One of Celebrity Cruises’ newest ships, Celebrity Beyond, is currently experiencing technical issues, forcing the ship to sail at a reduced speed and delaying the current itinerary.
Unfortunately for Celebrity Beyond’s passengers, the slowdown has already impacted the rest of the current cruise, and now it’s affecting the next sailing as well. As a result, Celebrity Beyond’s upcoming voyage will depart one day later than planned.
Guests scheduled to sail aboard Celebrity Beyond’s next itinerary were informed this weekend that the ship would be delayed returning to PortMiami because of technical issues. Celebrity Beyond was scheduled to depart from Miami, Florida, on July 20, 2025, for a 7-night cruise to the Caribbean.
At the time of publication, Celebrity Beyond is meant to depart one day later on Monday, July 21, for its next itinerary. However, the cruise line's communication indicates this plan could potentially change depending on the extent of necessary repairs. Celebrity Cruises has not provided a timeline for the completion of repairs, leaving some uncertainty for booked guests.
In addition, Celebrity Cruises hasn’t specified whether the issue is specifically related to the ship’s propulsion system. However, the fact that Celebrity Beyond is sailing at reduced speed strongly suggests an engine-related problem. This kind of slowdown is often a sign of technical trouble with a ship’s propulsion or mechanical systems.
In communication sent to guests on the impacted voyage, the cruise line stated, “Prior to your arrival on Celebrity Beyond, we have some important information to share with you. Beyond is currently experiencing a technical issue and we are working to address it.”
“While this does not impact the safety or seaworthiness of the ship, we are sailing at a reduced speed which will delay our arrival into Miami tomorrow. Once we arrive into Miami, our technical experts will assess the situation and make repairs as needed,” continued the communication. The cruise line states, “As a result, the current plan is to have you board on Monday, July 21st in Terminal C at Port Miami.”
One person on Cruise Critic also posted an update about Celebrity Beyond, stating that the ship is currently moving very slowly. The post reads, “They will arrive late tomorrow afternoon. Ship is moving extremely slow. Nobody will board on Sunday. Repair crews will assess issue.”
“People departing Sunday are now scheduled to depart on Monday for a shorter 6 night voyage. All providing engine issues can be fixed by Monday. After several weeks of technical issues in the theater, now mechanical problems. Wow. That's a lot for a 2 1/2 year old ship.”
Moreover, one guest onboard shared a picture of the ship’s wake on social media and stated Celebrity Beyond is only running on one propeller.
Celebrity Cruises states they will continue to monitor the situation, and the cruise line is committed to providing updates as necessary. The communication indicates the cruise line will provide an update to guests on Sunday evening by 8:00 PM with additional updates regarding itinerary changes, further compensation, and updated check-in times.
The cruise line also emphasizes to guests that Celebrity Beyond is still seaworthy and safe to sail. However, the company reaffirms their priority is the safety of the guests and crew members.
According to CruiseMapper.com, Celebrity Beyond is currently sailing in the North West Atlantic Ocean at a reduced speed of 16 knots, which is around 19 mph. This is noticeably slower than the ship's typical cruising speed of approximately 22 knots.
The original route for Celebrity Beyond's next itinerary included ports of call in Nassau (Bahamas), St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), and Philipsburg (St. Maarten). Currently, Celebrity Beyond is sailing on a 7-night itinerary to Perfect Day at CocoCay (Bahamas), Cozumel (Mexico), Grand Cayman, and Falmouth (Jamaica). The extent of changes to upcoming sailings has yet to be announced by the cruise line.
Celebrity Beyond is one of the cruise line’s newest ships, only launching back in November 2022. As the third vessel in Celebrity’s Edge Series, Celebrity Beyond is one of the most innovative in the fleet with state-of-the-art technology. The vessel measures 141,420 gross registered tons and can hold around 3,300 guests at double occupancy. The ship is known for its cutting-edge design and upscale experience, along with the other ships in the Edge Series.
Guests question other recent technical issues with Celebrity Beyond
According to other posts shared online, Celebrity Beyond has been experiencing minor technical issues over the last few weeks. More specifically, guests reported that the theatre shows were cancelled or rescheduled because of issues with the stage. While these earlier issues appeared minor, guests are now questioning whether they were early warning signs of larger mechanical problems.
In this way, one guest shared on Facebook, “[I cruised on] Beyond June 1-5. One night the show was delayed a few minutes...and another night it was replaced with another. It was the show with the moving picture frames..mechanical difficulties.”
Another guest also reported mechanical issues with the theater during a June sailing. The cruiser wrote, “We were on the ship June 15–22 and all but one production show was canceled. They didn’t give a reason why. There was a post last week about all of the production shows being canceled on that cruise due to the stage. It seems to be a recurring issue.”
One person impacted by the delayed sailing wrote, “We are to receive an update by 8 pm tomorrow with more details and additional compensation. If it’s an engine issue, I’m pessimistic. I feel sorry for the Royal Caribbean group trying to handle all of this.”
Passengers have also taken to Reddit to share their experiences on Celebrity Beyond, with some noting other signs of wear and tear onboard.
One person onboard shared to Reddit, “I’m on this ship, I'll note that maintenance seems to have fallen off a bit. It would be a bit petty to complain about all of the ripped chairs and chipped paint to be found on this new ship, but in the context of this propulsion failure it could be seen as symptomatic of maybe some reduction in maintenance budget or other policy change.”
Given that Celebrity Beyond is still considered a new ship by cruise industry standards, these reports have raised concerns among guests. It’s unusual to hear about ongoing maintenance issues and mechanical problems on a vessel that’s only been in service for a few years.
In fact, comments about Celebrity Beyond's ongoing technical issues have been circulating for months
Some cruisers have been concerned about Celebrity Beyond's technical issues for months. For example, one guest posted on Cruise Critic about potential engine issues on Celebrity Beyond back in May 2025.
The poster expressed, "I saw that next week’s itinerary is being modified due to an essential overhaul of one of the ships main engines and the ship’s arrival into St. Thomas will be delayed. They say that the work is progressing smoothly but it has affected the cruising speed of the vessel. That is a little unnerving because something like this usually occurs in dry dock."
One responder explained, "Beyond has 5 main diesel generator engines, of varying sizes, and these are torn down for overhaul every 12,000 hours (about 2.5 years, so more often than dry docking intervals). It appears that one of Beyond's largest main generator engines (about 26% of total power capacity) is down at a time where the itinerary does not allow for this reduction in power. This reduction in power generation capacity will affect the top speed of the ship by about 10% (maybe 19 vs 22 knots)."
Celebrity Beyond features a combination of Wärtsilä diesel engines and ABB Azipod propulsion units, which are designed for efficiency and maneuverability. The ship uses a diesel-electric system, with its engines generating power for both onboard operations and propulsion.
At this time, Celebrity Cruises has not commented further about ongoing technical issues with Celebrity Beyond.
This isn’t the first Celebrity ship to have technical issues lately
Earlier this month, another ship in Celebrity's fleet, Celebrity Infinity, experienced significant technical issues and disruptions. In contrast to Celebrity Beyond, Celebrity Infinity is one of the oldest ships in the fleet, having entered service in 2000. During a 7-night Greek Isles cruise, Celebrity Infinity experienced a power loss while docked in Kusadasi, Turkey.
Most guests were ashore for excursions when the ship lost power; however, Celebrity Infinity remained docked in Turkey for multiple days because of the incident. The power outage was allegedly caused by a small fire in the engine room. Guests were left without air conditioning and working elevators, creating a chaotic scene both onboard and ashore.
Eventually, hundreds of frustrated guests disembarked the cruise early due to ongoing concerns about the ship’s seaworthiness. Those who stayed onboard returned to Athens, Greece, as scheduled, although the cruise line cancelled all remaining ports of the itinerary.
Read more: Fire disables cruise ship in the Mediterranean, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in Turkey
Interestingly enough, multiple cruise ships in the cruise industry have been reporting mechanical issues and itinerary disruptions. Just a few days ago, one Princess Cruises’ ship, Island Princess, had a small fire onboard during its current 18-night sailing to Greenland. The fire was quickly extinguished, and no further issues were reported.
In addition, Norwegian Star encountered a technical propulsion issue after embarking from New York City. The ship was tugged back to the port. The Norwegian Cruise Line vessel was also sailing to Greenland and Iceland when the incident occurred.
Finally, guests on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas missed one highly anticipated port of call during an Alaskan cruise. The technical issue also caused speed restrictions, and the ship was forced to cancel its stop in Icy Strait Point.
Allie Hubers
Allie Hubers has been cruising since she was a tiny toddler. What started as a yearly vacation with family quickly turned into a passion for travel, cruising and adventure. Allie's been on over 45 cruises all over the world. She even studied abroad on Semester at Sea, sailing the world on a ship while taking courses for college and visiting 4 continents.
