Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
Passengers boarding Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas this weekend are getting an unusual start to their cruise.
They'll board the ship as planned on Saturday, September 26 — but they won't actually be going anywhere until Sunday afternoon.
Royal Caribbean has advised guests booked on the seven-night Western Caribbean sailing that Icon of the Seas needs to remain at PortMiami overnight for required maintenance, delaying its departure by almost 24 hours.
The delay has also forced Royal Caribbean to cancel the ship's scheduled visit to Costa Maya, Mexico.
But passengers aren't simply being left onboard staring at Miami for a day.
Royal Caribbean is allowing them to come and go from the ship during the extended port stay and is providing refundable onboard credit of up to US$800 per stateroom as compensation.
Passengers still need to board on Saturday
Icon of the Seas was originally scheduled to depart Miami at 4:30pm on Saturday, September 26. Royal Caribbean's own published itinerary still shows the original departure and Costa Maya call.
Instead, guests will complete embarkation on Saturday but the ship will remain alongside overnight while maintenance is carried out.
The new departure is scheduled for approximately 4pm Sunday, September 27.
Passengers will still need to meet Saturday's embarkation requirements, with Royal Caribbean advising guests of an 8pm all-aboard time that evening.
However, they're not confined to the ship for the entire delay.
Guests will be permitted to go ashore again in Miami and can remain off the ship until 2:30pm on Sunday, ahead of the delayed departure.
So, somewhat unusually, passengers can embark on their Caribbean cruise, spend the night onboard — and then head back into Miami the following morning.
What will be open while Icon remains in Miami?
Most of Icon of the Seas won't simply shut down while the ship is docked.
Royal Caribbean has told guests that available bars, lounges, entertainment venues and spa services will continue operating, with details available through the Royal Caribbean app and Cruise Compass.
There are, however, two notable exceptions.
The casino and onboard shops will remain closed while Icon is in port.
That's because cruise ship casinos and duty-free retail generally operate once vessels are outside the jurisdictional restrictions that apply while they're alongside in port.
For passengers, it effectively means their cruise holiday begins on Saturday — just without the actual cruising part.
Costa Maya cancelled
Something had to give to accommodate the delayed departure, and that something is Costa Maya.
Icon's original itinerary was:
September 26: Miami
September 27: Sea day
September 28: Costa Maya, Mexico
September 29: Roatán, Honduras
September 30: Cozumel, Mexico
October 1: Sea day
October 2: Perfect Day at CocoCay
October 3: Miami
Royal Caribbean has now removed the September 28 Costa Maya visit and replaced it with another day at sea.
The remainder of the itinerary — including Roatán, Cozumel and Perfect Day at CocoCay — is currently expected to operate as planned.
Royal Caribbean-booked excursions for Costa Maya will be automatically refunded.
Royal Caribbean is compensating passengers
Passengers are also receiving refundable onboard credit, with the amount determined by their stateroom category.
Guests in interior and oceanview cabins will receive US$300 per stateroom, while those in balcony cabins will receive US$350.
Passengers staying in suites will receive US$800 per stateroom.
An additional US$50 will be provided for each third and fourth guest sharing a cabin.
Importantly, the credit is refundable.
That means passengers aren't necessarily going to have to spend the entire amount onboard simply to receive the benefit.
Whether that's enough to compensate for losing Costa Maya and spending the first night docked in Miami will probably depend very much on the passenger.
For someone who wasn't particularly attached to Costa Maya, an extra evening in Miami plus several hundred dollars might not be the worst trade in the world.
For someone who specifically booked the itinerary because they wanted to visit Costa Maya, it's a very different story.
What maintenance does Icon of the Seas need?
That's the big unanswered question.
Royal Caribbean has described the work only as “required maintenance” and has not publicly disclosed the nature of the issue.
That distinction is important because it's very easy for speculation about cruise ship maintenance to turn into claims of engine or propulsion problems without evidence.
At this stage, there is no confirmation from Royal Caribbean that Icon has a propulsion problem, so there's no reason to assume that's what is happening.
The cruise line evidently expects the work to be completed during the extended Miami stay, with the remainder of the revised sailing proceeding normally.
Icon has experienced an unexpected maintenance disruption before
There is an interesting coincidence in the timing.
Almost exactly two years ago, Royal Caribbean cancelled Icon of the Seas' September 28, 2024 sailing because the then-new ship required unplanned maintenance.
On that occasion, passengers on the preceding voyage were advised that Icon would need to sail at reduced speed and the ship skipped St Thomas so it could return towards Florida. Royal Caribbean subsequently cancelled the following cruise entirely and sent Icon for repairs.
Royal Caribbean never publicly identified the specific problem involved in that 2024 disruption.
This week's situation is considerably less severe.
Rather than cancelling the September 26 sailing, Royal Caribbean expects passengers to board normally, remain overnight in Miami and begin the cruise the following afternoon.
There is also currently no indication that sailings beyond September 26 will be affected.
Would the compensation make up for the delay?
It's one of those cruise itinerary changes that could produce very different reactions depending on who you ask.
Passengers aren't losing a day of their holiday.
They'll still board Icon of the Seas on Saturday, have access to much of the ship and can head back into Miami if they choose.
They're also receiving between US$300 and US$800 per cabin, depending on their accommodation.
But they're losing an international port call and spending an additional day without the ship actually sailing.
And if you've just boarded one of the world's biggest cruise ships, watching Miami's skyline from the deck for almost 24 hours probably isn't quite the sail-away you pictured.
Personally, I'd be interested to see which side cruisers fall on with this one:
Would US$300–800 in refundable credit make you happy enough to sacrifice Costa Maya — or would you still be disappointed?
Voyage Ready will update this story if Royal Caribbean releases further information about the maintenance or makes additional changes to the sailing.
