San Juan Riots Impact Another Cruise Ship Itinerary

A second Royal Caribbean ship has cancelled a scheduled stop in San Juan as political rest there continues.

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Photo via Royal Caribbean

A day after Empress of the Seas altered her itinerary to avoid the escalating riots in San Juan, Harmony of the Seas will be doing the same. The Cruise Puerto Rico Facebook page updated the situation by saying, “Harmony of the Seas has just officially cancelled their visit to the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico for today.” They went on to say that “the ship had scheduled a visit today to… Pier 3 of Old San Juan from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.”

READ MORE: Cruise Ship Rerouted Due to Political Unrest

Owen Torres, manager of Corporate Communications for Royal Caribbean, confirmed that “Due to the ongoing civil unrest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we have cancelled Harmony of the Seas’ call to San Juan. Harmony will now sail to St. Maarten, her next scheduled port of call. Concern for the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew members is our top priority.”

Although Allure of the Seas is scheduled to visit the port on Thursday, it is unclear at this point whether or not the area will be deemed safe enough for the port call to proceed as planned.

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One likely reason for today’s cancellation? Demonstrators — who are demanding the resignation of Governor Rossello — planned a march Wednesday evening, vastly increasing the likelihood of rioting and police action in the streets of the popular port. And CNN reports that the protests are spreading as opposed to dying down, with “protests also planned Wednesday in Miami, Orlando… and at New York’s Union Square.”

“The government is not looking for a Plan B to take these boats to other ports in Puerto Rico,” claims the Cruise Puerto Rico Facebook page. “Ponce has the ability to receive one of the largest cruise ships in the world.”

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Harmony of the Seas was scheduled to dock at Pier 3 today in Old San Juan. (Screenshot via Google Maps)

The government is not looking for a plan b to take these boats to other ports in Puerto Rico. Ponce has the ability to receive one of the largest cruise ships in the world.

Harmony of the Seas is on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida.

Other cruise lines are taking a wait-and-see approach. John Heald, brand ambassador for Carnival Cruise Line, posted to his Facebook page, “our next ship due there is on July 21. We will monitor the situation and [of] course always keep our guests safe.”

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