Key Aspects:

• A passenger fell off the pier at Royal Caribbean’s private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas on August 14, 2025.
• The new Star of the Seas cruise ship, which was docked there with Symphony of the Seas, sounded its Oscar, Oscar, Oscar man overboard alarm.
• The guest was rescued after crew members threw a ring buoy into the water, which the guest was able to grab hold of.

Guests enjoying their preview cruise on Royal Caribbean’s massive new Star of the Seas were shocked on August 14 when the ship sounded an Oscar, Oscar, Oscar emergency alert.

The second 5,610-passenger Icon-class vessel was docked at the cruise line’s private island of Perfect Day at Cococay in the Bahamas at the time.

According to passengers onboard Star of the Seas, a guest had fallen from the pier between Star of the Seas and the 5,518-passenger Symphony of the Seas not long after 8:00 AM.

In a photo posted online, a man can be seen in the water holding onto a rescue life buoy at the end of the pier, after crew members had thrown it in. The good news is that the man was rescued. However, it’s unknown at this time if he got any injuries.

One post on Reddit said, “They rescued him with a jet ski. Update: “Oscar” fell off the pier while texting.“

Royal Caribbean confirmed that the guest was actually getting footage of the giant new ship on his phone, which caused him to fall off the pier.

A spokesperson from the cruise line stated to Cruise Hive: “A guest fell off the dock while capturing footage of the ship on his smart phone. Our team immediately picked him up via jet ski and returned him to shore.”

Star of the Seas was docked at the private island as part of a preview cruise that departed Port Canaveral, Florida, on August 14. The 248,663 gross ton vessel has already departed from CocoCay and is heading back to Florida. The ship is scheduled to depart on another cruise from its homeport on August 16.

Also docked at Cocoay was the Oasis-class Symphony of the Seas, sailing a 7-night Bahamas itinerary which departed Cape Liberty in New Jersey on August 10. This was the final port of call before the vessel heads straight home.

Not the First Time a Passenger Has Fallen from the Pier at CocoCay

It’s not the first time a passenger has fallen off the pier. One of the most recent cases at CocoCay was particularly serious, involving a child who fell between a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and the pier.

This occurred on April 14, when Oasis of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas were the two ships docked there on that day. Thankfully, the crew was able to swiftly rescue the child, and there was no impact to the itinerary.

There have been other kinds of pier incidents, including guests who have been intoxicated, or those who have crossed the “Stay behind the line” for that perfect selfie.

And some have even jumped in on purpose to retrieve a sentimental item, as was the case with one guest when the Carnival Valor made a call to Progreso, Mexico, in February 2025.

Key Aspects:

• Embarkation has been moved up for Symphony of the Seas on Sunday, August 17, due to a military exercise.
• Guests are advised to arrive at the Cape Liberty terminal no later than 1 p.m. or they may be left behind as the ship leaves early.
• The ship’s 7-night itinerary has not changed other than the earlier homeport departure.

Guests boarding Symphony of the Seas may need to rush to Cape Liberty a bit earlier than planned this weekend for the ship’s Sunday, August 17, sailing, as embarkation times have changed.

Royal Caribbean has reached out to booked guests to alert them to the shift. The ship will now be setting sail one hour earlier.

“Due to a planned military exercise in the port area, we will need to depart earlier than originally scheduled,” the notification reads. “We will now set sail at 2:00 PM.”

This means guests with later terminal arrival times need to shift up when they will reach the cruise terminal so they aren’t left behind when Symphony of the Seas departs.

The entire boarding process has been shifted 30 minutes earlier and will now conclude at 1 p.m. All guests must be checked in and onboard no later than 1:30 p.m. for the ship’s departure.

Royal Caribbean is warning guests that sticking to later appointment times will mean being left behind.

“If your scheduled arrival time is between 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM, we kindly ask that you please arrive at the new times listed below,” the email explained. “Arriving at your original time will result in missing the ship’s scheduled departure.”

To be clear, guests who arrive at 1 p.m. will still have time to check in, process through security, and board Symphony of the Seas. Any later, however, and the ship will be setting sail without them.

All morning and early afternoon arrival times are also moved 30 minutes earlier for a more efficient embarkation.

If guests were originally scheduled to arrive at 10:30 a.m., for example, they should now plan to arrive at 10 a.m. Guests arriving at noon should now arrive at 11:30 a.m. and so forth.

The nature of the military exercise has not been disclosed. It is not unusual, however, for ports to participate in emergency response drills, training simulations, or other exercises.

EXCLUSIVE Cruise Hive Booking Offer: Up To $1,500 Visa Gift Card Per Cabin – Learn More!

These events can disrupt traffic into the port, close a harbor, or otherwise temporarily disrupt normal operations. Rather than delay a cruise ship and potentially worry or panic arriving guests unaware of the exercise, it is easier to move up a ship’s departure.

Symphony of the Seas is not having any itinerary changes for the 7-night Bahamas and Perfect Day sailing.

The ship is still planned to visit Port Canaveral on August 19, Nassau on August 20, and Perfect Day at CocoCay on August 21, before returning to New Jersey on August 24.

Symphony of the Seas Making Headlines

This isn’t the first time in recent weeks that Symphony of the Seas has been in the news headlines. While a departure change is relatively innocuous, there have been some troubling stories about the ship lately.

On three separate occasions, glass panels installed on the Oasis-class ship have shattered unexpectedly.

The first incident was on June 8, when a glass window in the Coastal Kitchen restaurant shattered and fell onto lounge chairs below, narrowly missing guests. The fast action of a crew member averted serious injuries from that mishap.

Just three weeks later, another glass panel broke, this time in the canopy of the ship’s Solarium. Fortunately, that panel did not collapse.

Another panel broke this week on Deck 16, near the ship’s miniature golf course and right where the zip line goes by the glass barriers.

While these individual incidents do not appear related, it is certainly concerning. Royal Caribbean is sure to be investigating carefully to ensure all glass aboard Symphony of the Seas remains safe and secure.

Key Aspects:

• A glass panel shattered aboard Symphony of the Seas for the third time this year.
• Royal Caribbean has not identified a cause, though guests speculate the damage could be from a golf ball.
• The panel broke on the sports deck near the zip line, thankfully not shattering onto the Boardwalk 10 decks below.

For the third time in just over two months, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas has had a glass panel shatter. This time, the incident occurred on the sports deck near the ship’s zip line on deck 16.

The shattered tempered glass appears cracked but does not appear to have fallen, which is a relief, as the ship’s popular Boardwalk sits below it on deck 6.

Passengers posted about the latest incident on Reddit, showing the panel roped off by lounge chairs and under repair.

“Royal is really not having a good time with glass lately,” one passenger joked.

While some speculated that the damage could have been caused by someone on the zip line crashing into the glass, others noted the panel is easily accessible from the deck, suggesting it may have been struck by furniture or broken from a flying golf ball from the nearby mini-golf course.

“Look more like someone waiting for someone on the zip line hit the panel…. unless the person on the zip line is about 8-10ft tall,” said one Redditor.

But one commentator, who works in the glass industry, said poorly tempered panes can “just pop, no questions asked.”

The incident took place as Symphony of the Seas sails a 7-night round-trip itinerary from New York to the Bahamas, which departed on August 10, 2025.

The ship is currently calling in Nassau, and will continue to the cruise line’s Perfect Day at CocoCay private destination tomorrow.

Incidents Spark Safety Concerns

The new incident adds to a string of similar problems on Symphony of the Seas. On June 29, a glass canopy panel over the adult-only Solarium shattered as the vessel was preparing to dock in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The glass was positioned over deck chairs on deck 15 and above a bathroom entrance on deck 14. Passengers reported hearing a loud pop but said they did not see shards on the deck.

Just three weeks earlier, on June 8, a window in the exclusive Coastal Kitchen restaurant broke apart, sending shards onto the pool deck below and narrowly missing passengers – thanks to the speedy warning of crew member Nitin Kumar.

In all cases, the glass has broken into small, relatively safe pieces, as designed, and crew members have been quick to clean the areas and replace the glass.

While glass breaking on cruise ships is rare, Symphony of the Seas’ recent incidents are raising questions among guests. Some suspect vibrations may be a factor, while others wonder if extreme heat is a culprit.

The 228,081-gross-ton ship, which entered service in 2018, last underwent dry-dock maintenance in April 2023.

That 21-day maintenance included technical upgrades and general maintenance. However, years of constant exposure to vibration, temperature cycles, salt air, and more can have an effect on mounting brackets, degrade seals, and form stress fractures that eventually lead to breakage.

EXCLUSIVE Cruise Hive Booking Offer: Up To $1,500 Visa Gift Card Per Cabin – Learn More!

But Royal Caribbean’s unlucky accidents extend beyond Symphony of the Seas. Last week, on August 7, 2025, an acrylic glass panel on Icon of the Seas’ Frightening Bolt waterslide broke while a passenger was sliding through.

Royal Caribbean has not linked any of the recent breakages or confirmed their causes.