6 days ago
Icon of the Seas' water slide breaks, injuring passenger
A cruise ship passenger was injured on Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas water slide. Photo by Royal Caribbean
Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A cruise passenger aboard the Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas was injured when a section of a water slide broke off.
The incident occurred Thursday, the cruise line said. The seven-day cruise departed from Miami on Saturday, and the incident happened while the ship was in the Eastern Caribbean between the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
"Our team provided medical care to an adult guest when acrylic glass broke off a water slide as the guest passed through the slide," a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel and ABC News.
"The guest is being treated for his injuries. The water slide is closed for the remainder of the sailing pending an investigation."
He was listed in stable condition aboard the ship, the cruise line said.
The Frightening Bolt slide is among six on the ship's Category 6 water park, which is the largest at sea.
The slide sends riders through a trap door with the translucent section on the top. Then, riders are dropped through a bomb door apparatus into the 46-foot-tall slide, which starts on the ship's 15th deck and is the biggest one on a cruise ship.
The rider was hurt when passing through the broken section.
A video posted on X showed footage from after the incident and the reaction from onlookers. One person is heard saying: "Stop the slide."
"These slides are probably much more frequently than land-based are continuously and constantly being inspected for any issues," Stuart Chiron with the Cruise Guy told ABC News. "If cracks are determined, these slides and attractions are immediately taken out of service."
The Icon of the Seas' cruise stops were in Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the island's private island at CocoCay, Bahamas.
The Icon of the Seas will sail through the Western Caribbean, starting in September.
On July 28, there was an altercation on the ship between two crew members from South Africa. While the vessel was off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, a 35-year-old man allegedly stabbed a 28-year-old woman.
He fled, jumped overboard and died. The woman was in stable condition after being stabbed in her upper body.
In January 2024, the Icon of the Seas became the world's largest cruise ship with a maximum capacity of 7,600 passengers and a crew of 2,350. It is 250,800 gross tons with 20 decks.
The Icon of the Seas is in the Icon class. The Star of the Seas is scheduled to include its first paying guests from its home at Port Canaveral in Florida in September. Two other ships are planned for the class.
In all, the Royal Caribbean has 28 ships.
