Frustrating cruise itinerary changes continue to plague Royal Caribbean passengers hoping to sail to one sought-after cruise port.
For months, passengers booked on one Royal Caribbean ship have been receiving the bad news that their cruise’s call to the destination had to be canceled due to construction work at the pier. Now, the ongoing problem with the cruise port is impacting another hugely popular Royal Caribbean ship, too.
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Although the situation is out of Royal Caribbean’s control, it’s still very disappointing for the passengers who may have selected a particular sailing specifically for the destinations the ship will visit on the itinerary.
Recent rumors suggested the pier repair work could wrap up in early 2025, but new updates indicate that the port will remain unavailable until at least late July. Royal Caribbean has already made itinerary changes for several more sailings as a result.
This week, passengers booked on multiple cruises on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas received the same disappointing news that passengers booked on Symphony of the Seas have been receiving for months.
Their cruise vacation will no longer include a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Larger Royal Caribbean ships cannot dock in San Juan.
Image source: Getty Images
San Juan pier closure continues to cause problems
The only pier at the San Juan Cruise Port that can accommodate Royal Caribbean’s biggest ships has been closed to these cruise ships for months. The closure stems from an incident with an MSC Cruises ship in April 2024 that resulted in the loss of a dolphin mooring structure just off the main pier.
After the incident, the U.S. Coast Guard established an operational control disallowing cruise ship operations at San Juan Port’s Pier-3 West until it can be determined that the structure remains sound for cruise ship operations.
Related: New lawsuit could delay Royal Caribbean’s return to key port
The port’s other piers continue to welcome cruise ships, but only Pier-3 West can accommodate Royal Caribbean’s massive Icon- and Oasis-class ships.
Recently, the San Juan Cruise Port filed a negligence lawsuit against MSC Cruises and its insurers to attempt to recover the costs of the damages to the pier structure. This new development likely slowed the process of reopening the cruise port, contributing to the continued cancellations of planned cruise ship calls.
Icon of the Seas passengers receive dreaded itinerary change email
Royal Caribbean recently notified passengers booked on four Icon of the Seas sailings that the San Juan Cruise Port won’t be able to welcome them and their cruise itinerary has changed, according to RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com. The impacted cruises include May 3, June 7, June 21, and July 19 sailings on Icon of the Seas.
“Before your vacation begins, we wanted to inform you about some changes to our itinerary. Due to ongoing improvements to the pier infrastructure in San Juan, the port operators have advised us that the port will not be ready in time for our visit,” the cruise line states in the emails sent to passengers booked on the four sailings.
The May 3, June 7 and June 21 cruises will now visit Ponce, Puerto Rico in place of San Juan while the July 19 sailing will instead call to Phillipsburg, St. Maarten.
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Royal Caribbean Blog reports that the cruise line also made big changes to the itinerary for Symphony of the Seas’ April 6 sailing to replace its planned call to San Juan with other ports. Instead of visiting San Juan, St. Maarten, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, the cruise will now sail to Labadee, Haiti, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Nassau, Bahamas, in addition to Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The ongoing pier closure in San Juan also impacted Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Disney Treasure, in early February. The cruise line was forced to revise the itinerary for its Feb. 1 sailing on the Treasure to skip San Juan due to the unavailable berth. Instead, the cruise visited the cruise line’s private destination in The Bahamas, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point.
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