San Juan Faces Technical Issues, Loses Visit from Symphony of the Seas

San Juan's cruise port has encountered technical problems that will prevent the Symphony of the Seas, one of the largest Oasis-class ships operated by Royal Caribbean, from docking. This marks the second time this month that the ship has had to skip Puerto Rico.

Passengers aboard the Symphony of the Seas, set to depart on December 1, were informed of changes to their itinerary. In the communication, Royal Caribbean explained, "Due to technical issues with the pier and necessary work that must be approved by the United States Coast Guard to accommodate a ship of our size, we will need to adjust the planned route."

The original itinerary included stops in San Juan, Philipsburg (St. Maarten), and Perfect Day at CocoCay. However, the revised schedule replaces San Juan and Philipsburg with Falmouth (Jamaica) and Labadee (Haiti), while retaining the visit to CocoCay. This adjustment follows Royal Caribbean's recent resumption of visits to Labadee, which began just last month.

Despite the setback for Symphony of the Seas, smaller cruise ships have continued their scheduled stops in San Juan without issues. For instance, the MSC Seascape docked as planned on November 26, and the Celebrity Apex is also expected to visit without disruptions.

Symphony of the Seas is set to make another attempt to include San Juan in its itinerary on December 25. However, neither San Juan's port authorities nor Royal Caribbean have provided further details on the nature of the technical issues affecting the port.

This situation raises concerns about the port's capability to accommodate larger vessels and highlights the need for robust infrastructure to ensure Puerto Rico remains a key destination for Caribbean cruise tourism.