Guests booked on the record-breaking Icon of the Seas will be relieved to learn the ship’s next sailing will move forward as planned following the ship being temporarily out of service for emergency repairs.
While the cruise line has been in touch with guests since the ship was pulled from service for the unexpected work, the update was rather vague, only promising “As we get closer, we’ll provide you with updates on our progress.”
Now, Royal Caribbean has reached out to booked guests to alert them to the conclusion of the repairs, confirming that the ship’s October 5, 2024 departure will set sail as scheduled following the cancellation of the September 28 sailing.
“Just a quick update regarding our upcoming sailing…” the notification said. “We were conducting unplanned maintenance onboard Icon of the Seas and we’re happy to share that it’s complete!”
The cruise line has not shared the nature of the “unplanned maintenance,” but typically, a vessel is not removed from service for such work unless critical systems are impacted, such as propulsion or safety systems.
Nevertheless, the work has been successfully completed while the ship has been in Freeport – the closest shipyard capable of repairs – and she is scheduled to be back in Miami on Saturday.
“The ship is ready, our crew have missed our guests, and we are looking forward to resuming our normal itineraries as of our October 5, 2024 sailing,” the message concluded.
The upcoming cruise is a 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailing with visits planned for St. Kitts on Tuesday, St. Thomas on Wednesday, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private Bahamian destination, on Friday. At this time, there are no planned adjustments to the itinerary.
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The 248,663-gross-ton ship can welcome 5,610 travelers at double occupancy, or up to 7,600 guests when fully booked with all berths filled. As the ship is specially designed for families and multi-generational travel, she often sails well above her double occupancy total, and all passengers are sure to be relieved that the next cruise will set sail as planned.
Not the First Problem for Icon of the Seas
Though Icon of the Seas has not even been in service for a year – the ship’s inaugural sailing set forth on January 27, 2024 – this “unplanned maintenance” is not the first technical problem the vessel has faced.
In May, the ship experienced a significant power loss that impacted propulsion, lighting, water pumps, elevators, and other systems. While the overall outage was not long, it did take several hours for full systems to be restored across the vessel.
Despite all the pre-inaugural testing, sea trials, and shakedowns, it is not unusual for new ships to have some small tweaks or minor incidents as they begin full passenger operations.
What is unusual, however, is for such problems to cause widespread and apparently serious technical problems as Icon of the Seas appears to have experienced. Of course, the completely new class of ship – and the largest ship in the world – can be presenting entirely new challenges to engineers as she settles into full-time service.
Some travelers have been concerned that Icon of the Seas‘ problem might mimic that experienced by Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Vista, which experienced propulsion problems in August, resulting in adjusted itineraries, missed port visits, and eventually, the ship being removed from service for repairs.
While Carnival Vista‘s most recent difficulties only cancelled a single sailing, the propulsion problems appear to be widespread and recurrent with the Vista-class ships. Some Royal Caribbean cruisers are worried that Icon of the Seas‘ sudden difficulties might be similar with that new class of ship.
Hopefully, the recent repairs have fully fixed any significant difficulties, and Icon of the Seas will be able to sail full speed ahead to bring amazing adventures to thousands of guests every week.