seas | The Royal Gazette reports dozens of tourists were stranded in St. George's with their cruise ship leaving in mere hours after a ferry encountered technical problems. According to a statement from the Department of Marine and Ports, on Monday the 1 p.m. ferry scheduled to travel from St. Georges to Dockyard encountered a "mechanical problem," forcing it to return to the depot. Many tourists were reportedly concerned that they would not be able to return to the Explorer of the Seas, which was in port in Dockyard and scheduled to leave the Island at 5 p.m. A spokesperson for the department said yesterday: "The 3 p.m. ferry operated as regularly scheduled and all passengers were able to board and were transported to the Explorer of the Seas. There were no passengers left behind." While the Department of Marine and Ports say that the vehicles are still getting serviced on a regular schedule, at least one ferry-goer said that the ferries, some of which have been active since the spring of 2002, are looking worse every day. "The problems have been there a long time, and it's been getting progressively worse," said the businessman, who asked not to be identified. "More than one third of the seats are in need of repair. On one of the ferries both of the toilets are out of order and more than one of the ferries belches black smoke when the engines are revved." While locals often take to the lower level, which is better maintained, visitors more commonly take to the upper deck, which is more affected by the issues." | Ferry troubles in Bermuda |
| 31.8.09 | Freedom of the Seas | A reader sent me a copy of a letter they sent to RCI regarding a pocket knife (measuring less than 3 inches) he had confiscated at embarkation, despite it being within limits stated in pre-boarding information. He points out the inconsistency between having 6-inch serrateed steak knives in the dining room and yet confiscating a dull pocket knife. Whether you agree with the passenger or with the cruise line, the letter gives some interesting insights and points to some security issues. RCI's response to the letter did not adequately address his concerns. Click here for a copy of the letter. | Safety and security |
| 12.8.09 | Navigator of the Seas | Kathimerini (Greece) reports that six people on board the ship, which docked in Piraeus, have been confined to their cabins after testing positive for swine flu. Three are crew members and the other three passengers. | Swine flu |
| 31.7.09 | Jewel of the Seas | The Independent reports an American school teacher cruising with his family was ejected from the ship. His compulsory expulsion came after he produced and distributed a one-page flier to fellow passengers at one of the champagne-fuelled art auction after he did an internet search of allegations made against Park West Galleries, which is facing a number of lawsuits accusing it of selling over-priced or fake prints on cruise ships for more than a decade. As a result, the passenger was told that he had broken RCCL’s guest conduct policy and would be ejected when it docked in Oslo July 26th. The dispute, which the passenger insists amounts to a breach of his right to freedom of expression, left him with a £450 ($750) bill for a hotel and air tickets back to London, where he was reunited with his wife and two children and his elderly parents, who had stayed on board to avoid the cost of extra flights. He told The Independent yesterday: "What happened to me was outrageous. All I did was distribute information. I overheard the claims being made for the art on sale at this auction and was curious about the company behind it." After a search on Google on my laptop I found the details of the various lawsuits and media reports that there have been about this company. I felt that people attending these auctions had a right to know that there were these claims just so they could make up their own minds. I went out of my way to say these were just allegations. "Royal Caribbean obviously took a different view. I was shocked that because we were in international waters, they were able summarily inform me I had to leave the ship. One minute I was playing table tennis with my son, the next I was being escorted away by the Oslo police." The passenger, who said he only became aware of the claims against Park West after boarding the ship, printed off 50 copies of his leaflet before distributing it to passengers shortly before one of the auctions began. Two hours later he was called to the ship’s administration offices and told complaints had been made against him by passengers concerning the flyer. | Passenger ejected |
| 31.7.09 | Voyager of the Seas | Reuters reports there are dozens of victims of swine flu among the 5,000 passengers and crew docked in France Friday on its way from the Italian port city of Naples to Marseille. Sixty crew members were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, and 70 more crew members showed signs of the disease. People infected with swine flu are being treated and will stay on board the ship, which docked at Villefranche in southern France Friday morning and will resume its journey Friday evening. All other crew members will also stay on board, though the passengers -- 3,600 people -- will be allowed to go on land during the day. UPDATE: Press Association reports the crew members and two passengers who were suspected of having swine flu have tested negative for the virus. RCCL said 62 crew members and two passengers on the ship were immediately isolated after coming down with cold and flu-like symptoms. It said: "All crew members and the guests with symptoms tested negative for Influenza A but will remain in isolation until they are symptom free." The information contradicted comments by Alpes-Maritime regional spokeswoman Geraldine Soulier, who said about 60 crew members had been diagnosed with swine flu and confined to their cabins while the ship was in the French port of Villefranche-sur-Mer. She said 70 others were also suspected of having the illness and isolated. Ms Soulier said regional authorities had been informed of the diagnosis by Spain's health authorities. The 60 had been diagnosed with the A-H1N1 virus upon boarding the ship in Barcelona, Spain, on July 26 and immediately placed in isolation. She said she had no information to indicate that the Spanish authorities' diagnosis was incorrect. UPDATE August 1: AFP (France) reports when the ship arrived in Mraseille at 7:00 AM local authorities initially barred passengers from going ashore, but after a team of medics carried out an enquiry on board, the majority of passengers were given permission to disembark. Local official Philip Ramon said authorisation to go ashore had been given because the risk was deemed "extremely marginal." Only one passenger, whose nationality was not given, was confirmed to have had swine flu and had now fully recovered, he said. About 150 people remained on board in isolation, he added. These included 62 members of the crew, who had presented symptoms of A(H1N1) flu, and another 60 people who had been in contact with them, five passengers and around 15 other passengers who had been in contact with them. | Swine flu |
| 1.7.09 | Freedom of the Seas | Associated Press reports an amphibious tour bus veered off a road Wednesday, injuring about 30 cruise ship passengers who were taking a shore excursion in the US Virgin Islands. The Duckaneer, which has a boat-like hull for traveling in water and wheels for moving on land, was carrying 47 passengers from the ship when it went off the road in St. Thomas and crashed into bushes. About 30 people were treated at nearby Schneider Regional Medical Center for minor injuries, hospital spokesman Sam Topp said. One passenger suffered a broken ankle and was expected to be kept overnight for observation, he said. | Injuries on shore excursion |
| 24.6.09 | Navigator of the Seas | PR-Inside reports two women (58-year old American and 34-year-old Italian) were quaratined during a port call in Barcelona; both tested positive for swine flu. The women will remain on the ship and it will leave as scheduled Wednesday night for Palma, on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. There doctors will examine them again. The cruise ship began its trip in Italy and stopped off in France before arriving in Barcelona. | Passengers quarantined |
| 11.6.09 | Enchantment of the Seas | News7 Belize reports that disembarakation was delayed for more than four hours because of a swine flu scare. Six of the ship's crew had flu symptoms and were quarantined on the ship. As a precaution, passengers weren’t allowed to de-board until a Ministry of Health team checked out the ship. The okay was given at mid-day and the passengers filed off the ship. The TV station reported that most passengers were unaware that there was an onboard H1N1 scare. | Swine flu |
| 10.6.09 | Adventure of the Seas | The Daily Mail reports the ship was turned away from St. Lucia today over worries the vessel was carrying the H1N1 swine flu virus. The line says another island, Antigua, also has told the ship not to visit as scheduled on Thursday. The islands' decisions came after the line reported two crew members and a passenger on the ship had been experiencing flu-like symptoms. The ship departed San Juan, Puerto Rico Sunday on a seven-night Southern Caribbean cruise and has stopped only at Bridgetown, Barbados. It is scheduled to visit Philipsburg, St. Maarten and St. Croix, Virgin Islands later this week. There's no word yet on whether the two islands will allow the ship to dock. | Swine flu |
| 4.6.09 | Liberty of the Seas | The Cayman Compass reports a 62 year old woman died while swimming off 7 mile beach. Police said that the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call from a member of the public at around 11.45 am on Wednesday reporting that a swimmer had been brought to shore unconscious in the vicinity of Royal Palms. Police and medics responded to the scene and the 62-year old woman was taken to hospital where she was unfortunately pronounced dead. Detectives have been told that the woman had been swimming with her husband when she got into difficulty. Her husband sought assistance from another cruise ship passenger who was in the area on a jet-ski and she was brought to shore. | Pax death ashore |
| 9.5.09 | Serenade of the Seas | While cruise ships have dropped port calls in Mexico to avoid swine flu, the first cases of swine flu on cruise ships were identified on a cruise ship in Alaska. KTUU in Alaska reports state health officials say a female crew member (dining room waiter) tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus, and that ship is now in Alaska waters. The ship was en route to Sitka on Sunday, traveling in the Icy Strait on a 14-night cruise from the Caribbean to Canada. "(Saturday) we received reports of a probable case of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus, also called swine flu," said Dr. Jay Butler, the state's chief medical officer. Royal Caribbean said in a statement that two crew members experienced flu-like symptoms about a week ago. Both crew members were immediately isolated. The illness was subsequently confirmed to be swine flu. | Swine flu |
| 8.5.09 | Enchantment of the Seas | Two passengers apparently had an altercation during the muster drill at the start of the cruise -- enough to draw blood. Both were offloaded from the ship when it arrived at Nassau. The incident was taped and available on You Tube (but has since been taken offline). | Pax on pax assault |
| 14.4.09 | Explorer of the Seas | From a passenger: The
June 11 saling from Bayonne has changed its itinerary. It now arrives
in St. Marteen at 2:00 and leaves at 10:00 PM (Was 12:00-9:00). But the
worst is San Juan - it arrives at 10:00 pm and leaves 11:30 AM Docked
(Was 7AM - 2PM one day). These are minor changes but it really effects
the shore excursions. Many passangers are upset because RCCI announced
the change right after the final payment was due without an
explaintion. From a Reader: The April 11
post about RCCL's change in itinerary is not the only change, my
sailing on May 28 th has been changed also, to the one you have posted
for june 11, in fact, if you go to their web page and look at the 6 or
so sailings planned, they have all been changed to the the June
11 trip as posted. |
Itinerary change |
| 9.3.09 |
Voyager of the Seas | The itinerary on this cruise from Galveston was changed
after a female passenger sustained a broken leg on one leg and a broken
ankle on the other leg as a result of a fall down the stairs that go
from the Royal Promenade down to the Casino and had to be airlifted for
medical care. The Captain said due to the evacuation the should would
be 4 hours late arriving at our first scheduled stop in Cozumel.
Therefore the itinerary was changed and the ship went directly to
the next scheduled ports of Roatan on Wednesday and Coasta Maya on
Thursday. The Cozumel stop would then be on Friday and return to
Galveston as normal. |
Itinerary change |
| 9.3.09 |
Independence of the Seas | Posters at Cruise
Critic report a woman fell from the pier with her motorized wheel
chair while the ship was docked at Cozumel this past week. One writes: We were walking back to this ship and we
were just passed the security guard that is outside the boat when we
heard a man yell for help. We saw the lady in the water. My husband and
I ran up to the ship and told the crew members who were working (taking
sea passes, etc) and they just looked at us. After yelling 3 times at
them that someone had fallen in the water and they needed help, they
finally took off running to help, but without any type of floatation
device. Then the security guard came for the life preserver. He was in
such a panic and rush that the rope from the preserver got caught in
the queue stands and he knocked over everything. Finally a female crew
member jumped in the water with the lady. It seemed like there was lots
of confusion and that they weren't really prepared for a situation like
this. There were lots of crew standing around outside on the pier, but
no one was really doing anything. They were yelling at each other to
get life jackets, etc. Although we did not see the lady actually be
lifted out of the water, she was floating fine when we saw her. Reports
from the crew (including the female crew member who jumped in with the
lady) said that the lady was doing fine and was on the ship. |
Fall from pier |
| 8.3.09 |
Royal Caribbean International | Royal Caribbean Caught Infiltrating Review
Sites With Viral Marketing Team -- See
article here |
|
| 25.2.09 |
Serenade of the Seas |
The Antigua
Sun reports a cruise passenger from SotS reportedly fell into a
manhole on Nevis Street in St. John's (Antigua). She was taken to the
ship for medical attention -- she sustained injuries to her legs. |
Injuries onshore |
| 13.2.09 |
Explorer of the Seas | From
a passenger: Aboard the
Explorer of the Seas Feb 13 voyage from Bayonne, NJ. At
boarding we were informed that since the ship is unable to cruise at 22
Knots, and will, instead, make only 20 Knots, the schedule has been
adjusted slightly. The most significant change is in San Juan
where the ship will be in port from 7AM until 11:30AM. No details or
further explanations have been given. |
Propulsion problems |
| 9.2.09 |
Legend of the Seas | A poster at Cruise
Critic reports the ship pulled in to Key West this morning due to a
faulty azipod. The azipod was leaking oil into the water and was
ordered into port by the Captain of the Port. She is moored in Key West
with a boom around her. Repairs were completed by the evening and the
ship was again on its way. |
Oil leak from azipod |
| 8.2.09 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | ABC
(Australia) reports that passengers will be forced to disembark at
a buoy in the middle of Sydney Harbour on Tuesday (Feb 10) because all
other shipping berths are being used. They are full and the ship will
instead anchor at a harbour buoy and its passengers taken to land by a
smaller boat. This is a first for Sydney Harbour. |
Strange disembarkation |
| 5.2.09 |
Explorer of the Seas | The Miami
Herald reports the ship was leaving Samana, Dominican Republic, on
January 29 when a propeller on one of the ship's engines struck an
unidentified object and was bent. The 11-day cruise skipped its last
port call in Labadee, Haiti, and returned to Cape Liberty, N.J., on
February 1. The present cruise skipped its port call in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, and is now en route to St. Thomas, where divers will
repair the propeller today. The St. Thomas port call has been extended
six hours to 11 p.m. Thursday. From a
passenger: The incident occurred at dinner time and vibration
was noted by several people. We were well within the buoyed channel. We
were compensated $ 100 per person by the line and extra activities were
planned by the crew. On the 30th, the ship stopped near Turks and
Caicos and allowed to drift for over an hour while divers were sent
down. They inspected and photographed the propeller and then came back
on board. I am a radio enthusiast and heard them say there was damage
to the blades. We then proceeded home at reduced speed. |
Damaged propeller |
| 31.1.09 |
Radiance of the Seas | El
Mercurio (Chile) reports that the ship arrived yesterday in Puerto
Montt with a 12 meter long dead humpback whale entangled on the bow.
The Navy undertook an inspection but was unable to determine whether
the whale was alive when it was struck. The remains of the animal were
removed by a fishing vessel and transported to the open sea. The two
thousand passengers on the cruise did not know of the whale strike when
it happened, but could see the whale on the bow when they tendered
ashore from the ship. |
Whale strike |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2008 |
Incident |
| 28.12.08 |
Explorer of the Seas | Antigua
Sun reports two passengers were allegedly robbed of US$200, their
hand bags, credit cards and passports at Fort James beach. This is the
second incident in a matter of weeks affecting the cruise sector. After
the passengers were robbed, the taxi driver who was transporting them
reportedly attempted to catch the thief but was unsuccessful. |
Robbery ashore |
| 15.12.08 |
Navigator of the Seas | Posted at Cruising
Talk: So
much for the saying about lightening not striking twice... Earlier in
the year, as we documented here
on CruisingTalk, Navigator o/t Seas suffered a problem with one of her
stabilizers on her Transatlantic crossing. The offending article was
removed at Cascais, Portugal upon instruction from the Portugese
authorities after she arrived in Lisbon. Well the other stabilizer was
removed on
December 15. No word as to
the reason for the second 'amputation', but she is expected to receive
a new set of fins when she is in dry dock at the end of January 2009. |
Stabilizer removed |
| 7.12.08 |
Brilliance of the Seasl | FROM A PASSENGER: The
November 25 to December 7 cruise missed two ports. Bad weather caused
cancellation of the port call at Citavecchia on November 28 -- the ship
spent an extra day at sea, arriving at Citavecchia on 29. Because
of the delay, the ship went directly to Santorini, skipping
Mykonos. Then on the return leg of the cruise to Barcelona, bad
weather prevented the port call at Naples. Instead the ship went
to Messina, Sicily. |
Itinerary changes due to weather |
| 7.11.08 |
Royal Caribbean International | Cruising
Talk reports: It appears that RCI have been dropping their stops at
Labadee during the last few days due to an unresolved labour dispute.
Jewel o/t Seas cancelled a stop there and diverted to Cozumel instead
on it's current cruise. Explorer o/t Seas also cancelled a stop there
on November 6, all cabins received OBC. So far there are no indications
on the RCI website regarding when this problem will be dealt with,
infact there isn't any information regarding the itinerary changes for
ships going to Labadee at all. Passengers are receiving letters
explaining the itinerary change when they board. |
Labadee calls canceled |
| 30.10.08 |
Radiance of the Seas | USA
Today reports that RCI canceling cruises in South America scheduled
for 2009 and 2010 aboard Radiance of
the Seas and instead keeping the ship in San Diego. The vessel
will sail 24 additional Mexican Riviera sailings out of San Diego
between September 2009 and May 2010. The changes are a sign that
higher-priced vacations such as South American cruises are becoming a
tougher sell as the economy tumbles and worried consumers look for more
affordable vacation options. Cruises out of so-called "home port"
cities such as San Diego traditionally have appealed to penny-pinching
consumers because they can be reached by car, eliminating the cost of
airfare. |
Canceled itineraries |
| 23.10.08 |
Navigator of the Seas | Cruising
Talk reports: As
reported elsewhere, Navigator o/t Seas was forced to abandon docking in
Sardinia after freak weather caused a tour bus to overturn on the quay,
Navigator's ropes snapped & her gangway dropped into the sea. The
captain is reported to have taken the decision to abandon the port call
and return out to sea. No injuries reported other than the driver of
the tour bus, but Navigator has sustained minor damage. |
Docking abandoned |
| 20.10.08 |
Independence of the Seas | FROM A PASSENGER: Whilst on the ship my 5 year old daughter
rushed over to her dad and said she needed him to come to the bottom of
the pool. When he got there he could see a little girl right at the
bottom, he shouted for help and jumped in he pulled her dead weight out
of the water she was blue. He did CPR and mouth to mouth for a few
minutes every one thought she was dead.. but he carried on and
eventually colour started to come back to her cheeks, there are no life
guards and no first aiders on or around the pool area, if it wasn't for
my daughter and husband that girl would have died. Thank god she did
live or else my husband would have had that on his conscience for
ever. We feel it should be essential to have somebody around the
pool area to do first aid if this happens and it should not
be left to the people around the pool. It was a terrible situation to
be in and it ruined our cruise. The incident was subsequently
reported by The
Daily Record (Scotland) NS and Leicestershire
Times. |
Near-drowning of child |
| 13.10.08 |
Enchantment of the Seas | Disembarkation at Fort Lauderdale was halted for about an
hour after a suspicious package was found bobbing near the ship.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office bomb squad was called and
dertimined and determined the package was harmless -- a one foot by six
inches plastic container. |
Disembarkation halted |
| 3.10.08 |
Majesty & Freedom of the Seas | The
Consumerist reports that Royal Caribbean has announced plans to
charge customers who order steak in the main dining room a $14.95
surcharge. The New York strip steak being offered in the main dining
rooms on these two ships is a Black Angus steak. It will also be
available in the alternate dining room, Chops, but there will be no
additional fee above the regular cover charge. |
New surcharge |
| 28.9.08 |
Explorer of the Seas | The ship skipped Charlottetown purportedly because of
approaching Hurricane Kyle. However, the weather during the day had
winds of 22km and less (14 mph) and cloudy skies. The ship instead
sailed to the St. Lawrence and spent an overnight in Quebec CIty. |
Skipped port |
| 25.9.08 |
Oasis of the Seas | A fire broke out on board while the ship is under
construction at Aker Yards Finland. Some 1,500 workers that were on
board the ship at the time the fire started at about midday were
evacuated. Insulation material on deck 9 caught fire in connection with
welding work and the yard's own fire fighters were able to put it out
before it could cause extensive damage. Although the were no
casualties, the fire caused a lot of smoke, which spread from deck 9 to
various decks higher up on the ship. |
Fire |
| 18.9.08 |
Enchantment of the Seas | From a passenger: Another couple, my husband, and I were on the cave tubing excursion in
Belize booked through onboard. The wife of the couple with us was
pulled under a wall in the cave. We frantically kept yelling for help
because we couldn't find her and last saw her go under the water right
as we made impact with the wall. Other people were crashing into
the wall behind us and as we were yelling for help they kept telling us
to keep going. We refused to leave her and risked our lives in
the current trying to find where she had disapeared to. After
about 5 minutes someone finally pulled her from the hole in the
wall. She had managed to hold on to the grooves in the cave to
keep from being sucked deeper into the cave. She had also pulled
herself up one time for air. No one checked on us. The excursion
manager blew us off as if we were exagerating about the dangerous
conditions in the cave. They refunded our money because 2 other
people (whom we didn't know but were in our excursion group) had also
been sucked into the cave wall and managed to escape on their own,
demanded their money refunded. Nothing was done. We wrote a
letter to Miami headquarters, and not so much as a call from them has
been received. It was a very tragic experience and my last
excursion I will ever take and maybe my last cruise. I later
found out that just one hour before our tubing started, they had
rescued 6 other people, but yet they continued to load people into the
river. |
Near fatal accident on
shore excursion |
| 14.9.08 |
Vision of the Seas & Serenade of the Seas | The Juenau
Empire reports the two ships violated visible air emissions
standards last year (2007), July 1 and August 9 respectively. Royal
Caribbean
may be liable for criminal or civil penalties. Past enforcement cases
have cost cruise lines $27,500 per violation. The state's air quality
standards are designed to keep people from breathing harmful
sulfur and nitrogen compounds and particulate matter. |
Environmental |
| 19.8.08 |
Serenade of the Seas | A thirty-year old Turkish male crew member was arrested when
the ship was in Juneau after a female crewmember complained to police
that she had been sexually assaulted while in her cabin. |
Sexual Assault (crew on crew) |
| 9.8.08 |
Monarch of the Seas | The Miami
Herald reports a former staff captain has
filed suit against
Royal
Caribbean Cruises, alleging he was seriously injured in an accident
September 2, 2005 aboard the ship. A cloud of toxic gas escaped
from ballast tanks into crew and passenger areas, killing three crewmen
(see here).
The suit charges the company of failing to properly maintain and
service
its ballast tanks, which are used for balance. That, he claims,
resulted in the escape of poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas. This is a
different account than released at the time of the accident. As well,
the suit alleges that Royal Caribbean “represented on its logs that
venting [of tanks following the accident] took place only when at speed
and at sea” but “venting actually took place when the ship was not at
speed and even in port. "When the tanks are vented and the ship is not
at speed, noxious gas is sucked into the vessel and into the passenger
areas, including cabins, through air-conditioning intakes." He contends
Royal Caribbean “allowed deadly gas to leak into work areas and
passenger cabins for months following this accident." |
Law Suit |
| 7.7.08 |
Jewel of the Seas | It has been reported that the ship is experiencing engine
trouble and is running slower than normal. The cruise scheduled for
October 18 has reportedly be cancelled for the ship to enter drydock. |
Engine problems |
| 5.7.08 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | The Assocated Press reports Royal Caribbean Cruises says it mistakenly broke state law in discharging about 20,000 gallons of wastewater into Chatham Strait in Southeast Alaska. Crew members mistakenly discharged gray water, wastewater from cabin showers and sinks, on June 10. The error was not discovered until a week later. The ship's captain and environmental officer were apparently suspended while a full investigation is conducted. | Environmental |
| 24.6.08 |
Freedom of the Seas | A passenger writes: While
ship was at mooring at Labadee (Haiti) sudden 50+mph winds hit the ship
broadside. Forward mooring lines break, and small, local fishing
boats are capsized. Ship was able to hold position well, with
just aft mooring lines attached. This happened at the end of the
stay, and there were still a couple of tenders to unload.
Unloading of tenders looked rough as the winds were still high. |
Mooring lines break |
| 19.5.08 |
Royal Caribbean International | Expert Cruiser dot Com reports on a couple that has been banned from RCCL's ships forever. The headline says they complained too much, but the details say they were banned after refusing to retract a negative on-line review at Cruise Critic. RCI had provided $500 in compensation for the difficulties experienced. The passenger "...had posted a negative review and had shared the compensation information on Cruise Critic’s boards. RCI asked Brenda to take down her review “at once.” She refused and cited her right to free speech. The following day the passenger received another phone call from RCI stating the couple was banned forever from the cruise line. They were stunned. They didn’t believe it was true until an official letter was delivered citing the ban. It also contained a $500 check — their additional promised cruise credit." | Passengers
banned |
| 30.4.08 |
Explorer of the Seas | The port call at Bermuda was cancelled because of a medical
emergency that required the ship to head back toward the New Jersey
coast so it would be in range for a helicopter rescue by the Coast
Guard. As a consequence, the itinerary now included an extra day and
night at sea. |
Port call cancelled |
| 26.4.08 |
Grandeur of the Seas | From a passenger: The Ship developed propulsion problems on April 23 resulting in a 3 hour delay arriving in Bermuda on April 24th. Passengers had tours shortened or cancelled. Midday on April 25 the Captain advised propulsion problems continued and the ship would arrive 3.5 hours late in Baltimore on April 26 (10:30 AM). Those passengers with flight times prior to 2:30 pm were advised to make alternate airline arrangements. A letter was delivered to each stateroom that confirmed the arrival times and stated that a refund of $100.00 per passenger would be offered to cover the cost of ticket changes. (There was no offer to actually cover the increased cost of obtaining last minute flights.) Many people took the information at face value and made arrangements for flights departing between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The ship actually arrived at the pier in Baltimore at 2:30 pm and disembarking did not start until 4:00 pm. Many people were unable to get to the airport in time to make their “new” flight times. Not a lot of happy campers! | Propulsion
problems -- Delays |
| 25.4.08 |
Majesty of the Seas | WFTV reports that a family of five were evicted from the ship late at night on Tuesday (the second day of the cruise) when their 7-month-old child became sick. They think they were kicked off the ship because her symptoms were similar to the Norwalk virus. The child was throwing up and had diarrhea. A doctor on the ship said she was dehydrated and had to be treated in a hospital. The family said a security guard gave them 10 minutes to pack their bags and get off the boat. It was 11 o'clock at night.the father asked if his wife could get out of her pajamas but the response was that there was no time for that. A doctor at the emergency room diagnosed the infant with a cold, not dehydration. He signed a form and cleared her to travel, but the ship had already left and they were stuck in the Bahamas with no passports to get home. They spent $455 on emergecy passports, $650 on plane tickets home, and $600 for the emergency room on toip of the cost of the five night cruise. RCI refuses to reimburse the family for their expenses but did offer to provide credit on a future cruise. Royal Caribbean takes exception with the parents' account (see Fox News - April 29) and has agreed as a gesture of good will to provide the family with a refund of its cruise fare and reimbursement for its flights home. | Family of 5 kicked off
cruise |
| 23.4.08 |
Navigator of the Seas | A poster
at Cruise Critic writes that the ship is stuck in Lisbon with a
problem with a stabilizer. The ship was initially anchored in the Tagis
River but was later moved to a berth in port. According to the
discussion thread, the ship is not permitted to leave Portugal until
the problem is fixed and apparently the ship willl go to Cascais for
repairs (the stabilizer fin is apparently going to be cut off/removed).
The next two port calls (Cadiz and Malaga) have been cancelled and
there is some concern as to whether the ship will make it Barcelona on
Saturday as is scheduled. The ship also skipped its scheduled call at
Azores which means the only port calls on the transatlantic cruise were
Bermuda and Lisbon. UPDATE: The
"repairs" in Cascais involved cutting off both aft stabilizers. The
ship then left for Barcelona and arrived Friday night. As compensation
for missing the three ports and being stuck in Lisbon passengers were
given a 20% credit (based on what they paid for their cruise) to be
used toward a future cruise. |
Stabilizer problems -- Ports cancelled |
| 22.4.08 |
Serenade of the Seas | A passenger writes On the second day of the cruise, the 21st
of April, at 5.00 in the morning a helicopter of the US Coast Guard
rescued an injured person. The accident happened a few hours before.
The ship had to turn and now there is a delay in the next port
Cartagena, Colombia. The ship is on its repositioning cruise to Alaska
for the summer season. |
Shortened Port Call |
| 20.3.08 |
Serenade of the Seas |
Three ships (RCI's Serenade of the Seas, HAL's Maasdam, and
Pullmantur's Holiday Dream) were prevented from docking at Bridgetown
because of high seas. Two of the ships made it into port, but a
decision was made to not disembark passengers. A fourth ship,
Silversea's Silver Wind cancelled its call for March 21, also because
of sea conditions. |
Canceled port call |
| 17.3.08 |
Legend of the Seas | Several persons from the Dominican Republic were not allowed
to leave the ship in Sint Maarten after authorities were tipped off
that they intended to stay in the country. The ship home ports in
Dominican Republic, making it a good cover for people wanting to leave
DR in search of better economic opportunities. Local sensitivity to the
issue is raised by past incidents of "ship jumpers." |
Some pax not allowed to disembark |
| 10.3.08 |
Voyager of the Seas | According to a passenger, there was a small fire onboard that did something to damage the propulsion system of the ship. As a result the ship's schedule was altered, although it did go to all 3 destinations. However shore excursions were all shortened. | Minor fire |
| 14.2.08 |
Explorer of the Seas | A passenger reports there was an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness in the first half of the 12 day cruise from New Jersey to the Eastern Caribbean. On its return to Cape Liberty, the ship encountered a violent storm, waves in excess of 25 feet, and gale force winds-force 11) -- this data was reported on our stateroom TV’s (channels 41 or 15). The captain had warned us the day prior that we would be following the storm, but this was not the case-we were in the middle of it. In a question and answer period with some of the officers on Feb. 14, including the assistant captain, he mentioned we had the misfortune of passing through 2 cold fronts and the gulf stream within the same day. The rough sea conditions lasted for 12 hours. The ship was rocking side to side, elevators were padded in the event of injury, waitstaff in the dining areas reported feeling dizzy and ill, plates were dropping, and 2 elevators that day were out of service. | Extremely Heavy Seas |
| 31.1.08 |
Navigator of the Seas | A 29 year old Jamaica crew members was arrested in Belize today. Ship security officers found the crew member him with a parcel of white powder believed to be cocaine taped to the inside of his thighs. The ship was 5 miles out of Belize City - but they figured he had picked up the drugs when he came onshore, so they called the CIB Office in Belize City. The crew member was arrested and the powder was sent for testing. And while it looked like cocaine and was concealed like cocaine, it was not. A test showed that it was just non-narcotic white powder. But still, police believe the man had bought what he thought was cocaine - which is still an offence - but not nearly as serious as trafficking cocaine. He was charged with the rarely used offence: "supplying a substance other than controlled drugs." | Non-drug drug bust |
| 28.1.08 |
Enchantment of the Seas | The ships was unable to make our port call in Grand Cayman due to rough seas. Shore excursion fees were refunded however no credits or allowances were provided. The ship arrived at the next port, Ocho Rios, the following morning | Canceled port call (Rough seas) |
| 3.1.08 |
Radiance of the Seas | Passengers spent up to two hours
bouncing around on small tenders in rough
seas after it became impossible to get them back to their ship in
George Town Harbour (Grand Cayman). Cruise lines had been advised to
make the last tender at 2pm,
but
a weather front came through sooner than anticipated, which forced
tendering from George Town to Spotts Dock on
the south side of Grand Cayman. Rather
than using the services and larger tendering vessels of Caribbean
Marine Services, Radiance of the Seas chose to use their own lifeboats
to tender passengers. The experience for passengers was not pleasant, as
described in an article in the Cayman newspaper. |
Rough sea for tendering |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
Incident |
| 31.12.07 |
Liberty of the Seas | From a passenger: I was travelling with my family for the
New Year holiday on the ship, departing Miami December 29. There were
10 other family members on board the ship with me. I was playing
in the casino and got into an argument with some high rollers in the
casino on the departing night, Saturday (12/29). There was
no physical altercation just an argument. Security broke up
the argument and I was asked to leave the casino and went back to my
cabin around 1:30am. The high roller threatened me and
a security guard was placed outside my cabin overnight. The next
day I was called by Guest Relations around 9:45pm and was told to
meet Security in the back room at the front desk at 7:00 am Monday,
which was the first port of call. There were several gentlemen
present at the meeting (head of security, guest relations) and I was
told that I have 45 minutes to pack my bags and get off the ship and
that I was a security risk to the ship. I packed my bags and was
escorted to the dining room. In the dining room there were
immigration officials who had to approve of my disembarkation.
Although I objected to being thrown off the ship and although the
immigration officials also didn't approve of my being thrown off the
ship, officials from the cruise line handed an envelope with $1,000
cash in it to the immigration official and I was then escorted off
the ship to a small boat then transferred to Labadee (private
reserve on the island of Haiti). I was put in a golf cart and
driven to the end of a fenced in area to a waiting jeep. Inside
the jeep were machine gun armed guards and the driver. I was
driven from a locked compound in Labadee, Haiti to a run down
deserted landing strip where there was a
turbo propeller plane waiting for me. On the ride to the
landing strip I was advised to duck down for my safety. I was
scared for my life and thought I was going to die. I was then
escorted onto the turbo prop and was flown from Haiti to Fort
Lauderdale, taking 3 hours. I then transferred onto a
commercial airliner at my cost and arrived home Monday
night. FYI, Haiti is listed on the US State Departments list of
countries for Americans to avoid.
|
Passenger evicted |
| 5.12.07 |
Empress of the Seas | During a routine patrol of the K9 unit at Port Zante (St. Kitts), a passenger was searched and a quantity vegetable material suspected to be cannabis and quantity of a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine was found on his person. He was arrested, and investigations are ongoing. | Drug Arrest onshore |
| 2.12.07 |
Enchantment of the Seas | Passengers returning from the most recent cruises say the
ship continues to have electrical problems and is cruising at reduced
speeds which is causing itinerary changes. (See November
15 below) |
Electrical problems |
| 24.11.07 |
Jewel of the Seas | There was a small fire in the laundry room (deck 1 and 2)
that was extinguished within an hour. Passengers were awakened by the
2:30 AM alert to crew, but there was no general call and passengers
were not asked to leave their rooms. Some passengers report seeing
thick smoke venting by the pool on deck 11. Apparently the only
inconvenience, after things were brought under control, was that linens
needed to be re-laundered to remove the smell of smoke. |
Fire |
| 15.11.07 |
Enchantment of the Seas | The ship apparently had a power failure in the early morning
and was assisted by a tug into Fort Lauderdale at the cruise's end.
Departure of the next cruise, a 4 night cruise with scheduled stops in
Key West and Cozumel, was delayed until midnight and Key West was
dropped from the itinerary. Also, rooms mid-ship reportedly do
not
have air conditioning. UPDATE
November 17 from a passenger: We
made it to Cozumel. Ship has 50% propulsion. They gave each cabin $200
shipboard credit, and 25% of current fare off for future cruise. A lot of upset people, not only at
itinerary change but sporadic A/C. Of the 2,300 cruising, 2,000 are
first time Royal Caribbean cruisers. |
Electrical problems -- Itinerary change |
| 13.11.07 |
Sovereign of the Seas | The Bahama
Journal reports that a 28 year old Nicaraguan man is standing trial accused of forcing
himself on a 20 year old cruise passenger while she was asleep in a
friend's cabin on March 7, 2007. According to the article, the
young
woman had arrived in the Port of Nassau and shopped at
the Straw Market that afternoon. She testified that after dropping off
her
packages at the cruise ship and enjoying a few drinks at Senor Frogs in
downtown Nassau, she went to dinner with several of her friends. After
dinner, she said she returned to the cabin with three of her friends
and immediately went to sleep. She told the court she had no
recollection of what happened between that time and when she awoke to
discover she was naked from the waist down and the crew member was on
top of
her and had penetrated her. On November 19, the assailant was
acquitted. The case is laid out in Bahama Journal articles, if you are
interested in reading about the case. |
Sexual assault |
| 29.10.07 |
Radiance of the Seas | Passenger's disembarkation was delayed four hours
because of a staffing problem onshore which delayed the screening of
disembarking passengers as Lahaina (Maui). The ship was on a 14
day cruise from Los Angeles. It previously had to skip its call
at Hilo because of 50-knot winds off the Big Island. |
Delayed disembarkation |
| 17.10.07 |
Serenade of the Seas | The ship will return about six hours late to San
Diego from its 15 night Hawaii cruise ending on October 20. The
delay is caused by a medical
evacuation emergency which required the ship to backtrack back toward
Honolulu in order for the ship to be close enough for a helicopter to
meet the ship. |
Delayed
arrival |
| 2.9.07 |
Freedom of the Seas | Disembarkation from the ship was delayed four hours after
security screeners spotted what they thought was a grenade in the
luggage of a passenger onboard the ship. Passengers were not
allowed to disembark and the Terminal was evacuated. When the
bomb squad unit arrived, they determined the item was not a real
grenade but a child's belt buckle shaped like a grenade.
Passengers were finally allowed to disembark at 11:30 AM. |
Bomb scare |
| 23.8.07 |
Brilliance of the Seas | A reader reports that there was suspicion of a person
overboard this evening. A search of the ocean
(Mediterranean) was undertaken and passengers were later asked to
return to their staterooms so a full count of passengers/crew could be
completed. The following morning passengers were told that no
passengers
were missing. |
False alarm of person overboard |
| 23.8.07 |
Brilliance of the Seas | From a reader in
Civitavecchia: I was
boarding the Legend of the Seas yesterday around 1:45pm, when a freak
storm rolled in from the West. The Brilliance of the Seas was on
the opposite side of the harbour. Once the winds picked up, we
noticed the ship list a lot to the port side and eventually
the aft mooring ropes snapped. The aft of the ship swung out to the
middle of the harbour. The biggest problem is that there was
another ferry coming at the same time. The captain on that ferry
attempted to turn the ship a 180 to avoid hitting the Brilliance and
nearly hit the Legend while it's attempt. At the end of the day,
apparently, nobody was hurt, however both gangways for the Brilliance
fell in the water and divers were contacted to attempt to locate
them. |
"Near miss" |
| 8.8.07 |
Mariner of the Seas | According to The Daily Herald, The criminal session in the Court of First Instance in Phillipsburg today was devoted entirely to the so-called Mariner of the Seas case. All nine suspects on trial allegedly were involved in the import and export of drugs through the US-based cruise ship carrying this name. Authorities uncovered and intercepted a major drug smuggling operation on May 17, in which Mariner of the Seas was allegedly used to import marijuana into St. Maarten from Aruba and to transport large quantities of cocaine to Miami, Florida. | Drug case |
| 28.7.07 |
Mariner of the Seas | There was a fire on deck 0 in the incinerator.
Smoke could be smelled on some decks but the captain
made a quick announcement that they were investigating and no one was
allowed to smoke until further notice - he came back on to report that
the fire was completely put out and smoking was now allowed.
There was no disruption of the cruise, which was on its last night of a
seven night Eastern Caribbean cruise to/from Port Canaveral. |
Fire |
| 18.6.07 |
Freedom of the Seas | The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 24 year old man who apparently fell overboard somewhere between Exuma, Bahamas and San Salvador. The ship had left Miami Sunday en route to Puerto Rico when his family reported him missing at approximately 8:30 a.m. Monday. He had last been seen at approximately 1:45 a.m. Monday while he was resting in his stateroom balcony. The ship reversed its course in order to conduct a search along the track it sailed. and the Coast Guard is conducting an air search. A variety of onboard announcements and searches have been conducted; however, the young man has not been found. The ship returned to a revised itinerary on Tuesday. | Passenger Overboard? |
| 4.4.07 |
Brilliance of the Seas | The Cayman
Compass reported that a cook had spent 5 nights in custody (in
Cayman Islands) after he was found to posses .52 gram of cocaine and
.38 gram of ganja in a random drug search onboard while the ship was
outside the territorial jurisdiction of Cayman Islands. He was
turned over to Cayman authorities by the ship's officers and the court
allowed the prosecution even though the possession was discovered
outside the court's jurisdiction. The cook was fined $1150; if he
can't pay, he'll spend 90 days in jail. |
Crew Beware |
| 31.3.07 |
Grandeur of the Seas | A reader sent this picture along, taken when she was in Cozumel on 22 March 07. It shows the
dent, obviously not repaired, from when the ship struck the peir at
Costa Maya on April 20,
2005. Please be aware that the photo is high resolution and a
large file (1MB) |
Huge dent |
| 18.2.07 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | The
ship was apparently delayed in dry dock. Embarkation was delayed
and
departure originally scheduled for 4PM was rescheduled for 11PM of
midnight. Passenger feedback indicates work had not been
completed
during drydock ... the Windjammer cafe was closed for the entire cruise
and there were other inconveniences. See: http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/royal-cruise-was-a-royal-disaster-273015.php |
Delay |
| 29.1.07 |
Splendor of the Seas | The ship is expected to return to Galveston several hours
late (at 1PM) from a four day cruise (25 - 29 January) to/from
Cozumel. After leaving Cozumel Saturday, it returned early
Sunday monring to offload a seriously ill passenger. Passengers
were told at 10AM that the ship's return to Galveston would be delayed
and were permitted free use of telephones and internet in order to
notify folks and/or to change travel arrangements. |
Late arrival - Medical emergency |
| 24.1.07 |
Freedom of the Seas | A 71-year-old male passenger was found found floating
unconscious in the water at the Sandbar (Grand Cayman). He was taken
back to shore by the boat he had come out on but did not survive.
In 2006, there were 10 deaths in the Cayman Islands that were
watersports related. Seven of the 10 deaths in 2006 involved
snorkelers and three involved divers. All but one of them was older
than 48. |
Pax death on excursion |
| 7.1.07 |
Freedom of the Seas |
From a passenger: The ship left late from Miami on January
7. RCI staff were reporting that the delay in boarding was a
result of a large number of foreign nationals disembarking from the
earlier cruise. Passenegers waited in line both inside the
terminal and outside the terminal for up to 4 hours with boarding
beginning at 4:00PM. RCI did not supply water and many passengers
had reactions due to the high heat. CNN reported that the actual cause
for the delayed boarding was the department of Homeland Security and
local police closed the cargo area of the Port of Miami to investigate
an unauthorized vehicle. The same cruise missed the port of Georgetown
(Grand Cayman) on January 10, due to high winds. |
Departure delayed |
| 2.1.07 |
Brilliance of the Seas | The had been a 2.5 hour power failure during the Christmas/New Year's cruise ending today in Miami. According to one passenger, "the ship drifted for that time. Many people in the aft cabins were very concerned that there was a fire as there was considerable smoke. We saw people sitting out in the hallways and some people got up and went down to the centrum" | Power Failure |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 |
Incident |
| 18.12.06 |
Explorer of
the
Seas |
Passengers were notified today that the port call at Belize City was cancelled (the ship wasapparently behind schedule given the need to return to Miami for a medical emergency six hours after leaving on December 17, even though the Captain said they'd make up the time). They were told instead the ship would stop at Cozumel for 19 hours, go to Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and then back to Miami. On December 20 passengers were told that Costa Maya could not accommodate the ship so the ship woould dock at Montego Bay instead. According to passengers, "shore excursions were disorganized and the crew were as misinformed as the passengers." One passenger writes: We had to tender at Cozumel the first day, then we were able to pull onto the dock when the Freedom of the Seas left, but then had to back out again when the Enchantment arrived at 9AM the next morning. The confusion caused HUGE lines for tendering, and I personally felt like a second-class citizen being bumped out of the dock like that. (For a sister ship!!!) Grand Cayman was a joke, I'm sorry I ever left the ship. Our ship made the 6th, yes that's 6 ships tendered at the tiny island of Grand Cayman. Needless to say, the shore excursions were all booked, and crowded, and once again, the line to tender was ridiculous. | Itinerary changes |
| 17.12.06 |
Enchantment of
the
Seas |
A half dozen passengers have independently reported that an
older male passenger was pulled out of the water after going overboard
while the ship sailed from Cozumel toward its return to Fort
Lauderdale. Reports indicate the man did not survive. There
are no news reports or press releases regarding this indicent. |
Person overboard |
| 5.11.06 |
Radiance of the
Seas |
From a passenger: Just got back from Radiance of the Seas 10/28/06 cruise to Puerto Rico, Antigua, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau. The evening we were sailing back to Ft. Lauderdale (4 November) a fire broke out in the Windjammer and the captain came on the loud speaker at 2AM to announce BRAVO - BRAVO - BRAVO, we have a fire in the Windjammer -- everyone stay tuned to for further announcements. Finally he came back on about a half an hour later to inform us that all was well and that we could go back to sleep. | Fire |
| 31.10.06 |
Enchantment of the
Seas |
A strong squall of wind caused the ship to drag its anchor
300 metres before it ran into a moored barge off Pageant Beach
(Georgetown, Cayman Islands). The ship had been anchored off
shore from the WHarf Restauarnt area, Other than two dents in the
port side and a long 100-foot scrape, there was no damage to the
ship. Most passengers were ashore when the incident
occured. Here's a
picture from a passenger. |
Collision |
| 22.10.06 |
Mariner of the
Seas |
The seven day cruise ending today had some issues given a
group of 500+ alternative lifestyle passengers (gay men). There
is debate about how disruptive the group was, but there appears to be
no debate that some passengers were forced to leave the cruise because
of individual behaviour problems. Rather than detail the issues
here, go to Cruise
Critic if you'd like more information (from different perspectives). |
Onboard disruptive behaviour |
| 22.9.06 |
Jewel of the
Seas |
From a passenger: Bravo, Bravo, Bravo called during early dinner seating -- area affected is deck 2 midship. The story onboard was that one of the Platters tossed a lit cigarette into the trash can thinking it was out. Smoke filled several cabins and the automatic sprinklers came on. The captain came on the intercom three times to explain what was going on and let the passengers know when it was under control. No major damage reported, no injuries. According to a poster at Cruise Critic: The staff and crew had everything under control in less than 20 minutes. Seven staterooms had to be evacuated and people reassigned to other rooms. The rooms mostly suffered water damage from the sprinkler system. | Fire |
| 19.9.06 |
Freedom of the
Seas |
According to passengers, the ship collided with a refueling
ship as it was leaving Montego Bay. Damage was not significant
and following an ispection the ship got underway. The delay
lasted approximately 30 minutes. |
Collision |
| 17.9.06- 24.9.06 |
Rhapsody of the Seas |
From a passenger: There was a terrible vibration seven days whenever the main engines were running. My mid-ship suite shook so hard that blossoms fell off of the flowers I had sent to our stateroom. I had contacted Royal Caribbean months in advance to discuss with them the smoothest possible area to book a stateroom and was advised to get a suite -- I told them at the time I was a disabled Firefighter with severe neck injuries. The continual vibrations caused me a great deal of pain. After the cruise I found out RCI was aware of the vibration problems when I booked passage, but said nothing to me about it. RCI offered me a 20% discount on another cruise. One extremely painful week was enough sailing for me; I declined. | Severe
vibrations |
| 10.9.06 |
Grandeur of the
Seas |
As a result of a mechanical problem involving the rudder,
the cruise ending today didn't arrive in Baltimore until 2:30.
Many passengers missed flights home. The cruise embarking
today’s sailing
is delayed until midnight Monday so that repairs can be made. The
ship was to operate a
Bermuda itinerary
but will instead make a three-night cruise to
nowhere, returning Friday morning to
Baltimore as scheduled. Those who sail will
receive a 50% refund and a 25% credit on a future cruise. Those who
cancel will receive a 125% credit for a future sailing. Those
returning to Balitomre late were give up to $100 toward flight change
fees. |
Delay / Itinerary Change |
| 27.8.06 |
Serenade of the Seas |
Passengers were notified upon embarkation that there was a
problem with one of the ship's azipod propulsion units and that they
would be cruising at reduced speeds. While no ports were dropped,
arrival and departure times had to be adjusted. |
Propulsion problem |
| 31.7.06 |
Enchantment of the
Seas |
A passenger returning from the four day cruise ending today
posted a message at Cruise
Critic detailing their experience with bed bugs on the ship
(Stateroom 7094), and the less-than-attentive response on the part of
onboard staff. They report that when they left the ship, the room
had been made up for the next passengers and it had not been
fumigated. Further
passenger statement here. |
Bed Bugs |
| 30.7.06 |
Enchantment of the
Seas |
Novedades (local
newspaper) in Cancun reports that a short circuit caused a fire on a
life boat while it was being lower from the ship while in
Cozumel. The fire was quickly extinguished and there were no
injuries. Click
here for a picture of the ship. |
Fire |
| 26.7.06 |
Voyager of the Seas |
RCI
issued a statement that a 22 year old woman was missing from the
Voyager of the Seas, sailing in the Mediterranean. The woman was
last
seen at approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, when she joined her parents
to sleep in their stateroom. At that time, the ship was sailing from
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy, to Naples, Italy. She was reported
missing by her sister at approximately 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. A
variety of
onboard announcements and searches were immediately carried out,without
success. |
Missing |
| 15.7.06 |
Enchantment of the Seas |
From a passenger: On Saturday 7/15 there was a midnight
buffet on the pool deck ... somewhere between 1 am and 4 am, my son
heard that someone had fallen overboard or committed suicide. He said
the ship stopped for approx. 1 half hour, and a lifeboat was put into
the water. He asked several of the deck crew about it, and got the same
response every time, "we aren't allowed to talk about it." |
??Person overboard?? |
| 27.6.06 |
Radiance of the Seas |
Passengers were notified at 10:30 AM that the ship's port
call at Juneau was cancelled due to satellite communication problems
that delayed sending the manifest for security clearance by the US
Coast Guard. Guests were offered a $100 onboard credit for the
missed port call. |
Missed Port |
| 27.5.06 |
Legend of the Seas |
The seven day cruise ending today missed calls at Lisbon and
La Rochelle because of eather and high seas. The first appraoch
to Guernsey was cancelled but a stop on the ship's returen to
Southampton was wuccessful. |
Itinerary changes |
| 23.5.06 |
Empress of the Seas |
CBS3 in
Philadelphia reported on a case of a crew member diagnosed with
typhoid fever and that "thousands of passengers may have been exposed
to the life-threatening illness." The bartender joined the ship
April 29th, arriving from India, and was taken off duty May 11th "with
flu-like symptoms." |
Health Issue |
| 20.5.06 |
Adventure of the Seas |
The ship had an encounter with volcanic ash from Montserrat. Information is available by clicking here. | Encounter with Volcanic Ash |
| 16.5.06 |
Mariner of the Seas |
A
21 year old man went overboard in an area between Cape
Canaveral and the Bahamas. He was was reported missing by friends
at 11AM when they found he
hadn't slept in his bed. The US Coast Guard received the "man
overboard" report around 7 PM and launched an aerial search along the
liner's 120 mile long track. The man had
reportedly been drinking heavily and video equipment shows him going
over the railing at 2:16 AM. |
Passenger Overboard |
| 29.4.06- 6.5.06 |
Empress of the
Seas |
From a passenger -- The ship (roundtrip from Philadelphia to Bermuda) encountered
extreme sea conditions for approximately a day and a half due to a very
large stationary low pressure system between Bermuda and the Eastern US
seaboard. 30-foot seas and 50+ MPH winds pummeled the ship all
night Sunday April 29, all day and night Sunday April 30
until early morning Monday May 1. Forced to
sail at reduced speed to keep the motion
"tolerable". Even so, the ship was thrown about
violently. Items that weren't anchored down were thrown
about. Televisions were thrown to the floor (or onto beds) in
some staterooms. The ship appeared deserted as the majority of
passengers were stricken to their staterooms sickened by the
seas. Barf bags were placed throughout the ship. The severe sea
conditions and reduced speed caused the ship to arrive in Bermuda one
day late. St. Georges was skipped and the ship docked in Hamilton
for only two days (Tuesday at noon to Thursday at 11:00 am). Some
passengers opted to fly home at their own expense rather than risk
another rough sailing home. The ride back was actually quite
smooth...a great relief to many onboard! Embarkation was completely disorganized in Philadelphia -- fiinally sailed at 6:30 PM, 3.5 hours late. Apparently the ship arrived late that morning, the ground staff was shorthanded, and there were problems off-loading the luggage. Unfortunately, no info conveyed to arriving passengers, who waited in parking lots without knowing what was going on. Arriving guests finally started to find their own way to the luggage facility and the terminal to board the ship...causing a chaotic situation. |
Storm |
| 7.4.06 |
Rhapsody of the
Seas |
A passenger reports that about 8:45 PM the ship listed 10
degrees. According to the Captain it was due to a malfunction
with the stabilizing mechanism. The sudden list caused the water
to dump out of the pool on the top decks, dishes to crash to the ground
in the dining room, the quarters to spill out of the machines in the
Casino, liquor in the shops to come crashing and
spilling as it streamed all over the deck floor, and items in
the stateroom were thrown about. We rocked back and
forth 4 times until the captain stabilized the boat.
You could tell by the dining staff's faces that this was an
unusual event. (Note that a similar event occurred December
17, 2005) |
Sudden List |
| 29.3.06 |
Navigator of the
Seas |
While docked at St. Maarten, a crew member jumped overboard
from one of the crew decks. He quickly climbed up a ladder on the pier
and started to walk briskly toward shore. Local authorities caught up
with him quickly and handcuffed him. They turned him over ship security
while drug sniffing dogs were brought aboard. Before the ship departed
the crew member was handed over to St. Maarten authorities. According
to other crew members, the man was rumored to be carrying drugs. |
Drug bust |
| 17.3.06 |
Mariner of the
Seas |
Three passengers (including two teenaged boys aged 15 and
16) were arrested in Ocho Rios (Jamaica) for breaches of the Dangerous
Drugs Act after ganja was alledgedly found in their position while
their were at the pier awaiting boarding on the ship. Accoding to
police, the three men's actions arroused the suspicion of police. |
Drug Bust (Onshore) |
| 22.2.06 |
Vision of the
Seas |
A 35 year old woman from Sacramento, CA says she was
sexually asaaulted while on a Mexican Riviera cruise runniung 19 - 22
February. According to a lawsuit filed later in the year (August
8), a security guard employed by the cruise line entered her cabin and
sexually assaulted and battered her. |
Sexual Assault |
| 17.02.06 |
Vision of the
Seas |
The cruise beginning February 19th will be delayed a day and
Mazatlan is dropped as a port of call. This is in order to repair
a short circuit in the starboard propulsion motor. The problem
causes the ship to travel at slower speeds and first occurred on
February 9 when the ship was maneuvering to dock in Puerto
Vallarta. The ship returned to LA from that cruise several hours
late; the following cruise skipped Puerto Vallarta. Passengers on
the cruise missing Puerto Vallarta were given a $100 onboard credit;
those on the shortened cruise were given a $200 onboard credit.
In both cases, passengers were given the option to cancel the cruise at
the last minute and receive a full credit (not refund) toward a future
sailing. |
Propulsion problems -- Itinerary changes |
| 30.1.06 |
Monarch of the
Seas |
On Friday, 27 January, at least 10 suites on
deck 10 were flooded from a broken pool pipe -- carpet had to be
replaced in rooms and in hallway; passengers given $150 each onboard
credit. According to a passenger: "Huge mess! ... Loud air
movers blowing all weekend. Some very pissed off
passengers." According to another passenger: "the pool pipe
emptied into the 3rd floor Claude's Dinning Room about 10 feet from our
table and we were chased out of the dinning hall and had only JUST
finished dinner. The people who had water in their cabins said they
were moved from that cabin to another, then again and not back to the
original cabin. For being flooded out of our dining room we received a
plate of frozen "candies" and an apology letter."
On Monday, 30 January, Captain Joern Rene
Klausen (38 years old) was found dead in his cabin at 4:15 AM before
arriving in Los Angeles. Police boarded the vessel in LA and
disembarkation was delayed until removal of the body. The death
appeared to be from natural cases;
authorities in LA will conduct an autopsy. |
Cabins flooded --- Captain's death |
| 29.1.06 |
Legend of the
Seas |
A 34 year old Colombian crew member was arrested when the
ship arrived in Tampa for an attempted rape of a 22 year old
passenger. The incident began around 3:30 AM in the bar area
where the crew member worked -- he offered to take the passenger on a
tour and led her to a dark room and pulled her in. She was able
to escape. He was held in ship's brig until the ship's return to
Tampa. |
Attempted Rape |
| 6.1.06 |
Explorer of the
Seas |
From a passenger (in letter
to Cayman Islands officials): I visited Grand Cayman on the Explorer of the Seas and was transported to shore via a locally operated tender. I write because of the huge environmental disregard shown by the tender I was on (“Carib Hawk”). I stood at the back of the boat during the trip and noticed an excessive amount of what looked to be oil being dumped into the ocean from the boat’s motor. This is unacceptable and must not be allowed. I talked to the captain of another boat about the matter and he told me that the Ministry of Environment had been in the area investigating a similar matter the day before, and also confirmed that the oil-dumping was not normal when I showed him the pictures I took through my digital camera. The pictures may be viewed here. |
Environmental |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2005 |
Incident |
| 18.12.05 |
Radiance of the Seas | A single female, alone on the last
evening of her cruise, was stalked by a crew member while in the casino and continued
as she returned to her cabin at 1AM. Earlier in the week, her
girlfriend (with whom she was traveling) was followed by a man of a
similar description. Details available
here. |
Stalking incident |
| 17.12.05 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | On her way back to Galveston from Cozumel, was buffetted by 70 MPH winds and large waves and listed , held in position for 3 minutes . In the dining they were getting ready for main dining and lost wine bottles, dishes. and glasses. The shows were cancelled. Four cabins on Deck 4 were flooded with water -- the occupants had to be transferred to other staerooms and all their wet clothing laundered. They tore up thje rugs and hallway and laid brand new carpet all done by the next sailing on 12/18. | Sudden List |
| 10.12.05 |
Jewel of the Seas | A 59-year old woman's husband reported her missing as the
ship pulled into Nassau at 1PM. She had last been seen at
9AM. A search of the ship and ocean was done, but she wasnot
found. It is presumed she eaither jumped or fell overboard. |
Passenger overboard |
| 22.11.05 | Grandeur of the Seas | The seven day cruise from Baltimore was forced by high winds to miss Bermuda as a port of call. | Missed port |
| Early- November |
Mariner of the Seas | A passenger writes: At the beginning of November, 2005, we sailed on Mariner of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean. On that cruise were over 1,500 "Hog on the High Seas," Harley Davidson owners. We had been given no warning that this number of motorcycle persons would be on the cruise. Their behavior was very disruptive both on the ship, at the area in Haiti where the ship stopped and where those guests were given preferred treatment, and even as they were re-boarding the ship after port stops. At on location, for example, we, my wife and I, were sitting on our cabin's balcony. A female member of the Hogs was returning to the ship when she yelled to others on other balconies, "Is this the ship with the Hogs on the High Seas?" When they answered that it was she turned around and mooned them. Another person, a male, from the Hogs sat in a bar/lounge for over 24 hours topless. Both during and after the cruise I complained to Royal Caribbean about the behavior of the Hogs on the High Seas. Their answer to me was that I was prejudice. NOTE: Hog on the High Seas is a regular event, often held on the Mariner of the Seas. If concerned, check their website for dates so you can avoid a difficult time (if so inclined). | Disruptive Group of 1500 folks |
| 27.10.05 |
Brilliance of the Seas |
A blockade of the entrance to Barcelona
Harbour by fishersmen prevented the ship from entering the harbour for
12 hours. Disembark/embarkation was thrown into chaos. Embarking
passengers who were only on a three night cruise started boarding at
11p.m. and missed one port out of two (Corsica) -- they received $100
per person onboard credit. |
Delays |
| 12-19.9.05 |
Empress of the Seas | The ship experienced engine problems en route to Key West
where temporary repairs were made. The ship was then re-routed
from a Mexican cruise to a cruise to the Bahamas where more repairs
could be made. Passengers were compensated with $150 in onboard
credit. According to some passengers who have shared information
post cruise through e-mail, problems with the ship's propulsion had
been ongoing for several weeks and the current disruption should have
been prevented. |
Propulsion problem - Itinerary change |
| 2.9.05 |
Monarch of the Seas | Three crew members were killed and nineteen others injured
when they were
overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas while replacing a section of a pipe
connected
to the ship’s sewage system. The broken line expelled about five
gallons of raw sewage and
an
unknown amount of gas in the starboard propeller shaft tunnel. No
passengers were affected but
disembarkation and embarkation was delayed. |
Accidental deaths and
injuries |
| 28.8. - 3.9.05 |
Mariner of the Seas |
The following bit of excitement was sent by a passenger and
may interest some: While
heading for Cozumel the ship was going thru a lightning storm and was
hit on one of the antenas around 4:35am. It fried
some wiring and set off the fire alarms throughout the ship. It
took about 15 mins. to turn them off. Also the large doors between
sections on hallways closed automatically and had to be opened
manually, for a few hours. The was no serious damage to
the ship and no injury to persons. For photos go
here |
Lighting strike --- No harm |
| 20.8.05 |
Mariner of the Seas | The cruise left Barcelona 12 hours late (and missed its
first port: Marseille) because of high seas.off the French coast.
As it was, even with leaving late, the ship encountered heavy seas and
strong winds the first day out and there was widespread
seasickness. Seas calmed by the next day. |
Missed port |
| 2.8.05 |
Explorer of the Seas | Posted at Cruise Critic: After we left Miami on Sunday, at about 10pm, we felt a loud noise, like an explosion, and. the ship tilted to one side ... It went like that for about 10 minutes, I was in the Aquarium Bar , and the water from the aquarium started coming out from the top of the aquarium in the side that we were leaning to. Anything that was not tied down fell on the floor, including many bottles and stuff in the gift shop. We asked around but the anwsers we got made no sense. Scary, scary, scary. The incident appears to have been caused by a stabilizer being retracted at a faster than normal rate. | Unexpected list |
| 24-29.7.05 |
Voyager of the Seas | I normally don't post weather-related itinerary changes,
however the following passenger statement seemed worth sharing: The July 24th
trip to Bermuda went to Canada instead. Tropical storm Franklin
was to blame for the rough seas in Bermuda. Royal Caribbean was
to blame for the ridiculous decision to go north instead of spending 5
days at sea in warm waters. The ship left from New Jersey, where
the temperatures were in the 80's and 90's. Temperatures in
Canada were in the 50's and 60's, and sky conditions were foggy and
rainy the entire time. One of the stores onboard the ship
actually raised the prices of sweatshirts, knowing that passengers had
no choice but to buy them, since everyone was packed to go to Bermuda
(or at least somewhere warm). Royal Caribbean notified passengers
by handing out a flyer at the pier. There was a near mutiny
onboard, and Captain "Sven" had a meeting in the theater to inform all
the passengers that the only compensation Royal Caribbean was offering
was the $45 port charge difference. He had to bring "bodyguards"
along to share the news. A class action lawsuit is in the
works. This was not my first cruise, but it will certainly be my
last on Royal Caribbean. Their customer service is non-existent. RECEIVED OCT 31 2005: Royal Caribbean finally sent me four "coupons" for 25% off a future cruise (one per person). Honestly, this is "too little - too late." They should've done this on the first day of the cruise, and everyone would've been satisfied. Instead, they waited three months, and angered literally thousands of passengers. |
Port change - Passenger dissatisfaction |
| 22.7.05 |
Explorer of the Seas | A Holland America L:ine employee working at Half Moon Cay
"borrowed" a jet ski and with 4 others took a spin to Cat Island.
He became detached from the others on the return and became lost.
He was reportedly adrift for two days or more before he was spotted and
rescued by
the cruise ship. |
Rescue st sea |
| 7.7.05 |
Brilliance of the Seas | A passenger onboard the ship for his honeymoon was presumed to have fallen overboard in the Mediterranean. Cruise officials learned the man in his 20s was missing when the ship docked at Kusadasi on July 5. The matter was still being investigated six weeks later -- there is some question as to whether the death was murder,suicide, or an accident. See here for the AP report, and here, AND HERE For more information see here and here | Passenger overboard / ?Murder? |
| 3.7.05 |
Grandeur of the Seas | The ship developed engine problems and returned to Baltimore four hours later than scheduled. Its departure was also delayed. According to a poster at Cruise Critic the ship can only go 18 knots as opposed to 22 meaning it won't get to Bermuda until Tuesday at 5 pm and then it has to leave Wednesday at noon. | Engine problems Delays |
| 2.7.05 |
Legend of the Seas | A passenger is in a Spanish hospital after contracting what
is believed to be Legionnaires' Disease. On June 27 the passenger
became very ill and was rushed to hospital when the
ship docked in Barcelona. Doctors diagnosed Legionella
Pneumophilia, the bacterium which causes Legionnaires' Disease.
The ship was detained in Barcelona for
an extra day while authorities decided if there was a risk to the 2,000
passengers. |
Legionnaires' Disease |
| 9.5.05 |
Enchantment of the Seas |
Heavy seas did some damage as the ship was heading to Rotterdam where it is scheduled to undergo a drydock lengthening at Keppel Verolme Shipyard. Five stateroom windows were broken, causing some water damage on decks two and three. No one was injured and there was no significant damage to the ship which was carrying workers but no revenue passengers. | Minor damage |
| 20.4.05 |
Grandeur of the Seas | The ship struck the pier in Costa Maya, Mexico, while
docking causing a football-shaped puncture in the bow, on its starboard
side, that was approximately 42 feet long and 5 feet wide at its widest
point. The puncture was in the first deck, approximately five feet
above the waterline. The company said 15-knot winds and a 3-knot
current contributed to the incident. There were no injuries.
Departure was delayed so guests were given the choice of flying home by
charter aircraft or remaining onboard and arriving home two days later
than planned -- all guests received a $250 per-stateroom onboard
credit. The following 7-day cruise was shortened to 5 days and
guests on that cruise were given the option to cancel and receive a
full efund or to take the revised itinerary and receive a $300
per-stateroom onboard credit. |
Collision with pier |
| 11.4.05 |
Jewel of the Seas | A Florida couple was treated after being bitten by hundreds of bed bugs during a vacation cruise on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, according to Local 6 News. "I was in such disbelief at first, you know, I mean, it was hundreds and hundreds of bugs, we had leaned against all the night before, I mean it literally made my skin crawl," the passenger said. Royal Caribbean apologized to the couple and refunded $2,800 for the tickets but declined to reimburse them for medical care or hotel expenses incurred while waiting to get home. (The incident apparrentlyoccured on the cruise beginning March 26) | Bed Bugs |
| 17.3.05 |
Majesty of the Seas | A
29 year old cabin steward disappeared somewhere between Bahamas and Key
West and is presumed dead. The case was brought to light when his
family, om December 14, 2005, filed suit against RCI for $10 million
accusing the company of not doing enough to find their son. |
Missing |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2004 |
Incident |
| 20.12.04 |
Brilliance of the Seas | A couple have sued alleging that RCI's baby sitter sexually assaulted their 2-year-old son while they were on a cruise. The assault allegedly occurred on Dec. 18, 2003. | Sexual Assault |
| 5.11.04 |
Enchantment of the Seas | While docked at Key West, the ship was struck by a barge
leaving a 8 foot hole in the vessel's hull. There is a 50 foot
long mark down the side of the ship. No one was injured and the
ship is expected to be repaired and depart from Key West as scheduled. |
Collision |
| 17.10.04 |
Brilliance of the Seas | As related by a passenger at Cruise Critic: We had left Livorno, (our third day on a cruise out of Bacelona) Italy and at about 11:30 PM the captain asked all passengers to gather at their assigned muster stations without lifejackets. A passenger had reported a large splash in the water and they weren't sure whether it was a person or an object -- they needed to account for all crew and passengers via a roll call. In the meantime, the ship was turned around and returned to the area where it happened. It took 2 hours at our muster stations before all passengers were accounted for. One employee was missing. Passengers were allowed back to their business, but the ship continued its search and was joined by other ships in the area, without success. We skipped Mykonos and proceeded to Santorini with an extra sea day since we lost too much time on the search. Later in the cruise, the captain told us that they had found a note indicating the crewmembers intent to kill himself. Thru crewmembers, the story was that he had just joined the crew (his first cruise) and was working with his wife on board. It appears that there was a love triangle situation of some sort (stories varied depending on who you talked to). It was sad and provided a little weirdness to the otherwise great trip. | Suicide |
| 11.10.04 |
Royal Caribbean International | Posted
at rec.travel.cruises newsgroup: I had a bad incident involving my very daughter on a royal carb cruise. I complained to boat staff, customer service, guest relations. It is now time to go to the upper management. It involves a sexual asault by another guest on board. Also it deals with the lack of help I got onboard and from customer service as well. The incident happened August 29, 2004. |
Sexual Assault (Pax on Child) |
| 26.9.04 |
Jewel of the Seas | A 20-metre whale was found impaled on the bow of the Jewel of the Seas when it arrived in Saint John, NB. The ship's crew spotted the finback whale about the same time as officers in a small utility boat who had been dispatched to help tie up the ship, said Bruce Fiander of the coast guard's traffic operations centre. | Collision with Whale |
| 8.9.04 |
Empress of the Seas | Seven crew members were seriously injured after a lifeboat
plunged 60 feet into the water during a training exercise. One
victim was airlifted out of Bermuda for treatment of spinal injuries
and a second man is in intensive care after nearly drowning. The
victims include 2 Filipinos, one South African, one Ecuadorian, one
West Indian, and two of unknown nationality (one of whom is South
American). |
Accident - 7 Crew
Injured |
| 4.9.04 |
Voyager of the Seas | The Jersey Journal reports that a 67 year old woman
committed suicide by jumping overboard after losing money in the
casino. See the article by clicking here.
On September 16, the paper reported: There
were indications she'd lost money in the casino on board and she
came back to her cabin, went onto the balcony of the cabin, where she
appeared to have put a chair against the railing, removed her clothing
and went off into the sea below. |
Suicide |
| 23.8.04 |
Splendor of the Seas |
A woman is suing the company, alleging she was attacked and raped by a senior worker and the cruise line did nothing about it. The incident happened on the night of December 18, 2002 -- she had only been on the ship for 1.5 days. RCI says it reported her claim to authorities and the incident "appeared to be a consensual relationship on the night of the alleged incident." | Sexual Assault (Crew on Crew) |
| 9.8.04 |
Voyager of the Seas | Associated Press reports that a female cruise passenger has
sued RCI claiming she was sexually assaulted by an employee on the
cruise running August 3 - 10, 2003. The assault happened when an
employee insisted on escorting the woman back to her cabin took her
instead to an employees-only area and attacked her. |
Sexual Assault (Crew on Pax |
| 8.7.04 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | was
reported on the Herald Wire Service (and today's
Miami Herald
-- Florida Business Briefs) that an underage girl has filed suit
accusing crew members of giving her alcohol and sexually assaulting
her. The incident is alleged to have happened in July 2003 on a
Gulf of Mexico cruise from Galveston. |
Sexual Assault (Crew on Pax) |
| 9.6.04 |
Royal
Caribbean
International |
The Miami
Herald reported in
today's paper that an ex-crew member has charged in a lawsuit that RCI
failed to respond promptly or properly after she reported having been
sexually
assaulted by a co-worker. The woman also alleges that RCI failed
to save any evidence but 'subjected her to multiple interrogations,'
that
no action was taken against the accused, and that she was subsequently
fired. |
Sexual Assault (Crew on Crew) |
| 4.6.04 |
Adventure
of the Seas |
The
following was posted at "rec.travel.cruises" (the Usenet
newsgroup) and may be of interest to some: RCCL seems to have a problem providing clean water to the bathrooms in the cabins. The water in the sink was brown many times during our cruise. We spoke to Guest Relations about it. They said it should still be okay to drink. Oh really? So plan on brushing your teeth with bottled water and you'll be fine. |
Water
Quality in Cabin |
| 21.2.04 |
Grandeur
of the Seas |
An offshore supply boat with a crew of five capsized and sank near the mouth of the Mississippi River early Saturday after colliding with a container cargo ship bound for New Orleans. Coast Guard officials late Saturday said the pass could be closed until Wednesday, depending on how long it will take to complete rescue and salvage operations. The Grandeur of the Seas is blocked from leaving New Orleans. Other ships are blocked from arriving. The Gandeur of the Seas left for a two day cruise to nowhere on Wednesday afternoon, February 25. |
Delays |
| 13.2.04 |
Royal
Caribbean
International |
Calls
at RCI's private island at Labadee in Haiti have been
suspended until April (at least) due to unrest in the country. |
Cancellation |
| 5.2.04 |
Majesty
of the Seas |
Passengers
were directed to stay at their muster stations
for 24 minutes when a galley fire broke out at 5 AM in
the Windjammer Cafe. The fire was extinguished in 21 minutes and there
were no injuries. The ship will continue on its itinerary, but
the Windjammer Cafe will be closed. |
Minor Fire |
| 23.1.04 |
Serenade
of the Seas |
Royal
Caribbean is investigating an incident on Serenade of
the Seas where the ship made a sharp turn resulting in a 13.5 degree
list which lasted for 20 seconds. Originally, the turn was
thought to be a malfunction during a required steering test. Instead it
turned out to be human error that was a result of a miscommunication
between individuals in two areas of the ship. A
procedure is already being put into place to prevent a recurrence.
The pitch caused the
inside pool to overflow and water washed down a stairway. There
were no serious injuries, although
24 passengers and 4 crew were tretaed for minor injuries. |
Severe List |
| 16.1.04 (approx) |
Serenade of the Seas | From
a passenger: We were
wakened sometime after midnight by searchlights outside our stateroom
and then the Captain’s voice asking people to stop throwing life rings
overboard. We assumed some boisterous partygoers had got carried away,
but as we were listening we realized there was a lot more to this than
that. Someone had gone overboard and we could hear him from our balcony
yelling, "help me, help me" -- that's a voice I will never
forget. They were able to fish him out on a skiff and he walked
from the skiff onto the ship under his own steam.The next morning, we
saw him loaded into an ambulance at the dock in St. Thomas. |
Rescued alive |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2003 |
Incident |
| 9.8.03 |
Vision
of the Seas |
Because
of difficulties with the diesel electric propulsion
motors, the ship left port (Ketchikan) 17 hours late (8 AM on Saturday
instead of 3 PM on Friday). |
Engine
problems |
| 1.8.03 |
Brilliance of the Seas |
While cruising between Corfu and
Civitivecchia, the ship was hit by a storm -- the ship twice listed
hard to the port side .. approximately 13.6 degrees. One
passenger was injured; most were "awake" and not able to return to
sleep. After daybreak the ship had a power blackout that lasted
several hours. |
Severe List -- Power Loss |
| 18.7.03 |
Vision
of the Seas |
A
28-year-old male
passenger was arrested in Skagway, accused of sexually assaulting a
22-year-old female passenger when the ship was 15 miles out of Glacier
Bay. |
Sexual Assault (Pax on Pax) |
| 7.6.03 |
Legend
of the Seas |
The
41
year old Food and Beverage Manager is arrested at
Seward, Alaska and charged with sexually assaulting a 22 year old
female crew member on June 5th. |
Sexual Assault |
| 16.5.03 |
RCCL |
Miami
Herald reported on May 17 that a suit had been filed
charging that RCI and Celebrity Cruises charged
at least $150 million in fraudulent taxes
to passengers that the companies pocketed as additional fare revenue.
A settlement reached in 1997 in a similar case barred RCI and
Celebrity from charging customers "any fees in addition to the
advertised initial ticket price, except those fees acrually passed on
by the company to a government agency." (See "Cruise lines accused of
fraud," Jay Weaver and Dale K. Dupont, Miami Herald, May 17, 2003) |
Port
taxes |
| 23.4.03 |
Legend
of the Seas |
A
20 year old passenger was arrested and accused of planting
two threatening notes on the ship (leading to an FBI search for
chemical, biological, radiological and explosive weapons) in hopes that
the cruise would end early (so she go home to her boyfreind). The
ship missed its stop at Hilo and had its stop at Kona cut short
because it had been diverted to Honolulu after the threatening notes
were found. Some passengers felt the cruise line was
not as forthcoming about what was going on during the crisis
-- one man said he didn't know that someone had been apprehended until
he arrived at the airport at the end of the cruise. |
Missed
ports |
| 18.4.03 |
Sovereign
of the Seas |
A
30 year old cruise ship worker is charged with committing
sex acts on a 14-year-old girl. The victim was apparently on a
high school band trip and
told chaperones she had sex with the man on the last night of the
cruise. |
Sexual assault of child |
| 28.2.03 |
Monarch
of the Seas |
Crewmember
burned by hot water when a valve he was working
on malfunctioned. He was performing routine maintenance on a
boiler in the engine room.. |
Crew
injury |
| 27.2.03 |
Explorer
of the Seas |
A
cleaning crew discovered a minor
fire at the aft end of Deck 13. The fire was extinguished 13
minutes later, causing damage to the inline skating facility amd yje
top of the waterslide on Deck 12. Those facilities will be closed
for repair. Go
here for photos provided by a passenger. |
Fire |
| 19.2.03 |
Radiance
of the Seas |
Ship
struck by strong winds as it crossed a squall line and
briefly went into a seven degree list (tilt). No injuries. |
Unexpected list (tilt) |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2002 |
Incident |
| 7/8.12.02 |
Brilliance of the Seas | Passengers were awoken in the middle of the night by the Captain who made an announcement a man had fallen over board. The ship turned around and started a search pattern. Mid morning he announced that Coast Guard Helicopters from Puerto Rico were joining the search. The ship and the helicopters continued their search until the night time. The Captain then made an announcement that they did everything they could and were now proceeding on to Miami. | Overboard |
| 20.10.02 | Brilliance
of the Seas |
A propulsion problem required shutdown of the complete propulsion system at sea while technicians worked to repair it and as a result the stop at Saint John, New Brunswick on October 20th was cancelled. Given that the problem could not be repaired at sea, the starboard system was restarted and the ship proceeded to Portland, Maine at reduced speed. Two experts from Royal Caribbean in Miami and three from the manufacturer in Europe met the ship and began work to correct the problem. The stop at Portland was longer than planned, but the problem was fixed and the cruise ended in Boston on schedule. | Lost
propulsion & Engine problems |
| 23.9.02 |
Grandeur of the Seas |
From a passenger re: the 14 night Panama
Canal cruise from
|
Engine problems |
| 29.8.02 |
Expolorer of the
Seas |
A man jumped from the balcony on
deck 8 into the sea after having an argument with his wife.
The ship was about 1.5 miles from St. Thomas. The Coast Guard
responded to a call at 9PM and the man was rescued alive. |
Rescued alive |
| 26.8.02 |
Radiance of the Seas |
US
Coast Guard reports that the ship experienced a three-minute power
outage that disabled the ship's steering and propulsion capability
while in Frederick Sound and preparing to transit the Gatineau Channel
(en route to Juneau). RCI denies that it was a power outage. They
said a crew member accidentally turned off a hydraulic pump, causing a
temporary loss of rudder control. |
Power
failure & Lost Propulsion |
| 23.7.02 |
Radiance of the Seas |
While
sailing between Juneau and Skagway, two crewmembers
began arguing (below deck); one pulled a knife and began slashing
the other. The knife victim was medevaced for surgery and was in
serious condition. (Source: Juneau Empire, July 25, 2002) |
Crew
Fight |
| 20.7.02 |
Adventure of the Seas |
A
31 year old graphic artist somehow boarded the ship in
Phillipsburg and the
next day died while the ship is docked in St. Thomas. According
to The St. Thomas Source, "it is not known how he eluded security to
remain on board when the ship left port." According to the Toronto
Star, based on the autopsy report, police believe that when
pepper spray failed to subdue him, "...the crew members tried to hold
Persaud down, placing weight on his chest that suffocated him." |
Port
Security / Death |
| 9.6.02 |
Legend of the Seas |
It
was reported by the Juneau Empire (June 12, 2002) that
the Coast Guard is investigating a near miss by two ships (Legend of
the Seas and Infinity) entering Juneau harbour. The incident was
reported by concerned residents shortly after it occurred at about 10AM. |
Near
Miss |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2001 and earlier |
Incident |
| Oct.01 |
Nordic Empress |
Damaged at pier during
storm. Departure delayed; next cruise canceled. |
Collision with pier |
| 17.6.01 |
Nordic Empress |
A fire broke out in the engine room after the ship left Bermuda for New York. The fire was put out, no one was injured, and the ship returned to Bermuda under its own power -- passengers were flown home to New York. The June 24 cruise has also been cancelled. See: Report of Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Fire Aboard Royal Caribbean International Passenger vessel Nordic Empress in the Atlantic Ocean, June 15, 2001, US Coast Guard Report | Cancelation |
| 4-11.3.01 |
Sovereign of the Seas | After losing $9K in the casino as 23 year old man jumped
overboard. The ship's Captain reported to passengers that the man
had been picked up by a small gambling ship off Nassau, but this was
never reported in the media. |
Overboard |
| 19.12.00 |
Sovereign of the Seas |
A loss of power caused one
cruise to end early and another to be cancelled. |
Power loss |
| 1.11.00 |
Grandeur of the Seas |
The ship was towed into port
after losing all electrial power approximated 7.5 miles off
Curacao. Repairs were completed and the ship proceeded. |
Power loss |
| 29.10.00 |
Enchantment of the Seas | A 40 year old woman from Fort Lauderdale vanished while the
ship cruised 140 miles off Fort Lauderdale. She was last seen in
a ship hallway. |
Disappearance |
| 28.4.00 |
Sovereign of the Seas | A 43 year old man jumped or fell
from the ship when it was about 10 miles east of Miami shortly after
daybreak. His body was found in a search of the seas. |
Overboard |
| 5.2.00 |
Nordic Empress | A 20 year old male passenger was
rescued after spending 2 hours in the water. He was found about
12 miles northwest of St. Thomas where he fell from the ship. |
Rescued alive |
| Jan.00 |
State of Alaska charged RCCL in August 1999 for seven
counts of violating state laws governing oil and hazardous waste
disposal. In January 2000, RCCL pled guilty to dumping toxic
chemicals (including dry-cleaning fluid) and oil-contaminated water
into the state's waters. FINE = $3.5 million |
Environmental |
|
| Jul.99 |
Grandeur of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Nordic Empress, Nordic Prince, Song of America, Song of Norway, Sovereign of the Seas, Sun Viking | The company pled guilty in six jurisdictions to charges of
fleet wide
practices of discharging oil-contaminated waste, regularly and
routinely discharging without a permit wastewater contaminated by
pollutants through its ships' gray water systems, and making false
material statements to the
Coast Guard. These practices occurred fleet wide into 1995 and
occurred
on one ship as late as 1998. Among the violations supporting this
guilty plea were repeated oil discharges from the Nordic Prince into
the
waters of Alaska's Inside Passage during 1994. FINE = $18 million ($3.5 million designated for the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation
and $2.5 million to the National Park Foundation) Jurisdictions: Miami ($3 million), New York City ($3 million), Los Angeles ($3 million), Anchorage ($6.5 million), Puerto Rico ($1 million), US Virgin Islands ($1.5 million) NOTE: The judge in Anchorage suspended $3 million of the fine in Alaska in consideration of the company's prompt payment. |
Environmental |
| 14.4.99 |
Majesty of the Seas |
25 passengers were hurt in a bus
crash in Jamaica -- 7 had to be airlifted back to the Miami for
treatment. The accident happened when the jittney being ridden
suffered brake failure and flipped. |
Shore excursion accident |
| 18.3.99 |
Grandeur of the Seas |
The ship will be wet-docked in
order to replace connecting rods in the generator engines.
Cruises on 20 and 27 March are cancelled. |
Cancelation |
| 15.3.99 |
Enchantment of the Seas |
The ship limped back to Miami
after a connector rod failed. The ship had been without power for
several hours before beginning its return to Miami. |
Engine failure |
| 22.2.99 |
Voyager of the Seas |
A fire broke out while the ship
was under construction, largely affecting storage and crew areas in the
aft portion of the ship. The fire was contained in 3.5 hours and
there were no injuries. |
Fire |
| 15.12.98 |
Monarch of the Seas |
The ship struck a shoal, began taking on water, and grounded as it was leaving Phillipsburg. Passengers returned to the port by tender boats. See: Report of Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Grounding of the Monarch of the Seas on Proselyte Reef in Great Bay, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, December 15, 1998 , United States Coast Guard Report | Grounded |
| Jun.98 |
Sovereign of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Song of America, Nordic Prince, Nordic Empress | After Sovereign of the Seas was found discharging oily bilge waste approximately 8-12 miles from San Juan Harbour, PR on October 25, 1994, an investigation found that the ship's engineers routinely discharged oily waste overboard instead of processing it through the ship's oily water separator. In addition, employees on all five ships falsified oil record books and made false statements to the Coast Guard to conceal illegal discharge practices. FINE = $8 million ($1 million designated to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation) | Environmental |
| Jun.98 |
Nordic Empress | Ship observed and filmed by Coast Guard aircraft as it
discharged oil
while en route to Miami, FL. The company pled guilty to the
willful presentation of a false oil record book for the ship during a
US Coast Guard Investigation. In addition, investigations
revealed that the ship had
been fitted with a bypass pipe allowing employees to discharge bilge
waste
from the ship without first processing it through an oily water
separator. FINE = $1 million. |
Environmental |
| 5.6.98 |
Enchantment of the Seas |
There is a problem with one of
the four engines which causes the ship to cruise 10% slower.
Itineraries will be changed accordingly. |
Engine problems |
| 26.3.98 |
Rhapsody of the Seas | A 23 year old woman was reported missing as the ship arrived
at Curacao. She had last been seen at 4:30 AM sleeping in a chair
on the balcony of the cabin she was sharing with her family. The
family rejects the theory that she may have fallen or jumped overboard. |
Disappearance |
| 2?.2.98 |
Rhapsody of the Seas |
The ship collided with a ferry
boat and the pier, causing a 7 meter hole, which was repaired in time
for the ship's departure. |
Collision with pier |
| 4.8.97 |
Rhapsody of the Seas |
Announced that the ship will
enter drydock to replace its starboard propulsion motor. Two
cruises to Hawaii, September 13 and 24, have been cancelled. |
Cancelations |
| 28.7.97 |
Rhapsody of the Seas |
The ship has developed engine
problems which have reduced power output by 50% and the ships cruises
slower. As a consequence, Skagway has been dropped as port of
call on Alaska cruises. |
Engine Problems |
| 14.11.96 |
Sovereign of the Seas |
The ship ran aground as it
entered the harbour channel at San Juan. The ship was refloated
and the next cruise went off as planned. |
Grounded |
