Royal Caribbean makes surprise cruise upgrade
Some Royal Caribbean passengers just got news of an exciting addition to their cruise.
When cruise lines make itinerary changes, it often spells bad news for their passengers.
Sometimes, a berth for the cruise ship becomes unavailable at the port or safety concerns cause a cruise line to cancel the port call.
Related: Royal Caribbean cancels stops at controversial Caribbean cruise port
For example, security concerns related to civil unrest in Haiti recently led Royal Caribbean to once again cancel cruise stops at its private destination, Labadee, located on the country’s northern coast.
Labadee is a secure, private Royal Caribbean-owned destination far from where violence has been taking place in Haiti, but the cruise line decided to temporarily pause visits to the port out of an abundance of caution. On impacted sailings, Royal Caribbean replaced Labadee with an alternate cruise port.
Port cancellations can’t always be replaced, though. Weather-related cancellations often result in passengers spending an additional day at sea instead of exploring a port.
In rare cases, cruise lines will make itinerary changes that bring good news for passengers — like replacing a day at sea with a bonus port stop.
This kind of good news was just delivered to passengers booked on an upcoming cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.
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Royal Caribbean adds extra port to upcoming Caribbean cruise
“To maximize every moment of your journey with us, we’ll now visit Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic, on Day 6, instead of our previously planned Sea Day,” Royal Caribbean wrote in an email to passengers booked on the May 17 Southern Caribbean & Perfect Day cruise on Oasis of the Seas.
Cabo Rojo is a new cruise port located in secluded Pedernales, the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic. The destination welcomed its first cruise ships last year, introducing passengers on Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, and Royal Caribbean to the remote destination prized for its unspoiled beaches, turquoise waters, and some of the Caribbean Sea’s best-preserved coral reefs.
Related: New cruise port coming soon to popular Caribbean destination
The port addition is a delightful surprise to some cruisers booked on the sailing.
“This was an unexpected surprise that I'm a little excited for,” tiedye_dreamer wrote about the itinerary change in the Royal Caribbean community on Reddit.
The extra port does come with one drawback, though — slightly less time for cruisers to enjoy Aruba, the sought-after cruise destination that the ship will visit on the day before Cabo Rojo, as well as Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, the final port on the itinerary.
Cabo Rojo port addition means shorter days in Aruba, CocoCay
“Because of this change, we’ve made some small adjustments to the times in which we’ll visit Oranjestad, Aruba, and Perfect Day at CocoCay,” Royal Caribbean’s email noted. “While we’ll lose a little time in both ports, you’ll still have time to enjoy everything these beautiful destinations have to offer!”
To some cruisers, a long day in Aruba added a lot of appeal to the itinerary.
“Honestly, I think it’s a win and you can just treat it like a normal sea day, but my only downside is that I would’ve liked and was looking forward to the amount of time we were going to spend in Aruba,” Reddit user Turtlespeed22 explained. “Now, I noticed that is much shorter than the very late leaving time.”
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For other passengers, the opportunity to experience the Dominican Republic and its new cruise port is a major cruise upgrade.
Royal Caribbean made its first visit to Cabo Rojo in October, and has since added the port to more cruise itineraries, surprising other passengers with the same bonus port news.
“Yes, it happened on my cruise back in October. Royal is new to Cabo Rojo. My cruise back in October was the first RC ship to make that port stop,” AlvinsCuriousCasper noted. “I got off and explored in port. Shops, a restaurant, lazy river, a few other activities. It was fun.”
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