Royal Caribbean International has cancelled a sailing on one of its two largest ships due to unplanned repairs to its propulsion system.
Allure of the Seas has been operating at under full speed due to wear on a bearing in one of its three propulsion motors.
Royal Caribbean has cancelled the February 23, 2014 sailing so the ship can undergo repairs in the Bahamas during the week of February 24.
Adam Goldstein, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean, said: “We sincerely regret that we will be unable to deliver the Royal Caribbean cruise vacation that our guests were looking forward to.
“We understand that our guests’ vacation time is very precious and can assure you that we did not take this decision lightly.
“But it was very important to us that we bring Allure back up to speed so that she could continue to deliver the amazing cruise vacations our guests expect.”
William D. Baumgartner, senior vice president of marine operations at the cruise line added: “While Allure could have continued to sail at a reduced rate of speed, we felt it was important to fix the problem as soon as possible.
“We explored numerous repair options. Unfortunately, there was no satisfactory solution that did not involve taking the ship temporarily out of service.”
Guests booked on the February 23 sailing will receive a 100% refund or the option to sail on select itineraries at the same rate.
Until the repairs can be madem, Allure of the Seas’ eastern Caribbean itineraries have been altered.
The ship will now call on Nassau, Bahamas, from 7am to 1pm and on Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, from 11am to 5pm. There is no need to modify western Caribbean itineraries.