Royal Caribbean Cancelled A Cruise To Help Puerto Rico Evacuees

royal caribbean ALEXIUZ / istockphoto.com
Taylor Rock|

Following hurricanes Irma and Maria, Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas halted its normal vacation services. Instead of hosting party guests, the crew anchored in Puerto Rico to drop off relief supplies and pick up evacuees to bring back to Fort Lauderdale.

Royal Caribbean sent one of its 24 boats, the 3,114-passenger Adventure of the Seas, to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Croix, each of which took a hard hit from back-to-back storms. According to USA Today, Adventure — which is normally based in San Juan — cancelled an entire week's worth of services to deliver supplies and take people off the islands.

"Our current evacuation is being done for employees' families & stranded tourists who are being registered by officials in San Juan," the company's official Twitter account wrote.

Royal Caribbean's website says that Adventure will dock in Fort Lauderdale with evacuees on Oct. 3. The ship will return to San Juan on Oct. 6 to operate its next scheduled cruise on Oct. 7. Travelers on the cancelled Adventure voyage — a seven-night trip to Curacao, Aruba, and St. Kitts and Nevis — will receive a full refund, plus 25 percent off their next cruise if booked within 30 days.

This marks Royal Caribbean's second hurricane rescue mission this season. The line sent two ships with supplies to St. Thomas and St. Maarten just days after Irma struck. The Miami Herald reports that both ships evacuated a combined 1,700 people and delivered more than 25 pallets of medical supplies, 29,571 gallons of water, 13,050 pounds of animal supplies, 9,355 gallons of milk, 7,000 pounds of ice, 110,500 garbage bags, 4,200 rolls of toilet paper, 450 power generators, and 30,504 batteries.

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