“And why is the carpet all wet, Todd?” became the joke of the holiday season for passengers aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas as they witnessed an unexpected flood on Forward Deck 10 during a recent cruise.
The reason, however, wasn’t so funny, as water gushed and pooled on the floor following a water leak taking place the day after the 5,496-passenger capacity ship had departed from PortMiami on a 3-night cruise to the Bahamas on December 6, 2024.
A post by joshuaofrichardson on TikTok showed water pouring from the ceiling panels and overhead lights, pooling around doors to staterooms.
The same poster followed up once the leak was contained by the crew, saying, “Pipe stopped, leak being fixed, and people moved right away to other rooms. Royal Caribbean does things right when nature rumbles.”
Another passenger on the ship said they didn’t even know there was a leak and that it was not affecting their cruise, writing, “I’m on this ship right now and didn’t experience this. It must be below us.”
Comments on the video included surprise that the cruise line was able to relocate so many passengers to other rooms, indicating the 225,282-gross-ton ship was not sold out as it headed to Nassau and Royal Caribbean’s private destination, Perfect Day at Coco Cay.
The flood did not affect the ship’s itinerary, which continued without delay and will return to Miami on December 9, 2024. Royal Caribbean did not comment on the incident.
Aging Allure of the Seas Infrastructure May Get Overhaul
The flooding may be a sign the nearly 15-year-old Allure of the Seas is in need of an upgrade. Debuting as Royal Caribbean’s second Oasis-Class ship in 2009, the vessel is already scheduled for renovations beginning in mid-February 2025.
In fact, the aging ship was originally meant to undergo $100-million renovations in 2020 until the pandemic delayed its dry dock. Now, the Allure of the Seas is meant to spend nearly two months undergoing a refit in line with the Royal Amplified renovations taking place across Royal Caribbean’s fleet.
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It just so happens that the vessel is first enjoying one last brief winter season in the Caribbean and the Bahamas from Miami, with 3-, 4-, and 7-day voyages through February 10, 2025. The vessel will then embark on a transatlantic repositioning voyage to Spain to begin its upgrades, arriving in Barcelona on February 22, 2025.
The refit will introduce new dining options, bars, venues, and accommodations, including the addition of Ultimate Panoramic Suites above the ship’s bridge.
Upgrades will also include the addition of the 10-story dry slide, the Ultimate Abyss, more than 35 dining and drinking venues, resort-style pools, fun like laser tag and an escape room, new adults-only spaces and kids’ clubs, and waterslides.
No doubt, the dry dock will also include an opportunity to give the pipes a once-over to make sure leaks and bursts like this one don’t take place again.
Although pipe bursts and plumbing issues on ships occur now and then, like on Voyager of the Seas in February 2024 and again in August 2024, these situations also happen on other cruise lines. The famous Ultimate World Cruises on Serenade of the Seas in early 2024 also had to deal with some flooding issues onboard.
Additionally, there have been a number of freak accidents, like when Harmony of the Seas’ swimming pool overflowed in January 2023, creating a six-story waterfall effect. More recently, the sprinklers accidentally went off on the promenade of two different vessels, Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas.
