Due to poor weather conditions and a freak incident with a rogue wave, Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas will have to delay its arrival in Miami, Florida, at the end of its current Transatlantic voyage.
The Voyager-class vessel, which is in the middle of what was supposed to be a 12-night one-way cruise from Barcelona, Spain, embarked on November 2, 2024.
She was supposed to disembark in PortMiami on November 14 and officially begin her Caribbean season the same day – but now won’t arrive in port until three days later than anticipated on November 17.
“Due to our previous sailing’s delay in arriving at PortMiami, our sailing will now take place on Sunday, November 17, 2024. Please know, our return to PortMiami is fluid, and once our times are finalized, we’ll send you an email with your updated check-in times,” Royal Caribbean wrote to impacted guests.
The Southern Caribbean Cruise was supposed to be 10 nights long and call on Labadee, Haiti; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Castries, St Lucia; St. Johns, Antigua; and Basseterre, St. Kitts.
However, due to the delay, the itinerary has had to be altered – Philipsburg, Castries, and St. Johns have been eliminated entirely.
Basseterre, San Juan, and Labadee are still on the agenda – but the dates in which the port calls will take place have changed and the order of the visits has shifted.
For example, Labadee was the first port call on the itinerary and the visit was originally scheduled for November 16. However, this stop is now the final port call of the sailing, with the visit not occurring until November 22.
In some cases, the time that will be spent in port has also changed. The most extreme example of this was the ship was supposed to be in the port of San Juan from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time on November 17, but now the visit will take place from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on November 21.
Royal Caribbean is compensating guests for the inconvenience by providing a prorated refund for the three cancelled days, plus an extra day as a show of goodwill, in the form of an onboard credit.
Similarly, three days of costs for daily packages (beverage, Dining, VOOM) and pre-paid gratuities will also be returned in the form of an onboard credit.
At the end of the sailing, any refundable amounts not used will be returned to the credit card on file within 14 business days.
What Went Wrong?
The current voyage being operated by Explorer of the Seas has not exactly been smooth sailing – and Mother Nature is the culprit.
First, poor weather conditions around Spain resulted in the 4,290-guest ship sailing an altered itinerary.
The ship missed its scheduled port call in Valencia, Spain, on November 3 – which is still recovering from recent severe flooding. This port was replaced by a day in Cartagena, Spain.
Then, weather conditions required the ports of Malaga and Ponta Delgada to be switched out with Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
But the bigger delay came when the 137,308-gross ton ship ran into an expected squall on November 7, 2024 – and was hit by a rogue wave and intense winds that caused the vessel to tilt dramatically onto her side.
Initial reports suggested that there were no major injuries onboard, but it has since come to light that someone onboard needed medical attention that warranted turning the ship around.
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“The captain and the crew did a great job, keeping everyone calm and safe. But someone needs medical assistance so now we are heading back to the Canary Islands and will be 3 days delayed into Miami,” a current passenger shared on Facebook.
Current cruise tracking data shows that the vessel turned around early on November 8 and is heading in the direction of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
