Royal Caribbean canceled the Serenade of the Seas after Arielle Anderson and her family had already boarded in Vancouver for an Alaska trip. The cruise line told passengers they would need to leave by midnight the next day after first delaying plans to clear immigration screening on Sept. 1.
Arielle Anderson on board
Anderson, 28, said her family had been looking forward to the trip since Christmas, then adjusted again when the line cut the one weeklong voyage by about half and skipped parts of the itinerary. She said the family still traveled because it would have been more of a hassle to cancel and sort out refunds for tickets they had already bought.
Royal Caribbean Group said in an emailed statement that it canceled the sailing “To accommodate ongoing maintenance, we’ve had to cancel our sailing” and added, “We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience and have worked with them to adjust their travel plans.” The company did not give more details about the maintenance.
Vancouver to Bellingham
Passengers were initially told they would clear immigration screening on Sept. 1, but the process was delayed later that afternoon. Anderson said not all onboard venues were open during the wait, including the casino, while passengers still had access to much of the ship and could get off to explore Vancouver.
She said, “Everybody was kind of panicking, so we were all just sitting in one of the bar areas, and everybody was just on their phones.” She added, “People were really upset because everybody was trying to find flights and hotels and stuff.”
Refunds and travel changes
Royal Caribbean offered impacted guests a full refund, a future cruise credit worth 100% of their fare, and reimbursement for flight change fees. Anderson said her mother found a rental car and the family drove to a vacation rental near Bellingham, Washington, while keeping their original flights home from Vancouver.
She said, “We just got an Airbnb down here, and have just been hanging out around here, hiking and whatnot,” and added, “Definitely not what we planned, but (we’re) trying to make the best of it.” The cancellation follows another cruise-line sailing in May that was called off after guests had already boarded because of a mechanical issue.
