Royal Caribbean should explain the maintenance cutting Icon’s Costa Maya call

Icon of the Seas is losing a nine-hour visit to Costa Maya because of required maintenance, but Royal Caribbean has not disclosed what work the ship needs. Passengers must still board in Miami on Saturday, September 26, 2026, even though departure has been pushed to 4 p.m. Sunday.

I don’t expect a cruise line to publish an engineer’s work order. But removing one of four destination calls deserves a more useful explanation than an unspecified maintenance requirement.

The seven-night Western Caribbean and Bahamas sailing was originally scheduled to leave PortMiami at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Instead, passengers will spend their first night aboard alongside in Miami. The ship will still return on Saturday, October 3, so the delay comes out of the itinerary rather than extending the voyage.

Saturday boarding remains compulsory

“All guests are still required to board on Saturday,” Royal Caribbean told booked passengers, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidelines.

After boarding, passengers may go ashore in Miami. The gangway will close at 8 p.m. Saturday and reopen Sunday morning, although Royal Caribbean has not specified the reopening time. Everyone must be back aboard by 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 90 minutes before departure.

Available bars, lounges, restaurants, entertainment and spa services will operate during the overnight stay. Onboard shops and Casino Royale will remain closed while the ship is in port.

That leaves guests with ways to use the time, either aboard or in Miami. It does not replace the destination they booked. Costa Maya’s Monday, September 28, call, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., will become a sea day.

Refundable credit, calculated per cabin

Royal Caribbean will provide $300 in refundable onboard credit per inside or oceanview stateroom, $350 per balcony stateroom and $800 per suite. These are cabin amounts, not individual payments. Each third and fourth guest sharing a stateroom will receive an additional $50, regardless of cabin category.

The refundable part matters. I’d give that more weight than credit passengers had to spend aboard to get any value from it.

Costa Maya excursions purchased through Royal Caribbean will be cancelled automatically and refunded to the original payment method. Guests do not need to submit a separate refund request for those bookings.

Three calls remain unchanged

The remaining port schedule is intact. Icon of the Seas will visit Roatan, Honduras, on Tuesday, September 29, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., then Cozumel, Mexico, on Wednesday, September 30, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Thursday remains a sea day. The final call is Royal Caribbean’s private Bahamian island, Perfect Day at CocoCay, on Friday, October 2, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Excursions at those retained destinations are unchanged.

Built by Meyer Turku in Finland, the LNG-powered Icon of the Seas entered service in January 2024. The approximately 248,663-gross-ton ship accommodates 5,610 passengers at double occupancy and operates year-round seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from PortMiami.

Royal Caribbean has indicated that no subsequent sailings are currently affected. For this departure, the line has been precise about boarding deadlines, compensation and the revised schedule. Passengers deserve comparable clarity about the maintenance costing them a port.