Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas will need a little more time before she's ready to start cruising again.
Every five years (or less), Royal Caribbean sends its cruise ships in for refurbishment to ensure they're properly maintained. Voyager of the Seas is in Cadiz, Spain to undergo scheduled work.
Unfortunately, bad weather around Spain has delayed the work and more time is needed.
Guests booked on the transatlantic sailing returning the ship to the United States received an update their voyage has been pushed back by a day.
"Due to a delay in our current drydock operations caused by adverse weather, Voyager of the Seas will be arriving in Barcelona one (1) day later than we initially planned," an email to booked passengers read.
The ship was originally scheduled to depart Barcelona, Spain on November 10, 2024.
Instead, Voyager will now depart Barcelona on Monday, November 11th.
The change in departure date also means a change to the ship's itinerary. Voyager will skip a visit to Valencia, Spain and instead visit Palma De Mallorca on Tuesday, November 12th. The rest of the itinerary will remain unchanged.
Any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions booked for Palma de Mallorca will be rescheduled based on availability, and any excursions booked for Valencia will be automatically refunded to the original form of payment.
Voyager of the Seas is scheduled to arrive to Port Canaveral, Florida as originally scheduled on November 26, 2024.
Voyager will sail 4- and 5-night winter getaways on a varied lineup of Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises to The Bahamas, including Perfect Day at CocoCay and Nassau; Cozumel; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Labadee.
Compensation for the change
To make it up to passengers, Royal Caribbean is offering some money back.
Royal Caribbean is providing:
- A refund of one (1) day of the Cruise Fare paid as an Onboard Credit.
- A pro-rated refund as an Onboard Credit for your daily packages (Beverage, Dining, VOOM) and pre-paid gratuities.
- All Onboard Credits can be used anywhere onboard, and any remaining refundable amounts at the end of the sailing will be refunded to the card on file up to 14 business days from final disembarkation.
For travel plans that need to be changed, Royal Caribbean will cover any air change fee up to $200 USD for domestic travel and $400 USD for international travel, per person OR one (1) night hotel accommodations, up to $250 USD, per stateroom if needed.
Royal Caribbean will also honor the original amount of nights in the sailing, as it relates to Crown and Anchor Society points.
"You’ll receive loyalty points for the original sail nights, instead of the nights sailed. For this sailing, you’ll still receive 16 nights worth of loyalty points."
Shipyard delays are not unusual
The delay in return to service following scheduled maintenance work is not unheard of.
In most cases, ships undergo their routine work on schedule and return without delay. But there have been situations where a delay in return to service has occurred.
In early 2019, Navigator of the Seas underwent a highly anticipated Royal Amplification, which would add new water slides, restaurants and experiences onboard.
The $115 million shipwide refurbishment was scheduled to be complete by February 2019, but poor weather conditions at the shipyard in the Bahamas caused delays to the progress of the ship’s outer decks.
A construction crane collapsed on top of Oasis of the Seas while in drydock.
Royal Caribbean was forced to cancel the next three scheduled sailings that followed in order for the ship to be fully repaired.
