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.
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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.
