There’s a common phrase that says “third time will be the charm.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t hold true for Symphony of the Seas’ next planned visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico – which will have to be skipped for the third time in a row.
Until work is completed and inspected on Pier 3, the San Juan Cruise Port will unfortunately be unable to welcome a ship as large as the Oasis-class vessel – which weighs in at 228,081-gross tons and is 1,184 feet long.
So far, the 6,680-guest ship has already had to remove the port from its November 17 and December 1 sailings – and now the 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailing that is embarking from Miami, Florida, on December 22, 2024, will also be affected.
“We’ve recently been advised by the port authority in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that due to technical issues with the pier and the work that must be done and cleared by the USCG for accepting a ship our size, we’ll have to adjust our itinerary for our sailing,” Royal Caribbean wrote to soon-to-be guests.
“As a result, we’ll skip our visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico and have adjusted the time we’ll depart from Perfect Day at CocoCay. After exploring all options, and to provide you with the best experience, we’ll now enjoy a visit to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas instead,” continued the letter.
The port call on San Juan was supposed to be on Christmas Day, which perhaps makes the change sting a little more for disappointed guests – but passengers will still be able to get off the ship and explore Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.
Perhaps even more annoying is that the visit to Perfect Day CocoCay (Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas) will be shortened by one hour on December 23, 2024.
Instead of setting sail at 5 p.m. local time, the mega-ship will instead depart at 4 p.m. to accommodate the new itinerary.
What is Wrong With the San Juan Cruise Port?
The San Juan Cruise Port has three different piers, but only Pier 3 is currently able to accommodate Royal Caribbean’s massive Oasis-class ships.
But due to ongoing technical issues with the pier – which seem to be related to an unspecified incident with a mooring dolphin – the pier has been out of service pending repairs and inspections from the US Coast Guard.
“As part of its ongoing commitment to passenger safety and efficient cruise operations, San Juan Cruise Port (SJCP) has been working diligently with regulatory agencies to restore service to Pier 3 West, following a recent incident involving a mooring dolphin,” the port said in an update at the end of November.
“San Juan Port’s Pier-3 West remains closed to cruise-ships until further notice pending requested satisfactory assessment studies followed by a Coast Guard on-site inspection of the facility,” the United States Coast Guard added.
It’s unclear how long it will be until the pier will be ready to receive Oasis-class ships once again.
Read Also: San Juan Cruise Port: Amenities and What’s Nearby
That said, members of the cruising community are becoming frustrated with both the cruise port and Royal Caribbean for the extended closure and repeated itinerary changes.
“The GOVERNMENT of San Juan Cruise Port and the Tourism Office simply DO NOT CARE that we continue to be put to shame by all the islands around us, building new terminals in a short time and Puerto Rico cannot even fix a dock,” one person, who is presumably a San Juan resident, wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile, others complained that Royal Caribbean wasn’t being “straight” with future guests about the situation – alleging that the cruise line is being unfaithful by marketing a cruise to San Juan that isn’t possible and saying it hurts the brands reputation when it communicates poorly.
“The dock has been out of commission for a while. RCCL is hurting their brand by not being up front with the situation,” one person wrote on Reddit.
That said, it’s unclear how much Royal Caribbean has been kept in the loop regarding the status of the cruise port – and most cruise contracts do give cruise lines the flexibility to change the itinerary as needed.
Hopefully, the matter will be resolved before Symphony of the Seas’ next planned visit to San Juan – which is scheduled for January 1, 2025.
