Rough Weather Delays Liberty of the Seas Return to Southampton

Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas is expected to return to Southampton about six hours late on June 7 as rough weather slows the ship’s inbound passage to its UK homeport. The delay will push back debarkation from the current Spain and Portugal sailing and delay embarkation for the next five-night cruise to Hamburg and Zeebrugge.

The disruption affects a same-day turnaround for the 154,407-gross-ton Freedom-class ship, which was originally due alongside at about 6 a.m. local time after a seven-night voyage.

Southampton turnaround shifts to afternoon

Royal Caribbean told passengers it was “closely monitoring adverse weather” on the route back to Southampton and that “the terminal will be closed for embarkation until 2:30 PM.”

Guests booked on the next sailing were instructed to move their port arrival appointments three hours later. An 11:30 a.m. appointment shifts to 2:30 p.m.; noon arrivals move to 3 p.m., with later appointment windows adjusted by the same interval.

The Met Office listed rain and wind gusts up to 28 mph for Southampton, while Royal Caribbean’s guest notice referred to adverse weather along the ship’s route back to England.

Ship and itinerary context

Liberty of the Seas entered service in 2007 and measures about 339 meters in length. The ship carries about 3,798 passengers at double occupancy.

The next cruise has a sea day scheduled for June 8 before a morning call at Hamburg on June 9. Hamburg is roughly 560 nautical miles from Southampton; the itinerary also includes Zeebrugge, Belgium, on June 11.

The weather delay follows an earlier adjustment to the current sailing, which departed Southampton on May 31. Royal Caribbean reordered the planned sequence of Vigo, Lisbon and Bilbao because of planned strikes in Lisbon tied to proposed labor-code reforms, moving Bilbao first, followed by Lisbon and then Vigo.

For the delayed embarkation, Royal Caribbean told passengers arriving before their adjusted time that they may be turned away until the new appointment window. All guests must be checked in and onboard by 6:30 p.m., with the line advising passengers to arrive no later than 6 p.m.