Icon of the Seas suffers more maintenance trouble, drops Caribbean cruise
Icon has experienced a number of apparent technical faults since cruises began in January (Source: Royal Caribbean)
Royal Caribbean vessel Icon of the Seas is currently on its way to Grand Bahama shipyard for “unplanned repairs” after cancelling one of its itineraries in the Western Caribbean.
According to AIS data, the vessel is currently en route to St. Kitts & Nevis, where, worryingly, it could be close to the anticipated path of Hurricane Milton, set to make landfall in Florida.
The vessel was on a seven-night Caribbean itinerary when Royal Caribbean dropped a call at St Thomas from its schedule. Passengers noticed that the vessel was going slower. One passenger’s X post on 17 September read: “I am in the Icon of the Seas now, something just happened and we are sailing slower, we were told we are going to skip Saint Thomas, maintenance issues!”
Royal Caribbean has not divulged the source of the issue, and it is unclear whether it is related to an unexplained fire incident in June, wherein the vessel experienced ‘shudders’ followed by a power cut of around 30 minutes. Guests noted black smoke from the vessel’s funnel, likely caused either by the fire, or by the vessel’s engines or gensets trying to start or run at sub-optimal loads.
Meanwhile, sister ship Star of the Seas was floated for the first time at Meyer Turku, with the remainder of the construction work set to be completed within a few months before the vessel makes its August 2025 debut.
