In an email sent to travel partners, Royal Caribbean International announced that nearly three months of departures in early 2023 will be canceled for sailor of the seas, to allow more time for a planned drydock and refurbishment. Customers have several options for their modified plans, including full refunds if they choose.
sailor of the seas Canceled cruises
According to the February 16, 2022 email published by Royal Caribbean Blogcanceled departures extend from January 7 to March 27, 2023.
Affected voyages include 3- and 4-night Bahamas and Perfect Day cruises that would have called in Nassau and Royal Caribbean’s private island CocoCay; 4- and 5-night Western Caribbean cruises visiting Cozumel (4 nights) and Costa Maya (5 nights, with Cozumel), and 4-night Western Caribbean and Perfect Day itineraries visiting Cozumel and CocoCay.
All cruises departed from Mariner’s home port of Port Canaveral.
Alternative Options
Passengers on now canceled cruises have three options to choose from. They can choose to rebook their cruise on one of the selected crossings aboard the smaller, Shard class jewel of the seas with various incentives, they can rebook on any other Royal Caribbean cruise with no change fees but no incentive, or they can request a full refund if they prefer not to rebook.
Guests rebooking on jewel of the seas can choose from six available crossings:
- January 14, February 11 or March 11 – 6-night Western Caribbean cruise with stopover in Nassau, Bahamas; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Labadie, Haiti
- January 28 or February 25 – 6-night Western Caribbean cruise visiting Costa Maya, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Cozumel, Mexico
- February 7 – TBD Bahamas and Perfect Day Cruise sailing to Nassau and CocoCay
jewel of the seas will also depart from Port Canaveral for these alternative options.
Customers who rebook the jewel of the seas will have their original stateroom category and cruise fare protected and receive an onboard credit of $50 for Inside, Ocean View, and Balcony Staterooms, and $100 for Suites, plus an additional $25 per person for the third or fourth passengers in the same cabins.
Royal Caribbean will also cover up to $200 per guest of non-refundable change transportation costs, such as airfare, hotels or rental cars (up to $400 per guest for international travelers).
Customers who choose to rebook on a different Royal Caribbean cruise than the one selected jewel of the seas cruises will have their non-refundable change fees waived and will also receive the same coverage for other transportation change fees.
However, they will not be eligible for any onboard credit and will be responsible for any difference in cruise fare. If the fare they choose on a new crossing is lower than their original fare, they will be refunded the difference.
Differences between ships
It may be tempting to rebook on jewel of the seas for a longer voyage visiting more ports, but customers should carefully compare ships before deciding. sailor of the seas is a Voyager-class ship, weighing 139,863 gross tons and seating 3,114 passengers, while jewel of the seas is a Radiance-class vessel at just 90,090 gross tons and with a capacity of 2,501 passengers.
Marine last had a major renovation in 2018while Jewel has been updated in April 2016but some technical updates were completed in 2021.
Since the ships are of different classes, their layouts and characteristics differ. Each ship offers incredible options for guests, including Royal Caribbean favorites such as the rock-climbing wall, miniature golf, outdoor movies, adults-only solarium, and more.
jewel of the seashowever, it lacks some newer features which are popular on sailor of the seaslike the FlowRider surf simulator, the escape room and the Sky Pad.
