Wonder Of The Seas accidents and incidents

(crew suicide) On November 13, 2022, shortly after the departure from Port Canaveral/Orlando (Florida USA), a male crew was reported dead after committing suicide. Reportedly, the Brazilian man left a note and a video on social media.

The incident occurred at the beginning of 7-day "Eastern Caribbean and Perfect Day Cruise" (itinerary Nov 13-20, roundtrip from Port Canaveral) visiting Philipsburg (St Maarten), Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas USVI) and CocoCay (Bahamas).

On August 14, 2022, after docking in Port Barcelona, Spanish police officers boarded the vessel and arrested three passengers under charges of fraud and cheating at the ship's Casino.

The incident was reported by Wonder OTS' casino management and the arrest was conducted by the city's Civil Guard's Fiscal and Border Unit.

The three men (1x French, 2x British) were poker players swapping cards under the table. They were caught with EUR 37000 (~USD 37K / GBP 32K) in cash while playing at the Casino. The cash was seized.

One of the swindlers distracted the croupier with talk/questions, while the other two were switching cards to make up a winning hand. The fraudsters' names were not announced, but, reportedly, at least one of them was a repeat offender (with a police record from 2014 in the USA for committing similar acts).

The ship was ending a 7-day "Western Mediterranean Cruise" (itinerary Aug 7-14, roundtrip from homeport Barcelona) with call ports in Spain (Palma de Mallorca), France (Marseille), and Italy (La Spezia, Civitavecchia-Rome, Naples).

On August 28, 2021, at ~11:15 PM (Paris time/UTC 1:15 AM) a fire broke out on the ship docked at Chantiers de l'Atlantique (shipbuilder in St Nazaire France). The accident happened in an electrical cabinet located in a 5 m2 (54 ft2) sized service room.

To prevent the spread of the flames, significant firefighting resources were dispatched to the vessel, including 48 firefighters. The fire was extinguished and CCTV surveillance was installed in the area.

The accident occurred right after the world's largest cruise vessel successfully completed 4-day sea trials in Biscay Bay.

On July 18, 2020, the shipowner Royal Caribbean Group (via its subsidiary Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia) announced that due to delayed delivery from the shipbuilder, Wonder OTS' China debut (planned for 2021-Q2) is postponed "until further notice".

The new delivery date for the vessel was not revealed. Royal Caribbean commented that the delivery delay is because of the vessel's construction (at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France) was impacted by the Coronavirus crisis. In the period mid-March through late-April, France's largest shipbuilding yard was forced to suspend works due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note: In early-July 2020, Royal Caribbean announced that due to the Coronavirus crisis, Odyssey of the Seas (Quantum-Ultra class vessel) delivery was delayed by ~5 months. All departures scheduled between November 5, 2020, and April 17, 2021, were cancelled.