A large cruise ship with nearly 9,000 souls on board is trapped in New Jersey, being prevented from leaving due the nor’easter impacting the region. Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas was due to head to the Bahamas on Sunday but instead hasn’t left the New Jersey coast –and won’t leave– until Tuesday morning.
The same ship was in the news just weeks ago; rather than head to the Bahamas for a warm get-away, the Royal Caribbean ship fled to Canada to escape Hurricane Imelda. That cruise ended up with one port day in Nova Scotia with the rest of the itinerary converted to days at sea.
An email sent to passengers on Thursday said Symphony would only set sail if it’s safe to do so, “Along with our Chief Meteorologist, Craig Setzer, we have been closely monitoring a developing coastal low-pressure system forecast to impact the port of Cape Liberty beginning on Sunday.
“Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, we will continue to monitor the ocean storm system and only depart once we deem it is safe to do so.”
Initially, Royal Caribbean asked Sunday’s guests to arrive at the port 2 hours earlier than expected with the assumption they’d try to get out earlier.
The original plan was for Symphony of the Seas to sail a 7-night Bahamas and Perfect Day cruise. The ship was scheduled to have stops at Port Canaveral, Florida, Nassau, Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, Coco Cay. It was then due to return to New Jersey’s Cape Liberty in Bayonne on October 19, 2025.
Instead, due to the storm impacting the northeast, Symphony is now expecting a delayed departure from Bayonne on Tuesday. The ship will skip the scheduled visits to Port Canaveral and Nassau and will instead visit Perfect Day at Coco Cay on Thursday from 11:30am to 6:30 pm.
Symphony of the Seas is the 5th largest cruise ship in the world. Maximum capacity on the ship is 6,680 passengers and roughly 2,200 crew members.
