Max Power, a passenger who is currently doing back to back to back cruises on the Serenade of the Seas, first reported of the incident on the Facebook group “Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society”.  Heavy rain was first blamed for the switch board being shorted out but it is now being blamed on a broken water pipe above the theater according to Max.

The front of the ship was without power early on Saturday morning.  Due to the damage from the broken water pipe, 400 passengers who were scheduled to board the ship in New Orleans today will not be able to board.

Royal Caribbean sent out the following text message to passengers who were to board the Serenade of the Seas today:

Urgent Notification: Serenade of the Seas Check-In Update

Hello, this is Royal Caribbean International.  We would like to provide you and update regarding your sailing today onboard Serenade of the Seas out of New Orleans. The U.S. Coast Guard is currently onboard inspecting the ship.  We are waiting for authorization from the Coast Guard to begin boarding.  Because the cruise terminal in New Orleans is very limited in space, we ask that guest explore the local area until we can being boarding. We will contact you again once we have received permission to being the boarding process.  We appreciate your patience and understanding, ad we look forward to welcoming you aboard.

An hour later, another text message was sent by Royal Caribbean letting passengers know that the U.S. Coast Guard had given them permission to begin the boarding process.

The Serenade of the Seas will now spend the night in New Orleans while crew members repair the damage.  The ship was scheduled to leave this afternoon on a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas and Key West, Florida.

Update: The Serenade of the Seas left New Orleans early Sunday afternoon and will sail a shortened six night cruise to the Bahamas.  Passengers who had their cruise canceled will receive a full refund and a future cruise certificate equal to their cruise fare.