Independence of the Seas holds at Cape Liberty and cuts Bermuda to one day

Independence of the Seas stayed at Cape Liberty overnight on Saturday 26 Sep 2026. Captain Tor Olsen told the ship that harbor pilots had stopped work until at least 10am Sunday. The working plan is a noon sail on Sunday 27 Sep, then a run toward Bermuda. Monday’s overnight becomes a Tuesday day call. Royal Caribbean Blog and Deep Arrival both reported that plan on 26 Sep 2026. No Royal Caribbean newsroom release was located.

This sailing is separate from the Oasis of the Seas late board, the Vision of the Seas Bahamas swap, and Valiant Lady’s New York delay. Those posts cover other ships.

Why the ship stayed

Royal Caribbean Blog, updated 26 Sep 2026, says you boarded on Saturday. The captain then said the ship would not leave that day. Pilot boats could not work safely in the nor’easter. Pilots suspended operations until at least 10am Sunday. Independence of the Seas remained docked in Cape Liberty, New Jersey, overnight. Matt Hochberg’s report puts the new plan at a noon sail on Sunday, then Bermuda.

Deep Arrival, also dated 26 Sep 2026, names this as the 5-night Bermuda sailing that boarded Saturday 26 Sep at Cape Liberty. Royal Caribbean Blog confirms the Saturday boarding and the overnight hold. It does not print the night count.

Deep Arrival says the terminal took Saturday’s boarding. The sailing is delayed, and Saturday check-in already happened. If you missed that check-in, call Royal Caribbean before you drive to Bayonne. Deep Arrival does not describe a second embarkation day.

If you are already on board, Saturday night is a night at the pier. Neither report published a shore-leave window or a move to a hotel. Stay with the ship. Keep your documents with you.

Sunday’s 10am pilot restart is the gate, not the sail time. Both outlets say pilots move ships already in the harbor before this departure. Noon is the working plan. Deep Arrival says that if pilots are still down at 10am, the noon window moves with them. Recheck the Royal Caribbean app after 10am Sunday.

Deep Arrival cites a Saturday afternoon forecast discussion from the National Weather Service office in New York. That note describes a Wind Advisory, coastal sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, and gusts of 45 to 55 mph, with isolated 60 mph gusts on exposed eastern Long Island. Those figures explain the pilot hold. They are Deep Arrival’s reading of that discussion.

Bermuda is now one day

Royal Caribbean Blog says the ship arrives in Bermuda one day late, on Tuesday, and stays only for the day. The original plan was a Monday arrival and an overnight.

Deep Arrival restates the published itinerary it is comparing against. That version left Cape Liberty at 3pm Saturday, reached Royal Naval Dockyard at 9am Monday for the overnight, and left Bermuda at 5pm Tuesday. Those original clocks are in the Deep Arrival report. Royal Caribbean Blog does not print them.

Neither outlet published hours for the new Tuesday call. Cancel Monday night plans. Drop Tuesday morning plans that assumed you had already slept in port. Build one Dockyard day around the hours the app posts.

The Thursday return, and your money

Deep Arrival says the storm rewrite keeps the Thursday 1 Oct homecoming. The working arrival is 7am at Cape Liberty. Royal Caribbean Blog does not print a return time. Until Royal publishes a change, plan on that 7am clock. Book a flight after midday on 1 Oct so a late return still has slack.

No compensation package for this sailing appears in either report. There is no published fare refund and no published onboard-credit amount. The flight caps, the hotel cap, and the free internet hour in the Royal Caribbean Blog story belong to Oasis of the Seas. Leave them off this booking.

Deep Arrival says Royal-booked excursions for the dropped overnight should convert to onboard credit once the app shows the new port hours. That is the usual Royal practice on a cut port. Wait for the app. Budget a dollar figure only after one posts. Tours you bought outside Royal Caribbean are absent from both reports. Call that operator yourself.

What you should do

If you are on Independence of the Seas, stay aboard and recheck the app after 10am Sunday 27 Sep. Plan on a noon sail unless the captain moves it. Treat Bermuda as a Tuesday day call with hours still unpublished. Keep Thursday 1 Oct at 7am as the working Cape Liberty return. Facts above follow Royal Caribbean Blog and Deep Arrival, both dated 26 Sep 2026.