But looking at marine charts from this past Saturday, it seems Royal Caribbean’s decision to cut the latest cruise short may have been out of an abundance of caution or perhaps to avoid the inevitable bad publicity that would come with any Royal Caribbean ship sailing in any storm at the moment.
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Royal Caribbean tweeted on Saturday that the Anthem of the Seas ship would return to the port of Bayonne, New Jersey.
After the cruise ship set sail on February 6, it suffered damage due to 30-foot waves and strong winds.
“The safety and comfort of our guests and crew is always our first priority”, Royal Caribbean said on its blog Sunday.
#AnthemoftheSeas will head back to Cape Liberty immediately to avoid a severe storm & provide guests with a comfortable journey back home.
“Very sad to miss Barbados and St. Kitts (this is the second time missing this port on a cruise) but I am glad they are playing it safe”.
But there are also reports of a norovirus outbreak on board after a passenger said sanitation efforts had been increased. The company representatives have not responded to request for comments from media yet.
The Royal Caribbean International ship Explorer of the Seas will sail from Seattle to Alaska beginning in May, with seven-night cruises running through September.
John Turell, an executive with The Associated Press who is aboard the ship with his wife, said in an email that the ship’s captain and its cruise director made announcements saying some people were suffering from norovirus.
This summer, the largest cruise ship to ever come to Alaska will traverse the state’s waters.
“This is considered one of the monster cruise ships, and it’s the biggest cruise ship to ever deploy to Alaska”, said Kathy Dunn, tourism marketing manager for the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
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The cruise line amended its policy after the February 7 incident.
