| dd/mm/yy |
2010 |
Incident |
| 7.12.10 | From a passenger: Today, Tuesday December 7, at approximately 5am the ship started shaking/vibrating violently. We were on our way to Cartagena, Colombia at the time with an arrival time scheduled for 7am. During this shaking I have an inside cabin so I couldn't see out the window to see what was going on. I thought we must be docking though because the speed shown on the ship info TV channel was very low and dropping. The shaking/vibrations stopped after about 15 minutes and then the speed showed increased by a lot. Very strange. Then at 6am sharp the Captain came on over the intercom in every cabin (with no way to lower the volume or silence it) and apologized for waking anyone up. He then announced what had happened. He said we had hit a 100-meter long 2-inch thick piece of plastic piping. Where had this come from??? And that it was across our bulbous bow. By constantly reversing and going forward they were able to shake it off the bulbous bow. So that's what all the shaking was. The Captain said we would arrive about 30 minutes late because of this incident, but that our departure time in Cartagena would be changed from 1pm until 2pm to make up for any lost time. Update: At the "Welcome Back" party last night the Captain said divers inspected the ship in Cartagena and it was fine. The 2 foot wide flexible plastic pipe was indeed a sewage pipe being towed from Cartagena. It was half a KM long. The segment we hit and broke apart hit the front of the ship then wrapped around the starboard side. The Captain doesnt think it ever went under the ship. He said the authorities have been notified to come get this pipe. It was being towed out to sea and came loose. And on the same cruise: A lot of shore excursions were also cancelled in Colon, Panama due to torrential rains and flooding. One bus of people was trapped between 2 mudslides and local people had to use machetes and shovels to clear the road. People on the tour bus were told if they waited for he government to rescue them they would have missed the boat! | Struck debris at sea |
| 3.8.10 | USA Today reports the shipis experiencing a mechanical problem that is forcing it to sail at a reduced speed, resulting in changes to its itinerary. One of four hydraulic motors isn't working properly. The speed reduction is relatively minor, and the problem is expected to be fixed within a matter of days. The ship currently is sailing in the Baltic. "We carried out preliminary repairs in Harwich (England) on Saturday," RCCL says. "However, we are awaiting a replacement hydraulic motor and will conduct (further) repairs while the ship is in St. Petersburg, Russia." The ship is scheduled to be in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday. Today's call on Visby, Sweden is from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. instead of Stockholm. Wednesday's port call to Helsinki, Finland will remain from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Thursday the ship will arrive in St. Petersburg at 7:30 a.m. and depart on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Repairs are expected to be completed while in St. Petersburg. | Propulsion problems |
| dd/mm/yy |
2009 |
Incident |
| 31.7.09 | The Independent reports an American school teacher cruising with his family was ejected from the ship. His compulsory expulsion came after he produced and distributed a one-page flier to fellow passengers at one of the champagne-fuelled art auction after he did an internet search of allegations made against Park West Galleries, which is facing a number of lawsuits accusing it of selling over-priced or fake prints on cruise ships for more than a decade. As a result, the passenger was told that he had broken RCCL’s guest conduct policy and would be ejected when it docked in Oslo July 26th. The dispute, which the passenger insists amounts to a breach of his right to freedom of expression, left him with a £450 ($750) bill for a hotel and air tickets back to London, where he was reunited with his wife and two children and his elderly parents, who had stayed on board to avoid the cost of extra flights. He told The Independent yesterday: "What happened to me was outrageous. All I did was distribute information. I overheard the claims being made for the art on sale at this auction and was curious about the company behind it." After a search on Google on my laptop I found the details of the various lawsuits and media reports that there have been about this company. I felt that people attending these auctions had a right to know that there were these claims just so they could make up their own minds. I went out of my way to say these were just allegations. "Royal Caribbean obviously took a different view. I was shocked that because we were in international waters, they were able summarily inform me I had to leave the ship. One minute I was playing table tennis with my son, the next I was being escorted away by the Oslo police." The passenger, who said he only became aware of the claims against Park West after boarding the ship, printed off 50 copies of his leaflet before distributing it to passengers shortly before one of the auctions began. Two hours later he was called to the ship’s administration offices and told complaints had been made against him by passengers concerning the flyer. | Passenger ejected |
| dd/mm/yy |
2008 and earlier |
Incident |
| 7.7.08 |
It has been reported that the ship is experiencing engine
trouble and is running slower than normal. The cruise scheduled for
October 18 has reportedly be cancelled for the ship to enter drydock. |
Engine problems |
| 24.11.07 |
There was a small fire in the laundry room (deck 1 and 2)
that was extinguished within an hour. Passengers were awakened by the
2:30 AM alert to crew, but there was no general call and passengers
were not asked to leave their rooms. Some passengers report seeing
thick smoke venting by the pool on deck 11. Apparently the only
inconvenience, after things were brought under control, was that linens
needed to be re-laundered to remove the smell of smoke. |
Fire |
| 22.9.06 |
From a passenger: Bravo, Bravo, Bravo called during early dinner seating -- area affected is deck 2 midship. The story onboard was that one of the Platters tossed a lit cigarette into the trash can thinking it was out. Smoke filled several cabins and the automatic sprinklers came on. The captain came on the intercom three times to explain what was going on and let the passengers know when it was under control. No major damage reported, no injuries. According to a poster at Cruise Critic: The staff and crew had everything under control in less than 20 minutes. Seven staterooms had to be evacuated and people reassigned to other rooms. The rooms mostly suffered water damage from the sprinkler system. | Fire |
| 10.12.05 |
A 59-year old woman's husband reported her missing as the
ship pulled into Nassau at 1PM. She had last been seen at
9AM. A search of the ship and ocean was done, but she wasnot
found. It is presumed she eaither jumped or fell overboard. |
Passenger overboard |
| 11.4.05 |
A Florida couple was treated after being bitten by hundreds of bed bugs during a vacation cruise on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, according to Local 6 News. "I was in such disbelief at first, you know, I mean, it was hundreds and hundreds of bugs, we had leaned against all the night before, I mean it literally made my skin crawl," the passenger said. Royal Caribbean apologized to the couple and refunded $2,800 for the tickets but declined to reimburse them for medical care or hotel expenses incurred while waiting to get home. (The incident apparrentlyoccured on the cruise beginning March 26) | Bed Bugs |
| 26.9.04 |
A 20-metre whale was found impaled on the bow of the Jewel of the Seas when it arrived in Saint John, NB. The ship's crew spotted the finback whale about the same time as officers in a small utility boat who had been dispatched to help tie up the ship, said Bruce Fiander of the coast guard's traffic operations centre. | Collision with Whale |
| dd/mm/yy |
Reported Illness Outbreaks |
| 25.6.10 | The Daily Gazette reports passengers have been struck by norovirus for the second time in a month. More than 80 people were said to be suffering symptoms of the norovirus when it docked yesterday. Earlier this month, 292 guests and 16 crew contracted the illness. Passengers due to join the ship this week were told it would be sailing later than planned to allow the vessel to be thoroughly cleaned. |
| 2.7.05 |
Passengers on the cruise ending today (June 20 - July 2) in
Harwick (England) report more than 100 passengers became ill with
diarrhea and vomiting. One passenger says a staff person in the
medical centre said that many of the crew had
it and had had it on the previous cruise. Another says her
daughter's blood test indicated a bacterial source for the disease
which suggests food or water contamination, though descriptions
provided suggest the source of the outbreak was noro or similar
virus. It is unlikely that
further information will be made available given that the ship is not
required to contact or provide information to the Centers for Disease
Control because it was operating outside the US. |