Royal Caribbean cancels Alaska cruise after 1,700 passengers board ship in Vancouver and are left waiting; guests told to leave by midnight

Around 1,700 passengers expecting an Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas were left scrambling for new travel plans after the cruise line cancelled the entire sailing following days of delays and ongoing maintenance work.

The passengers had already boarded the ship in Vancouver, Canada, on September 1, expecting to eventually set sail on a shortened Alaska cruise. Instead, they were told later that the voyage would not go ahead.

The seven-night cruise was originally scheduled to depart Vancouver on August 30, but Royal Caribbean had already pushed the departure to September 1 and reduced the trip to five nights because of maintenance work.


ALSO READ: US latitude, longitude and elevation are about to change by up to 4 metres: Why America is replacing its 40-year-old GPS reference system

Passengers boarded the ship but never left Vancouver

Passengers were still allowed to board Serenade of the Seas on September 1 while the ship remained in Vancouver.

They could use much of the vessel as they waited for the delayed departure, although some areas, including the casino, remained closed. Guests were also able to leave the ship and explore Vancouver.

But as the expected departure time passed, the ship remained at the port.

Passengers were initially told that the departure had been delayed. Later in the day, they received much more serious news: the entire sailing had been cancelled.

Guests were then given until midnight the following day to leave the ship and make alternative arrangements.

ALSO READ: When $5.5 billion nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier was ‘sunk’ by $850 million Australian diesel submarine after it slipped past its defenses

Why did Royal Caribbean cancel the Alaska cruise?

Royal Caribbean said the cancellation was necessary because of ongoing maintenance work on Serenade of the Seas.

The cruise line did not publicly provide specific details about the technical or maintenance issue that prevented the ship from sailing.

“To accommodate ongoing maintenance, we’ve had to cancel our sailing,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told USA Today and Fox News. “We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience and have worked with them to adjust their travel plans.”

The company had already warned passengers about the maintenance issue before the original August 30 departure.

At that point, the seven-night Alaska itinerary was shortened to five nights and the departure was moved to September 1.

Family says passengers were ‘panicking’

For some travellers, the cancellation created a major logistical problem because they had already travelled to Canada and arranged flights, hotels and other parts of their holiday around the cruise.

Arielle Anderson, a 28-year-old mother and lawyer from South Carolina, had booked the cruise as a family gift.

She told USA Today that they had “been looking forward to this since Christmas.”

Because relatives were travelling from different parts of the United States, cancelling the original booking after the itinerary was shortened would have made the family's plans difficult to rearrange.

The family instead travelled to Whistler before boarding the ship in Vancouver on September 1.

Anderson said passengers were instructed to board the ship as part of the immigration process. They then waited for the vessel to depart.

When the departure did not happen, passengers were initially told that the ship was delayed.

By evening, however, the cruise was officially cancelled.

“Everybody was kind of panicking, so we were all just sitting in one of the bar areas, and everybody was just on their phones,” Anderson said. “People were really upset because everybody was trying to find flights and hotels and stuff.”

Royal Caribbean offers refunds and future cruise credit

Royal Caribbean offered affected passengers a full refund for the cancelled sailing.

According to USA Today, passengers were also offered 100% future cruise credit for the fare, along with reimbursement for flight-change fees.

Passengers were also set to receive pro-rated refunds for dining and beverage packages, according to the New York Post.

For Anderson's family, the cancellation did not completely end their holiday.

Her mother found a rental car and the family travelled to a vacation rental near Bellingham, Washington, while keeping their original flight home from Vancouver.

“We just got an Airbnb down here, and have just been hanging out around here, hiking and whatnot,” Anderson said. “Definitely not what we planned, but [we’re] trying to make the best of it.”

What happened to later Serenade of the Seas cruises?

The unexpected cancellation also raised concerns among passengers booked on later sailings of Serenade of the Seas.

Travellers began asking questions on cruise message boards about whether the maintenance problems could affect subsequent Alaska itineraries.

According to CruiseMapper, Serenade of the Seas later departed Vancouver for another Alaska cruise on September 6.

The episode highlights how maintenance problems on cruise ships can quickly affect thousands of travellers, particularly when passengers have already arrived at the departure port and made separate arrangements for flights, hotels and other parts of their holiday.