Guests attending a Halloween party in the Royal Promenade onboard Symphony of the Seas had the festivities abruptly halted when the automatic sprinkles began going off.
A fog machine in the Royal Promenade set the sprinkles off, sending guests to seek shelter near the shore excursion tablets adjacent to the Bionic Bar.
TikTok user nickfromsubway44 documented the experience on his social media account, stating that it was crazy to walk indoors and see the sprinklers going off.
Instead of seeing people gathered at the Rising Tide Bar or dancing, the scene resembled a torrential downpour, with cascades of water creating a haze that made it impossible to see to the other side of the Promenade.
Nick posted another video saying the ship was "lowkey bouta sink." Guests dressed in costume can be seen observing the unexpected rain shower.
Royal Caribbean crew members are also seen presumably taking down a photo spot, trying to keep the equipment out of harm's way.
"[T]his happened at 10:30pm. By 6am the promenade was back in working order with a few fans left facing carpets. They did amazing [at] cleaning it up," wrote Amy Marie in a Symphony of the Seas Facebook group.
Read more: Top 10 Symphony of the Seas hidden secrets
Fog machines are popular during Halloween
Halloween is the spookiest holiday of the year, and special effects—like fog—can transform an everyday space into a haunted scene, making it more immersive for party-goers.
According to theatrefx.com, fog machines can set off smoke alarms: "Because many venues use smoke detectors that measure the density of particles in the air, fog effects (especially dense fog effects) can 'fool' the detectors and trigger a fire alarm."
In other words, ionization-type smoke detectors can be set off as they sense fog particles like smoke. Hazers are less likely to set off smoke alarms because of the smaller size of their particles, lightsounds.com.au writes.
Read more: What Halloween is like on the world's largest cruise ship
Symphony of the Seas was on its last sailing from Cape Liberty for the season
The 228,081 gross registered ton vessel departed New Jersey on Oct. 27 on a 7-night cruise to The Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay. In addition to CocoCay, the ship called at Port Canaveral, Florida, and Nassau, Bahamas.
Symphony will be homeported in Miami throughout April 2025. The 6,680-passenger vessel will sail on 7-night cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean before returning to Cape Liberty and kicking off her summer stint with a 9-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on April 30 to Haiti, Puerto Rico, and St. Maarten.
"Sprinkler of the Seas"
Nick's videos are flooded (pun intended) with comments about the unusual situation. user2311376559104 wrote, "Sprinkler of the Seas," with Lola adding, "The new bar experience [is the] aqua lounge." Thatguy said, "Normally you have to pay more for the indoor waterpark [but] y'all got it for free 😂."
Rottiedad44 commented about a similar situation on Wonder of the Seas a few weeks ago: "...some similar happened to the right wing of the Windjammer grill station...not that extreme though. Washy, washy!"
Another user added they were on the sailing at the same time and heard from some cruisers that the whole buffet was filled with smoke, while others said there was barely any smoke at all.
"I was sitting on that side at a roundtable overlooking the park. It wasn't much smoke. I was told that the vent fans malfunctioned and triggered sprinklers," replied Rottiedad44.
The comment section also sparked a debate about Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean. Kell Kellz instigated the conversation by saying, "Carnival would have kept the party goinggggg."
One TikTok user joked that a similar situation wouldn't happen on Carnival because they don't have working sprinklers, with another snapping back and claiming the line is "more popular" than Royal Caribbean.
