Royal Caribbean has been forced to cancel the next six sailings on the Grandeur of the Seas after the ship caught on fire this week. The fire-damaged ship will be our of service until the middle of July as it undergoes repairs.
The cruise line originally cancelled the next sailing on the ship, but it announced on Wednesday that it has canceled five more voyages. The ship must be repaired at a shipyard in the Bahamas and it won't return to service until at least July 12.
Royal Caribbean already canceled the May 31 sailing. The new cancellations include those that were scheduled to depart of June 7, 14, 21, 28 and July 5.
According to the cruise line, the fire incident will reduce the earnings of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10 cents a share, or about $22 million. This was announced after trading closed on Wall Street.
The company has not yet announced what caused the fire on Grandeur of the Seas which burned on Monday. The back of the vessel went up in flames, causing several decks to burn. At least four decks were damaged. The blaze was extinguished two hours later.
The Baltimore-based ship was on a 7-day cruise when it went on fire as it was on its way to Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas, CocoCay. The ship was carrying 2,224 passengers. Unlike the Carnival Triumph, which was disabled due to an engine room fire, the Grandeur of the Seas did not lose power and it was able to sail back to a port in Freeport, Bahamas roughly seven hours after the fire broke out.
Royal Caribbean offered an apology to those who were set to sail on one of the now-canceled trips. "We are deeply sorry for this unexpected development in our guests' upcoming vacation," the line said.
They also said that they will give passengers a full refund on the canceled cruises and a certificate for a future cruise at 25 percent of the cruise fare they paid. Guests will receive refunds within the next three weeks.
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