Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean has notified guests booked on Radiance of the Seas’ November 14, 2026, sailing of revised embarkation arrangements in Tampa.
- The ship will temporarily leave port for scheduled maintenance after disembarking passengers from its previous voyage.
- Guests arriving before their revised check-in windows will be turned away, and everyone must be aboard by 3:00 p.m.
Guests booked on the November 14, 2026, sailing of Radiance of the Seas from Tampa, Florida, have been warned about an unusual adjustment to embarkation procedures. A notice sent by Royal Caribbean explained that the ship will temporarily depart the port before guests can board.
“Prior to boarding, Radiance of the Seas will be conducting scheduled maintenance,” the notice reads. “As part of this process, the ship will briefly depart the port following the debarkation of the previous sailing, before returning to the pier in preparation for your embarkation.”
The cruise line specified that the terminal will not be open for embarkation until the maintenance operation is finished. The nature of the maintenance being done and why the brief departure was deemed necessary were not disclosed.
Passengers were instructed to arrive at the terminal according to the prescribed arrival windows. Early arrivals will be turned away until the ship returns to the dock and all maintenance procedures have concluded.
Royal Caribbean further urged guests to arrive no later than 2:30 p.m. All guests are required to be checked in and onboard by 3:00 p.m.
Other Royal Caribbean sailings have faced boarding delays due to maintenance before. In July 2025, Cruise Hive reported that embarkation for a sailing of Navigator of the Seas was similarly delayed due to maintenance.
Radiance of the Seas faced another embarkation delay in February 2025, when guests were told to arrive later than originally scheduled to allow for cleaning and maintenance. That incident followed a gastrointestinal illness outbreak onboard, though there is no indication that the upcoming maintenance is related to illness.
Revised Boarding Times Prompt Guest Concerns
Discussing the development on Facebook, several people expressed concern about whether the revised arrival windows would allow enough time to embark the ship’s guests before the 3:00 p.m. deadline. Some said they faced similar boarding delays on other cruises, with one describing the line at the terminal as “a disaster.”
“People with flights, etc. didn’t know what to do so they just showed up (and it was a summer cruise so the heat was unbearable),” they commented.
“The place was packed with people and lines, (no warning) took forever to finally board since the first few boarding groups had to board first,” said another commenter.
These commenters did not say whether their sailings were also aboard Royal Caribbean ships. However, their accounts illustrate the importance of advance notice and clear instructions, as the cruise line has provided for this sailing.
Western Caribbean Itinerary Remains Unchanged
Royal Caribbean has not announced any delay to the November 14 departure, or changes to the itinerary. Radiance of the Seas is scheduled to depart from Port Tampa Bay at 4:00 p.m.
The seven-night Western Caribbean sailing is scheduled to call at Cozumel on November 16, Roatan on November 17, Belize City on November 18, and Costa Maya on November 19. The 2,143-guest ship will return to Tampa on November 21, 2026, when it will embark on another seven-night Western Caribbean voyage.
