Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas has been delayed after two passengers required urgent medical treatment, forcing the cruise ship to turn back towards Nassau.
The medical emergencies mean the vessel is now expected to arrive at its Cape Liberty homeport in New Jersey around eight hours later than scheduled on Sunday, 20 September. The disruption has also forced changes to the ship’s next sailing, including the cancellation of a planned call at Port Canaveral.
In a letter sent to passengers, Royal Caribbean said: “As previously announced by our Captain, our medical staff determined that two of our guests needed urgent medical attention. We successfully debarked our guests so they could receive additional medical care.”
The ship had been scheduled to return to Cape Liberty at around 6am on Sunday but is now expected at approximately 2pm, with passengers beginning to disembark from around 2.30pm.
Critically ill child among medical emergencies
The precise nature of the medical emergencies has not been disclosed.
However, an announcement from the ship’s captain indicated that one of the emergencies involved a critically ill seven-year-old child.
The ship turned back towards Nassau because it was the closest location where the child could receive hospital treatment.
While Oasis of the Seas was heading back to Nassau, a second passenger was also reported to have become critically ill.
Both passengers were taken off the vessel in Nassau for further medical care. No subsequent information about their conditions has been released.
There is no information suggesting the two medical emergencies were connected.
Ship heads at full speed for New Jersey
Following the evacuations, Oasis of the Seas departed Nassau shortly before 1pm on Friday, 18 September, and began the long journey back towards New Jersey.
The captain told passengers: “We are now heading full speed towards Bayonne.”
He added that all available engines were running at full load, with the vessel travelling at around 20 to 20.5 knots.
Next cruise disrupted
The delay will have a significant knock-on effect for passengers due to board Oasis of the Seas for its next seven-night Bahamas cruise on 20 September.
Embarkation has been pushed back by around seven to eight hours, with passengers given revised arrival times and required to be onboard by 9.30pm.
The scheduled visit to Port Canaveral on Tuesday, 22 September has been cancelled, with the ship instead spending the day at sea before continuing towards the Bahamas.
Pre-paid Royal Caribbean excursions for Port Canaveral are being cancelled and refunded as onboard credit, with any remaining balance after the cruise returned to the payment card.
Royal Caribbean is also providing affected cabins with onboard credit as a goodwill gesture, ranging from $100 for inside and ocean-view cabins to $200 for suites.
Passengers on the current voyage who face disruption to independently booked flights can also seek reimbursement for eligible change fees of up to $200 for domestic flights and $400 for international flights per person, subject to documentation and review.
