Key Aspects:
- Quantum of the Seas will be late returning to Los Angeles, and embarkation for the next cruise is delayed.
- The 2-night sailing will still visit Ensenada and has even extended the port time as a bonus.
- The delay is due to an emergency medical evacuation several hours after the ship departed Cabo San Lucas.
Guests boarding a rare 2-night sailing on Quantum of the Seas will be getting an even shorter cruise than anticipated due to a medical emergency that occurred near the end of the previous voyage.
Royal Caribbean has reached out to guests on the January 5, 2026 departure to alert them to the change in embarkation in Los Angeles as well as an adjustment to the planned port visit to Ensenada, Mexico.
“Due to a delay in our previous sailing, Quantum of the Seas will be arriving to the pier later than originally planned, and the terminal will be closed until 3:30 PM,” the email notification explained.
“Please note that the parking lot will be closed until 3:00 PM and incoming guests will not be able to park until our current guests have departed.”
Cruise terminal arrival appointments are now pushed back 4.5 hours. The earliest guests, those who chose the 11:00 a.m. arrival time, should now plan on arriving at the terminal at 3:30 p.m. The latest appointments, 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., should arrive at 6:30 p.m.
All guests must be checked in onboard the ship no later than 7 p.m.
The 2-night cruise is a rarity for Quantum of the Seas. These types of very short sailings are occasionally necessary as a ship shifts departure dates for a holiday period or when changing deployments.
The 168,700-gross-ton ship, lead vessel in the Quantum class, is homeported from Los Angeles through September 2026, offering Mexican Riviera sailings from 3-7 nights long to Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, and occasionally Catalina, depending on departure date and cruise length.
Quantum of the Seas will spend the Australian summer sailing from Brisbane before returning to the Northern Hemisphere for Summer 2027 sailing from Seattle for the Alaska season.
The ship can welcome 4,180 guests onboard at double occupancy, and is also home to roughly 1,500 international crew members.
Itinerary Adjustment for the Better
Following the delayed departure from Los Angeles, the itinerary has been adjusted with extra port time for guests to enjoy.
“While we’ll be departing from Los Angeles later than originally planned, this will not affect our arrival time in Ensenada,” Royal Caribbean confirmed. “As a bonus, our departure from Ensenada will now be 6:00 PM instead of 4:00 PM, giving you even more time to enjoy everything this beautiful destination has to offer!”
Quantum of the Seas is scheduled to arrive in Ensenada at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 6.
The ship is still able to keep that arrival time because Ensenada is only a short distance across the border into Mexico. Overall, the sailing distance from Los Angeles to Ensenada is just 170 miles.
This extra time will give guests the opportunity to enjoy an early dinner in Ensenada, a longer shopping trip, or even an extra shore excursion if they are so inclined.
Why the Delay?
While Royal Caribbean has not released information about why Quantum of the Seas has been delayed in returning to Los Angeles, guests onboard are aware of the change.
One guest explained the circumstances in a Facebook group dedicated to short sailing on Sunday, January 4, helping incoming guests understand the situation.
“Currently on [Quantum of the Seas] and wanted to give you a heads up as to why we so late. Yesterday after leaving Cabo, someone got critically ill,” the guest explained.
“We were 5 [hours] out and had to turn back. We got back to Cabo at 9:10 p.m. and off loaded the person. We were back sailing at 9:45 p.m.”
The current sailing that is returning to Los Angeles on Monday, January 5 is a 6-night New Year’s itinerary that had an extended visit in Cabo San Lucas from January 1-3. The ship originally departed Los Angeles on December 30.
“Captain is really trying hard to make up time. There just isn’t enough time to do it,” the guest said. “Captain told us today that we should expect to dock at noon to 12:30. 1st luggage will not be off ship until 1:30 at the earliest.”
Unlike how close Ensenada is to Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas is at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, nearly 1,000 miles from the southern California homeport.
No official details about the medical evacuation have been released, which helps protect the guest’s privacy at a very stressful and troubling time.
Cruise Hives wishes all the best to the ill guest and hopes everyone onboard Quantum of the Seas still has a remarkable, if abbreviated, cruise for the ship’s first sailing of 2026.
