Guest Upset About Embarkation Delay for Wonder of the Seas
Every cruise guest knows the excitement of those last few hours before embarkation, or even the last few minutes as you arrive at the cruise terminal and see your ship ready and waiting. But what if those few minutes have to last a few minutes longer and you aren’t able to board at the planned time?
Royal Caribbean has reached out to guests booked on the May 4, 2025 sailing of Wonder of the Seas to alert them to a slight time change and delay in embarkation plans at Port Canaveral.
“Prior to boarding, Wonder of the Seas will conduct its annual United States Coast Guard inspection. During the time, the terminal will not be open for embarkation,” the notification explained. “To ensure a smooth boarding process, please arrive one (1) hour later than your selected arrival time.”
Guests chose their arrival time weeks earlier when they checked in for the sailing, but now all windows are bumped one hour later.
If guests do arrive at their originally selected times, they will be turned away and not permitted in the cruise terminal until the inspection is complete.
Previous passengers who have encountered similar inspections on other cruise ships note that the early boarding times will be the most hectic. Guests who don’t follow the instructions for a delay are likely to become frustrated with crowds and waits before embarkation begins.
Regardless of the delay, all guests are asked to arrive at the cruise terminal no later than 3:30 p.m., and all guests must be checked in and onboard by 4 p.m. for the ship’s departure.
Wonder of the Seas is sailing from Port Canaveral, where the ship is scheduled to dock at Cruise Terminal 1 on the port’s south side.
At this time, there is no expected delay to the overall itinerary. Wonder of the Seas will visit Nassau on Monday, May 5, followed by a day at sea then a call to Costa Maya on Wednesday, May 7.
The next two days will be spent in Roatan and Cozumel, respectively, followed by a day at sea before the ship returns to Florida on May 11.
One Guest Voices Frustration
While the embarkation delay is minimal – just one hour for the ship’s 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary – not all guests are happy about the adjustment.
In fact, one guest firmly noted, “This is some BS” but has been subject to a wide range of ridicule about her perceived entitlement that she must be inconvenienced for a mandatory inspection.
Unfortunately, some cruisers have earned reputations for demanding “compensation” for any slight change or inconvenience, regardless of the circumstances.
While cruise lines do make every effort to preserve original schedules and itineraries, this isn’t always possible.
Sometimes, in the case of extreme changes, cruise lines will offer onboard credit or partial refunds, particularly if the cruise experience is significantly different than what guests may have booked – multiple port cancellations, for example.
Read Also: Wonder of the Seas Cabins to Avoid – What You Must Know!
For such a simple delay of just 60 minutes, however, no compensation should be expected, nor will it be offered.
To put this into perspective, let’s assume a guest was to board Wonder of the Seas at the earliest possible opportunity, 10:30 a.m. according to the original schedule.
If that same guest was then the last to debark the ship at the end of the 7-night sailing, at approximately 9:30 a.m. at the latest, they would have enjoyed 167 hours – 10,020 minutes – onboard.
Of that cruise duration, 60 minutes is just one-half of one percent of their time. Perhaps not quite the “BS” the guest is claiming.