Royal Caribbean said the slide closures on its Icon- and Star-class ships are not tied to fuel costs or stabilizer usage, after guests reported that multiple attractions at the Category 6 Waterpark were out of service for days. The cruise line said some slides are temporarily unavailable and that efforts are ongoing with a strong focus on the overall guest experience.
That answer landed after passengers aboard Royal Caribbean ships said the problem was hard to miss. One guest on Icon of the Seas said the majority of the six record-breaking slides had been closed for multiple days, including sea days, with only one slide intermittently open. A passenger who had just gotten off Star of the Seas said two slides stayed down the entire week and at times only two were operational, while another said the same two slides were down during the April 5th to 12th sailing. A separate guest said two slides were down at first and three by the end of the cruise.
Category 6 Waterpark sits on Royal Caribbean's largest ships and is one of the line's biggest selling points, so the closures quickly became a test of how much disappointment passengers would tolerate on premium sailings. One guest said they booked the cruise specifically for the water park and found the majority of the slides closed, while another said they paid a premium to sail on the newest ship and were not happy with the experience. Guest Services reportedly could not offer more than a $20 arcade credit.
There was also confusion on board. Crew members aboard Icon of the Seas were telling guests the slides were closed for maintenance or manufacturer maintenance, and one passenger aboard Star of the Seas said they had heard the green tube slide and the small yellow drop slide share the same water system. Royal Caribbean did not address that detail, and it did not give a specific timeline for when the slides would reopen.
The company is under added scrutiny because last August an adult male was injured on Star of the Seas when the Frightening Bolt slide was in use and an acrylic glass panel broke off, prompting that slide to be closed out of an abundance of caution. For now, the line is sticking to a simple message: the slide outages are temporary, the cause is not fuel or stabilizer usage, and repairs are underway without a public timetable. The company also recently announced Royal Caribbean Group launches Royal ONE cards with Bank of America, but on board the immediate issue is whether the water park on its flagship ships is delivering what passengers paid for.
