A Royal Caribbean ship’s water slide malfunctioned on Thursday, leaving one man with undisclosed injuries.
The incident took place on the cruise liner’s “Icon of the Seas” ship when the unidentified man was using the slide and the acrylic glass panel broke, according to ABC News.
The man is reportedly in stable condition, and the cruise liner did not reveal how extensive the man’s injuries were.
Here’s what else you need to know about the malfunctioning slide and the injured guest.
What caused the water slide on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas to malfunction and injure a passenger?
A video of the malfunctioning slide showed passengers frantically yelling, “Stop the slide! Stop the slide!” while water poured out of the side where the glass shattered.
Royal Caribbean released a statement about the injured passenger on board.
“Our team provided medical care to an adult guest when acrylic glass broke off a water slide as the guest passed through the slide,” the cruise liner told People.
“The guest is being treated for his injuries,” they added.
The slide has been shut down for the remainder of the ship’s journey, “pending an investigation,” officials say.
In a statement to UNILAD, Royal Caribbean said, “The company has not provided a timeline for reopening and is investigating whether the failure was due to a manufacturing defect, installation issue, or an unexpected impact.”
The cruise will return to the port of Miami this Saturday.
More about Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is the company’s largest ship, and one of the largest cruise ships in the world. It can hold up to 7,600 passengers and between 2,500 to 5,000 crew members (depending on double occupancy for crew).
The ship has some unique features, like the first-ever suspended infinity pool, the largest water park at sea and the largest swim-up bar at sea.
A team of architects and designers worked on the ship, including companies Wilson Butler Architects, 3Deluxe, RTKL and Skylab Architecture. Construction of the Icon of the Seas took place between 2021 and 2022, with sea trials beginning in June of 2023. It first set sail for service out of Miami, Florida, in January 2024.
This is not the first incident on the Icon of the Seas. A passenger jumped from the ship in May 2024, and there was a minor electrical fire the following month. In September 2024, the ship experienced a technical issue that caused it to sail at a reduced speed, resulting in the ship docking and canceling the following week’s scheduled cruise. Just in July 2025, a crew member reportedly stabbed a woman and then jumped overboard to evade capture.
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