Royal Caribbean Fans

A suspicious package has been found at the Port of Tampa, Florida near to where Jewel of the Seas was berthed.

Local police officers said that the suspicious package was found on a pallet that was destined to be loaded on the cruise ship.

Two bomb-sniffing dogs found the package during a routine inspection of the port. Explosives experts are currently investigating the package.

As a precaution, passengers were evacuated from the terminal building as well as the cruise ship.

Cruise ship passengers are said to be waiting in the area and are still hoping to board the ship today for their trip to the Caribbean. Passengers have been told that they will be allowed back on board when the ship's horn blasts.

A 1-year old child has been evacuated from Monarch of the Seas on December 21 after falling from one deck to another.

WFTV reported that the Royal Caribbean ship had left Port Canaveral at 4:30 p.m. and was en route to the Bahamas, when the child fell from the eleventh deck onto a tenth deck balcony. The ship immediately turned around and returned to port. Once back in port, the child was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the incident saying. "A 14 month old guest from India traveling on Monarch of the Seas was injured in a fall. The guest was initially treated in our medical facility, but required additional and urgent medical attention that could only be provided in a hospital," 

"Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest's family. Our thoughts are with their family, and we will continue to do our very best to assist them."

A female passenger on the worlds largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas, went overboard Sunday night as the 5,400-passenger ship was sailing to Nassau.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said another passenger witnessed the 21-year-old American, who was alone in her cabin at the time, go overboard at about 9:25 p.m. EDT. "The ship's Captain immediately stopped the ship, turned around, and alerted the U.S. and Bahamian Coast Guard," read the statement.

The line said a review of Allure's closed-circuit camera footage also showed the passenger going over the side. The location of the ship at the time the passenger went overboard was marked on the ship's GPS system. Two other ships in the area, Carnival Fascination and Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, assisted Allure with the search.

At 3:30 a.m., the U.S. Coast Guard assumed control of the search and released the cruise ships. The passenger has not been found.

Because of the time spent searching, Allure was unable to make its scheduled port of call to Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday, September 17. The ship will instead spend the day at sea and will arrive in St. Maarten on Wednesday, September 19, as scheduled.

Allure is sailing a seven-night Caribbean itinerary that departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 16, with ports of call at Nassau; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

This is not the first reported overboard on Allure. In February, Kenneth Gemmell jumped over the side while the ship was sailing off the coast of Cozumel. 

A member of crew was injured on board Jewel of the Seas today as the vessel struck a power cable when it was entering the port of Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands.

After receiving immediate medical treatment on board, the crewman was transferred to a local hospital, accompanied by a member of the ship's care team.

It is understood that the overhead cable, stretching betwen the islands of Bordoy and Eysturoy, remained intact but damage was caused to equipment on a mast and to the mast itself. The crewman was hit by falling debris.

Jewel of the Seas was given a ceremonial farewell when it left the Harwich for the last time on Friday after being based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons. The ship had called at Le Havre, Portland in Dorset, Cork and Dublin en route to the Faroes.

Royal Caribbean has yet to explain how the ship could have come to hit the cable.

A statement said the incident had not affected the ship's seaworthiness, stating that "Local officials responded to Jewel of the Seas, and after inspecting the damage to the ship concluded that the ship can safely sail."

Its next port of call is scheduled to be Reykjavik in Iceland on Saturday.

The Alaskan Coast Guard says one of its helicopters has helped in the medical evacuation of an ill 72-year-old cruise ship passenger sailing on board Radiance of the Seas.

The male passenger reportedly was suffering symptoms of cardiac distress on Tuesday.

The agency says the crew of Radiance of the Seas transported the man and his wife to shore in a small boat from where the ship was anchored about 35 miles southwest of Juneau, Alaska. A Coast Guard helicopter picked them up in Hoonah and flew them to Juneau.

From Juneau, Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis says they boarded an Airlift Northwest jet and were flown to Seattle for further care.

The man was not identified. No further information on his condition was available.

The Allure of the Seas has rescued 58 Haitian citizens stranded at sea in the Caribbean and has taken them to the Mexican island of Cozumel.

Royal Caribbean International spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says a guest spotted a boat and alerted the crew Thursday afternoon as they were heading from St. Maarten to Cozumel.

On Friday, Martinez said the Haitians indicated they didn't need any assistance and the cruise ship continued on its voyage. The captain informed the U.S. Coast Guard, which later asked him to go back and help them.

She said the ship rescued the 47 men, 7 women and four teenagers and gave them food, water and medical treatment.

They were turned over to the Mexican Navy Friday when the ship arrived in Mexico.

36 passengers sailing on Freedom of the Seas were involved in a bus accident on the Island of St Maarten. The bus crashed into a ditch Thursday morning. No one was seriously injured, though several were taken to a local hospital.

The cruise passengers were on a Royal Caribbean excursion to a treetop ropes course and zipline adventure when the accident occurred. Though the ship docks in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, the excursion itself is located in St. Martin.

Six passengers (all from the U.S.), along with the bus driver, were injured, according to a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman. The majority of the injuries were minor, with the most serious being a broken wrist. Most of the injured sustained "bumps and bruises,"

All the injured "were immediately transported to the local Louis Constant Fleming Hospital for treatment." Guest care team members and a ship doctor remained with the passengers during their stay at the hospital. All passengers returned to the ship the same day. The guest care team and onboard medical team also continued to provide onboard treatment for passengers, including counseling, for those who asked for it.

A member on the Cruise Critic message boards TBtoronto was among the passengers on the bus and among those transported to the hospital. She posted about her experience on the forum: "I was on the bus sitting front row, directly behind the driver. My twin boys were sitting front row on the passenger side… It was the most frightening experience of our lives and one which will haunt us forever. I got seriously banged up and required stitches, as well as one of my sons. Had I not dove over to protect them and absorb their impact before we hit, they would have been much more seriously injured. How no one was killed is a miracle."

Royal Caribbean has given no indication that it will terminate its partnership with Dutch Tours Enterprises N.V., who were the operator of the tour.

"This was a traffic accident, a type of which can happen anywhere and is no reflection on the bus company," said the Royal Caribbean spokeswoman. "The bus driver had to take an evasive maneuver to avoid an oncoming vehicle."

According to Today, a St. Maarten newspaper, the bus driver lost control of the bus as it descended the steeply inclined road that leads onto the Loterie Farm property. The driver was trying to avoid a taxi that was heading up the incline at the same time. The bus hit the taxi causing it to overturn. The driver of that taxi suffered a broken foot; his passengers escaped with minor scrapes and bruises.

Matt Stead, a Freedom of the Seas passenger who was on the bus, told Today that he believed the brakes on the bus failed. "Just after we went through the Loterie Farm gate we felt the driver hit the brakes, but no brakes and then the bus just started careening down. About half way down we hit a speed bump and everyone hit the ceiling and then the bus just continued rolling down the hill. There was a guy driving coming up the hill while we were going down so we ran into him, flipped that vehicle over and then ran straight down into the ditch. Tree branches got into the bus and many people received whip lashes from the branches. Everyone was screaming manically, we thought we were plunging to our deaths but the tree saved us."

Freedom of the Seas was on a seven-night Caribbean cruise that departed from Port Canaveral on Sunday.

Adventure of the Seas rescued 19 people early this morning. The immigrants were trying to get to Spain from Morocco.

The small boat was spotted at around 10pm when many passengers were dining. The boat was sighted in the waters bordering Almeria and Murcia, Spain. The rescue took about 45 minutes around the area of Costa del Sol.

Of the 19 immigrants, mostly from Morocco, eight were children. All are currently in good health, except for the one woman traveling with them. At 31 weeks pregnant, she was taken to hospital for further examination.

Upon arrival at the port of Malaga, all immigrants were assisted by the Red Cross and then turned over to the state security forces.

Oasis of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas recently had their CDC Inspection in the last quarter year.

The Centers for Disease Control conducts surprise health inspections to monitor that cruise ships are safe and clean for cruise ship passengers. All 4 of the Royal Caribbean ships that were recently inspected scored a perfect 100 on their test this year.

This is the third perfect score in a row for Oasis of the Seas while the other ships have also had perfect scores in the past.

Only a small fraction of the dozens of cruise ships inspected each quarter receive a perfect score. Last year, Monarch of the Seas failed her inspection (read here) after flies, soiled plates and missing safety signs were spotted.

The Inspection Report for each of the ships can be found here;

Jewel of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Oasis of the Seas

Serenade of the Seas

Noticias de Cruceros reports that on the 6th July, the Liberty of the Seas almost collided with a small Italian fishing vessel, the Angelo II based in Civitavecchia, in waters near the port city of Latium on the western coast of Italy.

According to Noticias de Cruceros, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship was on a collision course with the Angela II, which had deployed its cables and fishing nets and was trawling for fish. The captain of the much smaller fishing boat radioed the Liberty of the Seas as it was bearing down on the boat, but the cruise ship neither responded nor altered course.

The captain of the Angela II had to cut all of its cables and nets and execute an emergency maneuver to avoid being run over by the Liberty of the Seas which passed 15 meters (less than 35 feet) away.

The captain notified the Italian Coast Guard which opened an administrative investigation, which could turn into a criminal investigation if the authorities conclude that the cruise ship ignored its radar and the cries from the fishing vessel via radio and refused to alter course.

The Angela II also alleges economic damages after its cables and nets sank.

The Noticias de Cruceros blog points out that giant cruise ships like the Liberty of the Seas are chock full of sophisticated technical equipment like radar, VHF, electronic charts, GPS, and many other systems. However the problem is that notwithstanding all of this technology, the bridge officers can make reckless decisions like intentionally sailing close to shore (a la' Costa Concordia) or ignoring cries for help (a la' Star Princess) or, in this case, not answering the radio or changing course to avoid a collision with a smaller fishing boat.

The blog concludes that while the cruise industry is considering improvements to its operating procedures, consideration must be given to re-evaluating the staffing of the bridge team and the training of the bridge officers to maintain a proper lookout.

Source: Cruise Law News