Royal Caribbean Cruises 

This is my story on a failed Caribbean cruise back in December 2025 Xmas week.

Due to unforeseen delay at the Toronto airport that took around 1.5 hours to clear the 🇺🇸 security checks.. I missed my scheduled flight to NJ for the cruise boarding call. After taking the next available flight down, I made it to the cruise port just in time to see the cruise ship 'Odyssey of the seas' leaving out to sea.

I then decided to catch a long 12+ hours expensive bus ride down to Orlando Florida to hopefully catch the ship there at their next stop since there were no available train tickets at the time.

After getting to the Orlando airport and booking myself a shuttle service to the port of call for the next day when the cruise ship was scheduled to arrive for an 8 hours stay. I was then contacted by the shuttle service and was advised that I won't be able to board the cruise ship in Orlando or any other port of call locations after that due to some ridiculous 🇺🇸 laws in place.

So the entire cruise trip was a failure and a waste of time and money. I ended up staying in Orlando for that Xmas week and it wasn't cheap of course as a tourist costing similar as the cruise itself.

I contacted Royal Caribbean a few times already on my situation and they have agreed on the phone to refund me around $860 for certain taxes and fees but not on the cost of the cruise itself. The only refund amount I saw was around $35 back in January. No actual full refund on the amount that they claimed that they'll do to date.

This was supposed to be my 1st cruise ever and this really unfortunate experience is not a good 1st impression on a new customer like me. I'll surely think 2-3x beforehand going forward if someday I ever consider using them on any cruise trip.

If anyone is thinking about going on a cruise, use Royal Caribbean at your own risk and make sure that you don't miss your cruise ship from the start. Otherwise you may go through what I did and good luck on getting any money back.

Beware!!! I am currently on a royal Caribbean cruise and they mischarged me at the casino by hundreds of dollars in one day. I stated they had done so and they told me that they would investigate it. I stated I would like to see the camera footage that shows me charging that to my room and they said they could not show me that but they looked and it was correct per video. I know how much I spend per day in the casino. I don't know what my next steps will be. I'm not accepting that.

Beware of deceptive sales tactics. I’ve been cruising with Royal Caribbean for decades and was told when I booked a recent cruise that if a better deal came along I could switch without penalty. I’ve taken advantage of this in the past without issue but when a better rate became available, they would not switch me to the lower promotional offer. So don’t fall for the “you have nothing to loose by booking now since you can switch later if we lower the rates” sales pitch. They wanted $500 to change it. This is a change in policy that they are not telling you about and are still using the same tactics to get you to commit early. I couldn’t believe it and spoke to several customer service reps to correct it, without success. I went so far as emailing and escalating it to upper management with the same answer - we apologize but no resolution offered. Buyer beware, sadly this company has change. My ask was simply to offer me the currently available promotion.
I booked the Brilliance of the Seas, 9/21/26 sail date.

I am filing this complaint due to extremely poor customer service both at the port and afterward when trying to resolve the issue.

We were scheduled to board a cruise departing from Los Angeles and were driving from San Diego. Due to a major car accident causing unexpected delays, we arrived approximately 10 minutes after the check-in cutoff time. However, when we arrived, the ship was still at the port and the boarding gate was still open.

Despite this, we were denied boarding and not given any reasonable assistance or flexibility at the port. The ship had not yet departed, yet no effort was made to accommodate the situation.

Following this, I spent approximately three hours on the phone with customer service (from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM) trying to resolve the issue. I called six separate times, and each time the call was disconnected before any resolution could be reached. I did not receive any callback, despite the repeated disconnections.

During one of the calls, a representative verbally confirmed that we would be eligible for a refund. However, due to the repeated call drops, I never received any written confirmation, and no follow-up was provided.

This experience reflects a serious lack of customer support—both at the port, where no reasonable accommodation was offered despite the ship still being present, and through customer service, where I was unable to get consistent or reliable assistance.

I am requesting that the company honor the refund that was verbally confirmed or provide an appropriate resolution such as a future cruise credit.

We booked a mediterranean cruise for our grandson's high school graduation gift with another couple prior to the problems in Iran. After seeing missiles being sent over to Cyprus and Turkey we decided it was far too dangerous to go forward with the cruise that was to take place the end of June.

We called RC and asked for a refund of all moneys, and although we fully understood that the $750 deposit was noted as non-refundable, we had expected some consideration because of the circumstances involved. We were told the only thing they could is to apply the $750 to a future cruise, but only if we paid an additional $100 per person! Not knowing when the Iran situation would be resolved we decided we didn't want to lose an additional $300 on top of the $750.

RC would rather lose future fares for 5 people then refund $750,... 4 months prior to the cruise date, plenty of time for them to sell the cabins. That's a poor business model in my opinion.

I love cruise my teen daughter and my 8 year son get lot fun time participating in various activities staff are very friendly… there so many activities programs you can’t even attend all of them.. room service lot of food options… we got complete relaxation

I wouldn't give not even a star!!! Very bad experience, bad food, rude staff, in a word --- VERY VERY BAD , DO NOT BOOK!!!!

Really liked Royal Caribbean, have been sailing with them for 8 years and 17 sailings for both me and my wife.
Things were going great we were getting to be diamond plus Crown and Anchor members and Prime in their casinos. Then starting May of 2025 things came to an end, they started changing our points in both the Crown and Anchor and Casino. We stopped getting offers. We keep calling and they keep telling us they are going to fix this. They tell us things like 3 to 5 days all the way up to 6 to 8 weeks but at the end of their self directed time limits they have not fixed anything and they just give us another time limit. We have called, emailed and personally complained to every one from guest services to casino hosts, we even sent 3 emails to Michael Bayley the CEO. Our letter to the BBB was met with we are working on it at which point the BBB dropped the case. What they didn't tell the BBB is we have been working on it for almost a year. I am finally to the point right now were I am done, I will try and collect what I was promised and move on to another cruise line. What a waist of 8 years and a lot of money trying to build up points in their casino and Loyalty rewards.

Flew from Spain to join a Royal Caribbean cruise (Freedom of the Seas, Jan 24), and the experience was extremely disappointing.

We missed 50% of the itinerary (Grand Cayman) due to a medical emergency, which we understand can happen. However, the alternative provided (Freeport, Bahamas) was not comparable at all.

We had to spend extra money just to access a beach:

$140 taxi
$20 local access fee
Additional excursions ~$80 per person

Despite reporting everything onboard, we received only ~$10 compensation.

Customer service responses have been generic and unhelpful, simply referring us to insurance instead of taking responsibility.

Very poor customer experience for a company of this size. Be aware if you are booking a cruise expecting premium service.

I went on an 8-day cruise with a family member. Although we stayed in the same room, we had two different accounts financially. I deposited 400$ into my account, and she deposited $110 into hers. At the end of the cruise, I received a bill for $528, and she received one for over $900. I figured, "That's fine, they can charge the extra $128 to my card on file." Nope. Turns out they lumped all the cash into one payment and applied it to my family member's account, and I got the full bill. When I called customer services to explain the situation so they could fix it, they told me, "We are not responsible for that. Work it out with your family member." Not responsible? Uh uh, you made the mistake, and now I have to fix it? Horrible company, I will never cruise with them again.

We purchased premium beverage packages on our cruise expecting convenience, accessibility, and added value. In reality, key elements of the package (such as smoothies and protein shakes) were not available when they were actually needed – for example in the mornings before leaving the ship on port days. The only venue offering them opened too late, making a significant part of the package practically unusable.

Breakfast service was also poorly organized. In a large dining area, only one bar station served fresh orange juice, resulting in long queues every morning. Service was inconsistent, and at times we were told we could not order multiple items (such as a cappuccino and orange juice) at the same time, which made no sense and was handled differently by other staff.

Overall, having a premium package provided no real advantage – in fact, it often felt like a disadvantage due to waiting times and unnecessary restrictions.

What is most concerning is how the complaint was handled afterwards. The entire issue was dismissed based on “internal logs,” without properly considering the actual guest experience or the practical usability of the service.

This creates a clear gap between what is marketed and what is delivered.

This experience is not worthy of the Royal Caribbean brand, and based on this, I would strongly advise future guests to carefully reconsider purchasing the beverage package.

Due to a port closure, which obviously we as customers don't control, Royal Caribbean changed the itinerary knocking out two of the countries we would have visited and taking us to two others we had no interest in. A port closure making the cruise worthless to us is not our fault, yet Royal Caribbean showed no empathy or desire to compensate us for the inconvenience. We wanted to cancel the trip, but would have lost the thousands of dollars spent. They didn't care about us as customers, only the money.

Brutal policies and horrible customer service, we are never cruising with Royal Caribbean again.

I am an Emerald crown society for RC. I am not recommending this line to cruise. They do not care about customers service anymore. I had a bad experience in a cruise done at the end of 2025 and had another bad experience in a cruise already booked and not able to cancel. Do not cruise with RC.

Customer service and breach of consumer rights

Family cruise of 8 on harmony of the Seas Jan 25 th for 7 nights. if you are looking to lose weight, Royal is made for you. food was awful. our main problem is when went to the solarium bistro for lunch. mind you, there are only 2 buffet venues on the ship. we were met at the door by a gentleman stating we were not part of the organization that rented out the entire restaurant for the week. I have dispute with chase credit card. RCL are nothing but liars. YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP!

Entertainment was like watching a high school performance. Food was mid. Rooms had old nasty rockhard beds. The ac barely worked. Boring and not much to do.

I won't use this cruise company again for one simple reason. The cruise was good although food mediocre, but having paid my entire bill at the end of the cruise and received a receipt for about £900 my credit card was subsequently charged another £365 after tge cruise. I tried to contact Royal Caribbean but was passed from one department to another and no one had any idea and frankly didn't care. So I went through my credit card company that reimbursed me immediately. Royal Caribbean did not even give any explanation. As a result we now cruise with everyone other than this awful company.

Royal Caribbean is by far the worst cruise line I have ever cruised with, and I’ve been on many. I recently went on one as a family trip (not my choice!) and surprise surprise, it’s still terrible.

Their service is bad, food is bland, and they scam the hell out of their clients. Everything has an automatic 18% gratuity on it when you’re charged, and you are automatically charged $18.50/day per person for gratuity. Even when I opted NOT to do this (I like to take cash and do it myself because I do not trust these companies!!!). I still got charged, but because they send the invoice after the cruise is done.. they refuse to give me back the money.

Still terrible. Will always be terrible. Do not sail with Royal Caribbean.

The customer service of this company is a nightmare. I'm planning a group (10-12 people) cruise for my husband's milestone birthday. Before planning, I called the cruise line and asked for the best options for coordinating a group. Given the size of our group, I was advised to have everyone make their own reservation but link their bookings together. We followed those instructions, but a long list of issues has ensued, and customer service has been anything but helpful. Two of our guests had their reservations canceled without notice. We caught the cancelations when I called in to verify mine. When they called back to reinstate the booking, one of those guests -- a solo traveler -- was told there were no rooms left in his original price category and it would be more than double the price to rebook. Additionally, we were told that some of our guests -- even though they booked at the same time and linked reservations as instructed -- were moved to a later dine time, and there was no more availability at the original dine time.

Collectively, we all called customer service more than eight times trying to resolve these issues -- myself six times. The process of getting through to a customer service representative through the automated system is arduous. The information the customer service reps could see in their system differed from what we could see in our accounts. (e.g., Logging into my account online, I could see all our friends' names and booking numbers listed as being linked -- including the one who was told he was canceled -- but customer service insisted they saw no linked bookings.) The customer service reps simply said there was nothing they could do to help, even when I escalated the call to a supervisor. I finally asked to speak with a manager and was told they would have to call me directly. But they never did. I ended up back in the customer service queue trying to solve the issue. In the end, we aren't sure if our party -- many traveling from around the country for this celebration -- will be able to dine together, and the friend who was canceled and pushed into a higher price point won't be able to join us at all.

If asked, I would recommend that people consider a different destination, different itinerary, different ship, different anything before booking with this company. Whatever the sale, ship or itinerary looks like, it's not worth the risk or hassle.

Absolute shit show from the start. My complaint is so long I cannot even type it out. But a quick synopsis.

Room had no AC, Phone in room did not work, Door handle fell off inside the room, Dining was a disaster, moved every night and the first night the service was so bad I left after 40 min without even being served my drink.

9 year old daughter was kicked out of the kiddy area because the life guard claimed she looked older than 9 all while she had he child wrist band on.

Scuba Excursion was canceled without notice, royal promised to pay for our next excursion and that never happened. Another excursion they allowed us to set up our 19 and 17 year old sons to do together then refused our sons service because the 17 year old was not accompanied by a parent even though his adult brother was with him. But they let us sign him up for it and did not make us aware.

At the end all of Royal Caribbean upper management has ghosted us and offered us a 10% discount for a future cruise.

It was an absolute shit show and the worst vacation I have ever been on!