Only a month after returning to the fleet of Royal Caribbean after several years with sister cruise line Pullmantur and US$50 million refurbishment, Empress of the Seas experienced trouble with one of its engines.
The cruise line was forced to reroute ship's current sailings. Royal Caribbean said in a statement:
"Empress of the Seas is currently experiencing a technical issue with one of the ship's four engines. Since we became aware of the problem, our highly trained engineering team has been working to resolve the issue. While we work on the issue, the ship is sailing at a reduced rate of speed."
Due to the speed reduction, Empress OTS will not be calling at Grand Cayman. Instead, she visited Nassau on Sunday, June 26 and CocoCay on Monday, June 27. The Empress will call as scheduled at Key West on Wednesday, June 29.
To compensate passengers for the trouble, Royal Caribbean offers an onboard credit in the amount of 10% of the cruise fare, per cabin.
According to the line, all onboard equipment is fully functional and there is no impact on ship's maneuverability or on the safety of passengers and crew. Royal Caribbean has not indicated whether the next voyage will be affected.