The saga continues! After months of rerouting itineraries due to ongoing work on one of the piers at the San Juan cruise port, more Royal Caribbean passengers are still learning that they won’t be visiting after all.
Symphony of the Seas has been skipping the popular stop in Puerto Rico since November of last year, but now Icon of the Seas – the world’s current largest cruise ship – is also impacted.
Guests scheduled for the Icon-class vessel’s upcoming May 3, June 7, June 21, and July 19 sailings received an email from Royal Caribbean informing them of the changes to their itineraries.
All four of these 2025 voyages are 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailings.
“Before your vacation begins, we wanted to inform you about some changes to our itinerary,” the email from the Miami-based cruise line begins.
“Due to ongoing improvements to the pier infrastructure in San Juan, the port operators have advised us that the port will not be ready in time for our visit,” continued the update.
The voyage that embarks from PortMiami on July 19 will replace the scheduled call with a day in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
The remaining three cruises will still visit Puerto Rico, but will sail to the city of Ponce instead – which is located about 70 miles away from San Juan on the US Territory’s southern coast.
And of course, the changes have not ceased for the 5,518-guest Symphony of the Seas either.
Passengers counting down the days until the 228,081-gross ton vessel’s 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise that embarks from Miami on April 20, 2025, received their own email update.
Their cruise will still visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas, on April 21, as planned.
However, the calls on San Juan and Philipsburg have been replaced with Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Labadee, Haiti – which is home to another Royal Caribbean exclusive destination.
Symphony of the Seas’ earlier April 6 sailing – which is another 7-night Eastern Caribbean voyage – has also been similarly impacted.
San Juan and Philipsburg were again replaced by Puerto Plata and Labadee – but Nassau, Bahamas, was also thrown in as a “bonus port.”
What is Wrong in San Juan?
With Royal Caribbean rescheduling sailings through the Summer of 2025, it seems like the issues plaguing San Juan’s infamous pier won’t be fixed anytime soon, and more itinerary changes will be inevitable.
But it’s important to note that the issue isn’t with the port as a whole, but with Pier 3 specifically – which was damaged when MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia accidentally impacted a mooring dolphin in April of 2024.
Dolphin moorings secure and stabilize ships while docked in the port, so it’s important that they are functioning properly for safety reasons.
Unfortunately for larger vessels, Pier 3 is the only berth capable of accommodating bigger ships that fall into Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class (including the aforementioned Symphony of the Seas).
Of course, Icon of the Seas is even larger than the sizable Oasis-class ships – coming in at 248,663-gross tons with a capacity for 7,600 guests at maximum occupancy.
Even Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, Disney Treasure, was turned away earlier in February. At 144,000-gross tons and room for 4,000 passengers onboard, the Wish-class vessel is one of the largest in Disney’s fleet.
Read Also: San Juan Cruise Port: Amenities and What’s Nearby
Understandably, the cruise community is frustrated with the ongoing itinerary changes, but most do realize it is not Royal Caribbean’s fault.
For example, one person wrote: “I just got the same notification for the Symphony… I am a bit pissed to say the least. I get it, but I don’t like it.”
That said, anyone feeling desperate to step foot in San Juan may have better luck sailing on a smaller ship with another cruise line.
San Juan’s Pier 1, Pier 4, and the Pan American Pier – each of which can accommodate two ships – are still operational and have been receiving calls from brands like Princess Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, and MSC Cruises.
