Two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are sailing with one less lifeboat after issues caused the lifeboats to fall off the ships.
According to Cruise Critic, the Legend of the Seas lost a lifeboat November 25. The ship was anchored near Cabo San Lucas when one of the boat's pulleys failed, causing the lifeboat to drop into the water. Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez told Cruise Critic that the line got permission to sail without the lifeboat from government officials in the Bahamas. The lifeboat was recovered and added back on the ship four days later on the ship's next sailing.
The Allure of the Seas lost a lifeboat on December 9. The ship was near Nassau when a wire snapped and the lifeboat dropped. It continued sailing on without it.
"We are just leaving Nassau 2+ hours late because of an issue with the lift cable of lifeboat number 1," Cruise Critic member Lukkie, who's currently onboard the Allure told the site. "At the biweekly test it appeared to [have] snapped. We are -- after talking to HQ, the shipyard and Bahamas authorities -- leaving lifeboat 1 in Nassau and will be picking it up again on the way back after they repair the cable."
Martinez told Cruise Critic that the ships were able to sail without the other lifeboat because they were just extras and the ships have enough lifeboats to accommodate everyone. Martinez says that even though this incident occurred twice in a week, it isn't common. "While something similar just happened on Legend, in the almost six years I've been here, I haven't heard of this happening many times," Martinez told Cruise Critic.
The systems that raise and lower the boats failed in both situations. It is not clear what is being done to monitor the systems on other lifeboats across all of the ships.
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