Thousands of cruise passengers face travel chaos after two medical emergencies forced one of the world’s biggest cruise ships to dramatically reverse course.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas had been steaming back toward Cape Liberty when the emergencies forced the huge vessel to divert to Nassau in the Bahamas in order for two passengers to be rushed ashore for urgent medical treatment.
The pair who are critically ill include a seven-year-old child.
The unexpected detour has now triggered a cascading logistical nightmare affecting not only those currently aboard the 226,000-ton ship, but thousands more preparing to board the vessel’s next cruise on Sunday.
Passengers who expected to sail into New Jersey at around 6am on Sunday morning have now been told they are not expected to arrive until around 2pm, potentially wreaking havoc on flights, hotel bookings and journeys home.
The disruption will continue long after they finally step ashore.
The next sailing has also now been pushed back by as much as eight hours meaning an entire scheduled stop at Port Canaveral, Florida, has been scrapped.
Royal Caribbean broke the news to passengers aboard the ship in a letter explaining the sudden change of plans.
Oasis of the Seas was forced to dramatically reverse course after two passengers required urgent medical treatment
‘As previously announced by our Captain, our medical staff determined that two of our guests needed urgent medical attention,’ the cruise line said.
‘We successfully debarked our guests so they could receive additional medical care.’
But getting those passengers to hospital required a substantial diversion from the ship’s journey north.
‘As a result, we’ll now be delayed in our return to Cape Liberty,’ the letter continued.
‘We plan on arriving at approximately 2:00pm, with debarkation starting around 2:30pm. We appreciate your patience and understanding, knowing we’d do the same for you or a loved one in a similar situation.’
The first emergency involved a young child. With the ship already sailing away from the Bahamas, the captain made the decision to turn the enormous liner around and head back toward Nassau, so the youngster could be transferred to hospital.
Then, as the ship raced back toward the Bahamian capital, another passenger also fell critically ill, according to CruiseHive.
Both passengers were ultimately taken off the ship in Nassau.
One of the medical emergencies involved a critically ill seven-year-old child. A second passenger then became critically ill while the ship was already racing back toward Nassau
Royal Caribbean has not disclosed the nature of either illness or provided updates on the patients’ conditions, and there is no indication the two medical emergencies were connected.
But the dramatic U-turn put the vessel so far behind schedule, that making up the lost time before Sunday’s planned arrival became impossible.
Tracking data showed Oasis of the Seas was already roughly 120 miles northeast of Nassau, east of Treasure Cay, when it reversed course.
That left the ship with hundreds of additional miles to cover before it could resume its long journey north to New Jersey.
Royal Caribbean is now offering assistance to those forced to scramble for new travel arrangements.
Each stateroom will receive 60 minutes of complimentary internet access so passengers can contact airlines, hotels or relatives together with up to $400 in compensation per passenger to offset any flight change fees.
Both passengers were taken ashore in Nassau, pictured, for further medical care. The emergency diversion means the liner is expected back in New Jersey around eight hours late
Thousands of vacationers also preparing to board Oasis of the Seas for her next seven-night Bahamas voyage have also been told their plans are changing before they have even set foot aboard.
The ship will now depart eight hours later than planned and instead of heading to Florida, the ship will sail directly to the Bahamas.
The ship was once the world’s largest cruise ship when she entered service and can carry more than 6,000 passengers at full occupancy, in addition to thousands of crew.
