| dd/mm/yy |
2010 |
Incident |
| 29.10.10 | Hispanically Speaking News reports U.S. Customs officials (CBP) are reporting that earlier in the week they seized cocaine and heroin, in separate incidents, aboard the Serenade of the Seas cruise ship as it docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Early in the morning, CBP officers conducted a random inspection of ship cabins. During the search, a K-9 sweep alerted positive to the odor of narcotics. CBP officers discovered three brick size packages between the beds which field tested positive to cocaine. In a separate incident an inspection of the luggage exposed a large of amount of shoes that yielded a brown powdery substance. The CBP officers found, wrapped in duct tape inside the shoes, a substance which tested positive for heroin. The estimated street value of the heroin is $324,000 and the estimated value of the seized cocaine is $84,000 and four passengers were arrested on the spot. | Drug bust |
| 1.3.10 | From a reader: We were aboard the ship last week (Feb 20th sailing). Serenade was turned away from the port in Roseau, Dominica for high long swells. The captain did a slow sail past the west coast of the island and we got a day at sea. Only the port taxes were refunded. Many were disappointed but no massive protests occurred. | Missed port |
| dd/mm/yy |
2009 |
Incident |
| 23.10.09 | 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 |
| 9.5.09 | 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 |
| 25.2.09 | 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 |
| 15.2.09 | The Juneau Empire reports the ship was each cited for one air quality violation in Alaska during the 2008 cruise season. | Environmental |
| dd/mm/yy |
2008 |
Incident |
| 14.9.08 |
The Juenau
Empire reports the ship 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 |
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) |
| 22.4.08 |
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 |
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 |
| dd/mm/yy |
2007 and earlier |
Incident |
| 17.10.07 |
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 |
| 27.8.06 |
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 |
| 23.1.04 |
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) | 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 |
Reported Illness Outbreaks |
| 25.11.06 |
From a passenger: Ship
left San Juan PR 18 November (Saturday) ... we received a letter that
if we needed medical assistance because of a flu, cold or
gastrointestinal illness, medical services would be
complementary. On
Monday the Captain announced there were 55 cases of gastrointestinal
illness. My 10 year old son got it on Wednesday night and we were
confined to the room until disembarkation 25 November. On
Thursday a
nurse said they attended 80 people that day alone; the outbreak of
norovirus affected around 135 people about 5% (and those are reported cases
only). Many passengers didn't report being ill when they learned
they'd be confined to the room for 48 hours. CDC Report: 3
of 848 crew (0.35%) and 101 of 2241 passengers (4.51%) reported ill. |
| 11.11.06 |
The ship reported that 9 of 854 (1.05%) crew and 68 of 2023 (3.36%) passengers had reported ill on the 29 October - 11 November cruise from San Diego (California) to San Juan (Puerto Rico). Symptons were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus) |
| 11.10.04 |
Received from a reader re:
9/26 - 10/4 cruise: On 10/4, the ship brought out sanitizing methods. thorough ship cleaning by crew, and hand sanitizers at the ships entrance and Windjammer cafe. It was personally reported from a relative of a crew member that several passengers had become ill with an intestinal virus and were quarantined for 72 hours. We witnessed a few passengers that were missing from their assigned tables for a couple of nights.. In addition, the main pool was closed down for the last two days of the cruise after a passenger defecated and vomited in the pool. Signs were posted around the pool that due to a fecal accident, the pool would be closed. The Solarium pool was packed as a result. The Serenade was in port with the Veendam near the end of the cruise, so the above precautions could have been due to any contact a Serenade passenger may have had with a Veendam passenger. |
| 14.6.04 |
On
June 13, the ship reported that 71 passengers and 9 crew
had reported illness consistent with norovirus. The cruise ran
from June 6 - 13, ending in Vancouver. |