Passenger Hurt After Glass Water Slide Breaks on World's Largest Cruise Ship: Royal Caribbean Could Find Itself in Court
A man who was injured on a Royal Caribbean water slide is suing the cruise ship company, his attorney said Tuesday.
The incident happened Aug. 7 onboard the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, according to WPLG-TV in Miami.
One of the ship’s water slides, the “Frightening Bolt,” reportedly had a crack in its acrylic glass as the man passed through, cutting himself on the way down, according to WTVJ in Florida.
Moments after, the glass broke, leaving a gaping hole in the slide.
“As I understand it, it was cracked,” said passenger Lillian Destefano, who witnessed the incident, per WPLG. “Like the gentleman that went before him just [got] cut slightly, and then when the other gentleman went down, it sliced him, but he passed it, and then the glass fell and the water gushed. No one fell through, thank God.”
A video showed the water free-flowing from the slide’s hole.
Video shows the chaos on board Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas after a glass panel on a water slide shattered mid-ride, injuring one guest and sending water pouring into a public area.
The footage shows startled passengers screaming in fear as water cascades from the slide… pic.twitter.com/hqShp7uQDB
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 8, 2025
Royal Caribbean confirmed in a statement that nobody fell through the opening, WTVJ reported.
The medical team onboard treated the man’s injuries, and the slide remained closed the rest of the trip, Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The incident is under investigation, and it’s still unclear what caused the glass to break.
“I was on that slide 20 minutes before,” one passenger told WTVJ-TV.
“It’s a little frightening. It could’ve happened to us, and I’m glad it didn’t,” another passenger said.
Royal Caribbean water slide malfunction injures cruise ship guest
The slide has been closed for the remainder of the sailing journey.A water slide on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas suffered a malfunction Thursday, injuring an adult guest when an acrylic glass panel broke… pic.twitter.com/IIFi5y84YF
— Chat News Hub (@chatnewshub) August 8, 2025
The ship had departed PortMiami on Aug. 2, according to WTVJ.
Following the incident, the ship traveled to Royal Caribbean’s Coco Cay island before returning to PortMiami that weekend on Aug. 9, according to WPLG.
The Icon of the Seas, which has a guest capacity of 5,610, departed on its maiden voyage in early 2024, according to the Royal Caribbean website.
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