If you're booked on Royal Caribbean's nine-night Southern Caribbean sailing on Freedom of the Seas, your boarding day just shifted. The line has told guests that check-in times will run roughly half an hour to an hour later than originally scheduled, all because of the ship's annual United States Coast Guard inspection before departure.
The affected cruise departs Miami on November 14, 2026 — a nine-night loop through the Southern Caribbean on the 160,000-ton, 2006-built ship. Because the terminal has to stay closed during the inspection, Royal Caribbean is asking passengers not to show up before midday. Arriving ahead of your updated slot won't get you on board faster; the line has warned guests they'll be turned away until the process is complete. Anyone without a designated check-in time should plan to arrive at 3:00 PM.
The good news: the inspection shouldn't affect the itinerary at all. After leaving PortMiami, Freedom of the Seas calls at Cabo Rojo in the Dominican Republic, Willemstad in Curaçao, and Oranjestad in Aruba, plus a stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas.
The ship is settling in for a full winter season from South Florida, running four- to nine-night itineraries to the Caribbean and the Bahamas through late April 2027. That run ends with a trans-Atlantic crossing to the United Kingdom, which could be worth a look for anyone keen on a repositioning cruise — often one of the better value-per-day ways to cross the Atlantic.
Annual Coast Guard inspections are routine for ships based in US ports, but they do occasionally ripple into boarding schedules, so it's a good reminder for any cruiser: double-check your app and email in the days before departure, because arrival windows can change even when the cruise itself doesn't. On embarkation day in Miami, showing up on time — not early — is genuinely the smartest move here.
