Two Guests Rushed Ashore, Oasis of the Seas Delayed and Port Cancelled

Following two medical evacuations on her current sailing, Oasis of the Seas will now be delayed in her return to her Cape Liberty, New Jersey homeport on Sunday, September 20, 2026.

A letter has been delivered to guests onboard detailing the delay and when the ship is now expected to arrive.

“As previously announced by our Captain, our medical staff determined that two of our guests needed urgent medical attention. We successfully debarked our guests so they could receive additional medical care,” the letter explained.

“As a result, we’ll now be delayed in our return to Cape Liberty. We plan on arriving at approximately 2:00 pm, with debarkation starting around 2:30 pm. We appreciate your patience and understanding, knowing we’d do the same for you or a loved one in a similar situation.”

Oasis of the Seas was originally scheduled to arrive back to Cape Liberty at approximately 6 a.m. Sunday.

This eight-hour delay will have a knock-on effect for guests with flights to catch on Sunday, but Royal Caribbean is providing some assistance to help guests rearrange their plans.

First, each stateroom (not each guest) will have a voucher for 60 minutes of complimentary internet access available on the cruise line’s app to help them contact airlines, hotels, or friends and family members.

If guests had booked flights through the cruise line’s Flights by Royal team, those flights will automatically be adjusted to the new arrival time and guests will receive confirmation details by email.

Guests who have booked air travel independently will need to contact their airline directly, but the letter confirms that Royal Caribbean will reimburse change fees up to $200 (USD) for domestic flights and $400 for international flights, per person. Receipts and documentation must be submitted for review and reimbursement.

The nature of the medical emergencies has not been disclosed, though the captain’s announcement did indicate that one involved a critically-ill 7-year-old child. This required the ship to return to Nassau as that was the closest possible hospital, and while en route back to Nassau, another guest was reported critically ill.

There is no information about whether the illnesses are related or if the guests knew one another.

Both patients were debarked in Nassau but nothing further about their condition has been disclosed, as is standard procedure to protect the privacy of the guests as well as their friends, family members, and traveling companions.

Next Embarkation Delayed, Port Canaveral Cancelled

Naturally, Oasis of the Seas‘ late arrival back to Cape Liberty will mean the next embarkation is subsequently delayed. The ship’s September 20, 2026 sailing is also a 7-night Bahamas itinerary with visits planned to Port Canaveral, Perfect Day CocoCay, and Nassau.

Due to the delay, however, embarking guests have now been informed that their embarkation is pushed back to the evening and the port visit to Florida will not be possible.

Updated check-in windows for guests’ arrival to the cruise terminal are now 7-8 hours later than originally planned, and all guests must be checked in and onboard the ship no later than 9:30 p.m.

Instead of the visit to Port Canaveral that was planned for 12:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22, the ship will now spend that day at sea as she makes her way to the Bahamas.

Oasis of the Seas will also arrive slightly earlier than originally planned to what is now her first port of call, Perfect Day CocoCay. The ship was supposed to arrive at the private island destination at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, but will now arrive at 7:45 a.m. instead. The departure time of 5 p.m. is unchanged, and there are no further adjustments to the itinerary.

The notification of the itinerary change also confirmed that any pre-paid shore excursions booked through Royal Caribbean for Port Canaveral have already been cancelled and will be refunded as onboard credit to guests’ accounts. Any amount remaining after the sailing will be refunded to the card on file.

Royal Caribbean is also providing a non-refundable onboard credit to each stateroom for the last-minute change as a “gesture of goodwill” for guests’ understanding of the situation. Inside and oceanview staterooms will receive $100 (USD), balconies and Neighborhood staterooms will receive $150, and suites will receive $200.

If there are third and fourth guests booked into the same staterooms the onboard credit will be increased by $50 each for those additional guests.

Why the Delay Almost Two Days Early?

It may seem odd that this significant delay is already confirmed almost two full days before the ship will arrive back in New Jersey, but the distance Oasis of the Seas has covered on this itinerary is extreme.

While the trip to Florida and the Bahamas and the port visits were uneventful, AIS tracking confirms that Oasis of the Seas reversed course back to Nassau just as the vessel was east of Treasure Cay, roughly 120 miles northeast of Nassau.

As the captain announced over the ship’s public address system, the ship did not depart Nassau after the emergency medical evacuations until just before 1 p.m. on Friday, September 18.

“We are now heading full speed towards Bayonne,” the captain confirmed. “I have all available engines on full load [and] we’re doing about 20-20.5 knots [23.5 miles per hour].”

If Oasis of the Seas kept that speed for the entire trip from Nassau to Cape Liberty, without any adjustments for navigation, moving into New York Harbor, or docking procedures, she would still need more than 46 hours to complete the trip.

This calculation is consistent with the ship’s new arrival time estimate into Cape Liberty of 2 p.m. on Sunday.