Passengers boarding Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas on Wednesday faced delayed embarkation after a power outage at the Port of Los Angeles, pushing the start of boarding back roughly two hours.
Royal Caribbean notified guests by text message, advising them not to arrive at the terminal before the updated boarding time.
What Caused the Power Outage
Southern California was hit with heavy rain and strong winds overnight, causing intermittent power outages across the region.
The California Highway Patrol received a report around 9:10 a.m. of low-hanging power lines on the southbound side of the I-110 freeway in San Pedro. A utility pole fell, forcing authorities to close the southbound lanes at Pacific Avenue and Channel Street for several hours. No injuries were reported.
The I-110 is the primary freeway connecting to the Port of Los Angeles, and the lane closures added to traffic delays caused by terminal disruptions, compounding the situation for passengers driving to the port.
It is not confirmed whether the downed lines directly supplied power to the cruise terminal, but the timing aligns with the port outage.
Impact on Embarkation
Passengers who had been aboard the ship’s previous sailing and were waiting to disembark reported that the outage disrupted the terminal’s automated customs processing systems. Facial recognition machines remained powered but lost network connectivity, requiring agents to manually check passports.
The incident highlights how dependent modern cruise terminal operations are on continuous power and network connectivity, particularly for security and passenger verification systems.
About Quantum of the Seas
Quantum of the Seas is the lead ship in Royal Caribbean’s Quantum class, built in 2014 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany.
The 168,000-gross-ton ship accommodates up to 4,905 guests and began its current deployment from Los Angeles in November 2025, offering three- to six-night cruises to Baja California.
It was the only ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles this week, so no other vessels were affected by the outage.
