by Fran Golden
Royal Caribbean says its Jewel of the Seas is experiencing “a mechanical issue” on a cruise in Europe and has had to adjust the ship’s itinerary. The ship is on a 12-day Scandinavia and Russia sailing.
The problem is with one of the four hydraulic motors on the starboard propulsion system, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.
The cruise line says it will have to repair the 2,100-passenger ship en-route and is having a replacement hydraulic motor sent to St. Petersburg, Russia, where the ship is scheduled to be docked Thursday and Friday.
Preliminary repairs were also made before the ship departed on the cruise from Harwich, England on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the ship has been cruising the Baltic at a reduced speed. The Jewel missed a port call in Stockholm, and instead made a call at Visby, Sweden.
“We have made every effort to minimize the disruption, and have also extended the time in port whenever possible,” says Martinez. “We expect repairs will go as planned in St. Petersburg, and therefore we do not anticipate any additional alterations to the scheduled itinerary.”
Royal Caribbean says as a gesture of goodwill, it is giving passengers on the Jewel a shipboard credit of $150 to $350 per cabin, depending on cabin category, to spend as they like.