Royal Caribbean’s 5,668-passenger Utopia of the Seas has been dealing with mechanical issues, resulting in a delayed start to its July 20 cruise out of Port Canaveral in Florida.
The vessel was originally scheduled to depart the popular home port at approximately 4:00 PM on Monday and include a call to the cruise line’s private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay on July 21, a call to Nassau the following day on July 22, and a return to Port Canaveral on July 24 to end the 4-night Bahamas voyage.
Utopia of the Seas never departed as expected and remained tied up at the terminal in Port Canaveral. Guests were informed that the ship was experiencing a mechanical issue.
According to some passengers onboard, the Oasis-class cruise ship may have eventually gotten going and departed at approximately 5:00 AM on July 21. However, the Cruise Ship Tracker shows that the ship departed after 7:00 AM.
One passenger onboard the ship posted on Facebook, “UPDATE: we left at 5 am!! They are changing our itinerary around!”
The guest previously posted, “This is my 51st cruise, and I’m experiencing a first…..I’m on the Utopia of the Seas and it’s currently 9:36 and we still haven’t left Port Canaveral. We were supposed to leave at 4! We are having some sort of mechanical issue.“
As a result of the delayed departure, Utopia of the Seas‘ short 4-night getaway has been adjusted. Rather than sailing to CocoCay on the first day, July 21, that has now become a day at sea. Nassau becomes the first port of call on July 22, and instead of a day at sea before returning to Florida, July 23 will become a call at CocoCay.
With the private island being so near Florida, at approximately 185-195 miles from Port Canaveral, they are lucky enough to still experience the port visit.
Royal Caribbean has not detailed what the mechanical issue was, but cruise ships are complex, and these issues can happen. One of the most common types of problems is propulsion, when a vessel cannot sail at its optimal cruising speed.
Utopia of the Seas is a new cruise ship entering service in July 2024, so passengers will hope the issue is fully resolved and there will be no impact on future departures.
