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Cruise ship stuck in Vancouver draws comparisons to Netflix’s ‘Poop Cruise’

DH Vancouver Staff
DH Vancouver Staff
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Jul 7 2025, 11:09 pm
Cruise ship stuck in Vancouver draws comparisons to Netflix’s ‘Poop Cruise’
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Update: The Serenade of the Seas set sail on Monday evening and is making its way to Alaska.

A cruise ship stuck in Vancouver due to engine failure is jokingly being compared to the recent Netflix Poop Cruise documentary — minus much of the chaos.

Ladner resident Marcia McNaughton has been posting about the status of the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas on social media. The ship was supposed to depart Vancouver on Sunday for a seven-day trip to Alaska.

“Omg!!! Believe this!!!! [Our] cruise ship just broke down.. blew an engine… turning around to Vancouver! You [can’t] make this [sh*t] up!!!!,” she wrote on X on July 6.

McNaughton told Daily Hive that passengers boarded the ship on Sunday afternoon at Canada Place, but about 45 minutes into the trip, a significant issue occurred.

“We took sail and we got to about Bowen Island. They turned us around [because] the engine broke down and [they] had to get a tugboat to bring us in.”

The cruise ship is now docked at Canada Place, but passengers cannot disembark the vessel due to customs protocols.

McNaughton said her fellow passengers have been taking the delay as well as they can.

“I actually think everybody’s pretty cool. Most have been hitting the bar,” she laughed.

“I mean, everybody’s frustrated for sure. Most people that we spoke to that are American are not happy because they’re far away from home. For us, we’re local, so it’s not the worst thing on the planet.”

Since the ship docked at around 6 p.m. Sunday, McNaughton said she’s been trying to kill time by walking around and enjoying the buffet and some drinks.

She added that communication from Royal Caribbean has been spotty.

“I would say it could be better,” she stated, noting that staff told passengers on Monday morning that they’d have an update at noon, but that didn’t happen until a few hours later.

“They actually announced [a few minutes ago] that mechanics were on board and they think they’ve sorted it out, and they hope for us to leave in a couple of hours,” she shared.

However, later on Monday, she provided another update, stating that the captain had announced the ship might not leave until tomorrow.

The mechanical issue will likely impact the cruise ship’s stops. McNaughton said passengers were informed that the boat would no longer be visiting Sitka, Alaska, and would instead head to Juneau.

She also mentioned that a staff member had reported a similar engine issue on the ship last week.

That was also reported by The Royal Caribbean Blog, which describes itself as an “unofficial fan blog written for other fans of Royal Caribbean International.”

McNaughton’s posts on X have generated some commentary from folks who pointed out the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, which sheds light on the 2013 nightmare on board the Carnival Triumph.

That ship experienced an engine fire while heading back to the U.S. from Cozumel, Mexico, leaving passengers stranded at sea without plumbing or power.

McNaughton confirmed that the power and toilets are working on board the Serenade of the Seas.

“Everything’s 100 per cent OK right now,” she assured. “If we end up on a poop cruise… I’m from Ladner, I’m close to home. I will jump off this thing and swim home,” she laughed.

Daily Hive has reached out to Royal Caribbean and the Port of Vancouver for further comment and will update this story when we hear back.

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