If you’ve driven over the Second Narrows Bridge recently, you’ve probably spotted it.
Ships aren’t built to stay in harbours, and when one overextends its welcome, it usually means there’s an issue.
The Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean (RCL) vessel, is currently docked by the Second Narrows Bridge on Friday (Sept. 4) after spending some time at the Canada Place Cruise Terminal (see gallery above).
The ship was scheduled to take guests up to Alaska on Aug. 30, but remained in port for a couple of days. Customers were informed that the cruise would be shorter, at five days instead of seven. But then a couple of days later, on Tuesday, RCL contacted passengers to inform them the sailing was cancelled, according to Cruise Critic.
“The Serenade of the Seas experienced a technical issue and is temporarily docked at Lynnterm terminal while it undergoes repairs,” Alex Munro, spokesperson for the Port of Vancouver, told Vancouver Is Awesome.
Passenger vessel currently docked at import-export hub
North Vancouver’s Lynnterm is a critical strategic hub for handling numerous “import and export break-bulk commodities” in the Pacific Northwest. Typically, cruise ships aren’t docked there.
The Serenade of the Seas isn’t one of RCL’s megaships, with a fairly standard passenger capacity of 2,490. But it does make routine trips up to Alaska, with the next sailing scheduled for Sunday (Sept. 6), then another on Sept. 13, and a final round-trip Vancouver sailing scheduled on Sept. 20.
If the technical issue was unresolved, that would mean around 7,500 more passengers would lose their holiday.
As with any RCL ship, it has fun perks you won’t get on classic or traditional lines, such as rock climbing walls, a mini-golf course and outdoor movies on a massive projector.
Royal Caribbean had not responded to Vancouver Is Awesome’s questions about the sailing cancellation by publication time.
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