Royal Caribbean Cruises Reviews 1,226

This ship seriously needs to be retired. The condition of the rooms alone is unacceptable—our couch was covered in mystery stains, and one of our pillowcases even had old blood stains on it. That set the tone for the entire trip.

We booked this particular cruise solely because of the excursions, but every single one of them was cancelled. The replacements we were offered were subpar at best and nothing like what was advertised. The food on board is mediocre, with the buffet closed for more than half the day (14 hours total), leaving very limited options. On top of that, the paid WiFi barely works in large portions of the ship, which is ridiculous given the price.

The pools are some of the dirtiest I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. To make matters worse, guest services is useless—they just pass you off until you get too frustrated to continue. Overall, this was the worst cruise experience we’ve ever had and we’ll never book this ship or any other RC ship again.

Ordered two Internet packages after reaching their website last night which stated to take advantage of offers I had to complete booking before the end of the diminishing clock (which stood at 9+ hours) expired, cost $251.88. Today, 24 hours later, through 'A Flash Sale', they increased their offer to $227.88, thereby costing me $24. Hardly seems fair, nor in the spirit of offering clients good value. Disgusted!

After several years being loyal to royal our recent experiences on Royal C has made us decide that this company now only cares about profit and more profit at the expense of customers, especially loyal ones.
The room was dirty, the internet did not work a lot of the time even after paying for the best at sea.
The staff appeared disengaged and only happy to talk to each other in their native language.
The atmosphere on board was that of apathy, most people just happy to get drunk and get rowdy.
The food was at best poor with very little taste. No point of filling in the customer satisfaction questionnaire as no one takes any notice of it . Royal we are done ,better cruise lines out there with better service , more care for their customers, better prices and definitely better itineraries .

Currently on adventure of the seas and we are in a sunset jr suite room 6694. We originally had a ocean view suite and then rccl talked us into the sunset jr suite, boasting about the incredible views . I guess they are correct it is a incredible view of rust . I can not even use the balcony because it so disgusting. Guest services is only willing to give me $100 on board credit and I paid alot more then $100 to upgrade. This is the worst experience ever oh and the cabinet doors fell off the hinges when I opened them on the 1st day , which took them over 3hrs to get someone to repair it. I am a diamond plus member and never had a bad experience but I felt like I got taken advantage of with my upgrade I felt they should have reimbursed me the upgrade fee or at the very least half of the upgrade fee. But I think $100 is a slap in the face. So when I return I will cancel my next 2 cruises that are already paid for this year. If you are booked on a upcoming trip on adventure of the seas avoid the sunset jr suite.

Traveled the high seas on Royal Caribbean
‘ Utopia Of The Seas’
This last July 4th Weekend 2025 .
Not a cruise person , often getting sea sick , especially a 10 days voyage to Alaska and preciously on a Bahamas cruise on Royal Caribbean some years back .
This time I was not sea sick , got a balcony room on the 9th
A big shout out to my housekeeping staff lead Ronald, who went over and beyond ..
Wait staff Raju and his Team &
all others I countered from across the seas 🌎
You all made our 5 day cruise, a memorable one ❣️
.
Thank you & SalaamNamaste 🙏🏻

If I could give them 0 I would. Royal Carribean lost my bag coming out of Ravenna on the Voyager of the Seas on Monday morning.

I tried to wait for my bag but I was put on the wrong transfer which meant I was being pushed straight onto the bus at the departure time. I reported it to the person managing the bags in the baggage hall who filled in the lost item form on an iPad. I asked what else needed to be done, he said nothing. In fact, there was. I needed a Personal Property Report form from them to prove that they acknowledge the loss of the bag. When I called customer service for an update, without this form, they are refusing to do anything at all and accused me of lying about losing a bag.

I was told this is why they sell extra insurance, and it was my fault that I didn't. There is nothing they are willing or able to do. We're on day three with no updates about the bag or response to the three emails I have sent. I take three cruises a year from a wide variety of lines, but this will be my first and last with Royal Caribbean. Avoid at all costs.

Our recent experience with Royal Caribbean’s photo package was extremely disappointing and felt like a bait-and-switch. When our Genie asked if we wanted to schedule a private photo session, we assumed this would allow us to skip lines at the regular photography areas and simply make the process easier. We all dressed up and invested significant time taking pictures at a variety of venues throughout the ship.

At the end of our session, I asked the photographer if the pictures would be available in the Royal Caribbean app, as with the standard photo packages. I was told, “No.” Instead, we had to schedule a separate appointment just to view the photos. When we showed up for this viewing, we were subjected to what felt like a high-pressure timeshare sales pitch. The photos looked fantastic, but we were then told each digital photo would cost $250. That price is astronomical and nowhere close to being communicated up front—nor were we told that the session wasn’t included in the regular photo packages.

We wasted valuable vacation time on a session that we’ll never get the images from. The lack of transparency regarding pricing and availability of digital photos is unacceptable. I feel this entire process was misleading from start to finish. AVOID—SCAM.

The worst company ever!! Boat Violence!!

I’m writing this in relation to my friend who never spoke about it as her life was threatened and she almost passed.
Mob Festival 2010 Leaving Porto de Santos
The boat Vision of the Seas my friend got brutally attacked by a man called Ronan Teixeira from Belo Horizonte (a psychopath) because she refused kiss him, he attached her in the corridor when she was going to her cabin! He raped her, punched her as she was trying to defend herself, she was Screaming for help but the crew got there too late and he almost killed her! The result??? The capitain kicked her and this psychopath out of the boat without ANY help as she had a panic attack crisis due to the situation, back then she couldn’t speak English and the crew spoke English, and he went again after her to try to kill her for being kicked out of the cruise. She now lives in Australia as she left Brazil after this man threatened her life for saying no to him on that first night of the MOB FESTIVAL 2010! She got extremely harmed with HUGE damage in her whole body and she still suffers from anxiety, panic attacks and is scared of people! This changed her whole life thanks to Royal Caribbean
The demon Instagram stalonexhotmailcom

Horrible company. They basically just steal your money. They change the destination of your holiday tripband offers no refund or any help.

Royal has been a nightmare . Getting taxes and fees returned . Also i have a Royal Caribbean gift card and they say you cant use it on the ship. What ?? What a joke. Only to pay a new cruise. Carnival at least lets you use them on the ship. I was hoping they would be better. They are much worse. Zero stars if i could.

I am editting this review after I have had time to reflect.

First the stars remained a 3 because of the few things that were a minus for me.

Here's the short version.

Many of the activities were great on board. Trained staff were required and fantastic learning staff made you cconcerned.
Huge diversity on the ship which was great.

Food was the best and drinks
The slides, laser tag and pools were
Actually downers especially with the way too loud music.
Kids were not really aloud to play.

If you do this ship and have younger kids not teenagers get them to the play rooms they will like it more.

Long version

Pros:
●many fun great activities ies on board.
● Ice skating
●Behind the scenes tour was great as well super cool.
● Hot tubs
● FOOD both buffet and Italian restaurant with wilfredo as our server was amazing and the steak house server was super fun and made sure to get us a family picture as well I forget thei name . Will update when I remember names
● Escape room was fantastic!
Behind the scenes tour. I forget if his name was Francisco or fredrico.
● Drinks
●kids area however we realized late
●surprisingly rooms beds were what I would say is mid range comfort the shower was great although prone to mold due to the sliding door creating a small area between it and the wall for moister to collect.also the rooms had temperature control TV and storage. Mostly quiet minus the connecting room but as long as your neighbors stayed quiet you were good only one one side as a problem.
● elevators were way better than what people told me they would be for being on floor 2.
● Guest services especially Guest service officer Blazheski literally saved the vacation for us multiple times.
● Movies late at night in hottubs
● The views
● navigtion to stay in good weather.

Cons:
● not convient for wheelchair and disabled grandmother bumps all over the ship and ramps that led to bumps. Almost tipped grandma out the wheel chair.
●the music in family areas was far too loud and constant through the speaker creating to much of a super loud party atmosphere where kids would normally be in the pool playing. Feels like that should be in a different area.
●THE FIRST DAY AND BAGS.
Warning this is a long part
the long shoreman discouraged us and prevented us from checking in bags so with a disabled grandma in wheel chair that we had to force them to get for us and a and daughter I had to with thebhelpnofnpeople pushing grandma in the chair cary 9 bags and a child through all the check points and safety briefing. I would have had to keep them till the end of the day if not for the guest service officer listed above.
● Hot tubs didntnhave wheel chair ornery access for old or less mobile people.
● wheel chair lifts either didn't work or staff didn't know how to use.

It felt like they wanted to have three different kinds of atmospheres
One adult atmosphere, two relax on vacation atmosphere, and three family friendly fun.

But they didn't physically space them away from each other so it didn't work in many different situations.

Departing was fast and easy maybe a little too so I accidentally didn't have one of my bags but they were able to get it back to me. I seem to be missing just a pair of sunglasses I'll call to see if I left behind as well.

They mailed me back the bag but it cost money not terrible considering size and weight.

Many things over all were great it just felt like for ha ing called every week three days a week ahead of time they should have been able to set me up for success more rather then the amount of work I had to put to being on the ship and trying to.make it fun and relaxing for.my family.

We were shocked to find that a used towel we had deliberately placed on the bathroom floor earlier in the day was not replaced. Instead, it had been folded and placed back on the towel rack. This caused us serious concern about the hygiene practices.

Independence of the Seas July 20 - July 25

The lack of empathy from the crew at Royal Caribbean Cruises after the disappearance of Amy Bradley is astonishing. I wouldn't recommend anyone with a sane mind to go on a trip where you could be trafficked, sexually assaulted, murdered and no justice whatsoever. Worthless company.

This will be my first and last cruise with Royal Caribbean. Their website is a joke. It never works and constantly frozen. This is 2025 put more money into your IT support. Also I have cruised on several other competitor lines and never have an issue linking rooms and reservations together for dining so that my family can all sit together. This has been the most difficult process and experience and the customer service reps are no help at all. The same thing they do I can do. There is nothing that they do for you that is above and beyond from what I can just do myself so why bother calling?

worth every penny you spend you get so much for your money food excellent service excellent ship is amazing you cant have any more perfect then this i wouldn't go on any other. servers went beyond out of their way managers made sure everything was perfect everything day ship cleaned and maintained very well anyone who complains need to go on cheap cruise and get what they payed for if you want the BEST THIS WILL BE IT THERE IS NO COMPARISON they rather to everyone and welcome everyone appriciate the service you get these people work externally hard to please you I even felt overwhelmed with all great services I felt unreal but you getting a lot 3 islands top resturants top entertainment top ship top service what more you want or need. dont hesitate and go on it om first time cruiser but I dont think I would ever get on anything else .

From day one my experience has been terrible. We purchased the key (total waste of money) thinking that we would get specials. This was because we are first timers. Customers services are not friendly anymore. We were told that are room wasn't ready, but in fact it was. Our statesmen was waiting for us. We lost that too. The communication is terrible on this ship. Food is terrible treats terrible. If your into different international foods maybe it might be good. I'm not trying it. The American style food was terrible. The food at chops was just below average to bad. The steak was overcooked I asked for medium received very well done. (yes I believe it was very well dead) The pools should have been salt water, the pools were also very cold. The chlorine was so strong I was left coughing for over an hour. The end of trip as they explained your luggage left in the hall for several hours hoping someone would not take off with it. The last day breakfast in the assigned restaurant was poor too. Then to get to the luggage (the key) what a joke! We had to find our own way to pick up our luggage then we were suppose to have some numbers, that again wasn't given to us. Then as I look over one of the crew members are yelling at my wife about the way we came up to her to get our luggage telling her that we need the numbers maybe a card not sure. The women needs help she's a screamer. I just said I see my luggage & I am taking it. She told me to just go get it(with attitude). Why would anyone ever pay for the KEY. On a positive note I would give the cleaning staff a Five star rating. Customer services negative 5. The greeters negative 5 The baggage people in the Key negative 5. I would hope that Athens of The Sea would hopefully improve. The cabin was great The view was Great. The shows were above average. We did have a good time, it took us ( my wife & I) five days to figure it out. Would I go again if I new all this. Most likely due to my bucket list. Maybe another boat from another company. Who knows they promise a lot but fail on what they deliver.

We recently took our first Royal Caribbean cruise on Serenade of the Seas to Alaska 6/28/25-7/6/25. We’ve traveled on other cruise lines in the past, but will NEVER cruise with RC again . Serenade has been having mechanical issues for months . After my recent look into this issue. The ship keeps sailing, but not notifying passengers of the ongoing issues . Instead they keep canceling the most beautiful ports and have been canceling the same ports since May. But continue to stop at the souvenir ports that they restock the ship . The average family can’t afford this kind of trip , but maybe once in a lifetime. Why does RC keep allowing this ship sail and take our hard working money ? Oh yeah ! RC refunded us a measly port fee , but pocketed the rest of our money . Our floor or one of the connecting floors had a sewer leak . It smelled like poop for the last two days . I’m extremely frustrated with this situation along with many others . I also reached out to the executive director in Miami with no response from him. I will NOT stop until I get answers. I sure hope others from the past few cruises step up to help us ALL out . I will never stand behind a business that is dishonest . Best regards, Bridget Seebeck

The food that was included in the price was average to poor. I had the worst creme brulee I have ever tasted. There was a general lack of vegetables with the meals. The breakfast buffet had a good variety of food. The paid restaurants provided good food but the cover charge was expensive.

The staff were all friendly and helpful. The stateroom was OK but the sheets and towels had definitely seen better days.

There was too much loud music; sometimes there were 2 different sets of music competing. It was not obvious if there was a quiet place to go and sit.

The wifi was very expensive.

The spa staff seemed to be incentivised to sell products. It felt like there was constant pressure to buy things.

We have not even set foot on the Allure of the Seas and we received an email letting us know that our family of four, two rooms booked, are being split up.
When we called we were told that our booking category was "Interior Stateroom Guarentee". Which I acknowldged as I choose side by side rooms. However, I am told that the category actually means randomized rooms. Not sure how the title makes sense with the definition I have been provided.
Then when I asked to cancel my reservation due to this change, and no available alternatives, the title of the email I received was, "Notification of Change", I was told that there was no 'change' to the reservation that the email was providing a room assignment. I again pointed out that the wording was not representative of it's meaning. I was told that no refund would be granted.
I have now followed the email instructions to "check-in". However, I am not able to do that nor am I able to confirm the reservations for dinner, which I believe I have booked. I of course do not trust this due to the room issues. When I try to click on that link it says, "Error Retrieving Booking".
I can only image what else they have in store for us to extort more money and do the bait and switch with verbiage.
Without even starting this cruise I know I will never be back!

If I could give zero stars, I would.
Our family (totalling 16 passengers inclusive of all children and partners) were planning a cruise to celebrate the parents' big 70th birthdays. We live around the world and were planning to get together on a Spectrum of the Seas cruise to spend 4 days/nights together. As you can imagine, it was very difficult finding a time where everyone could make it, but we committed and booked our rooms separately. Flights were also booked in advance to accommodate our travels to the departure port and back home.

First, there was a redeployment. Not uncommon I guess, so we looked at our options, confirmed our options with the cruise line within the time limit stated on the email, officially rebooked another cruise sailing the same day according to their options (1 day longer, travelling to another destination, and change of arrival port), then asked for details about arrival, how long it would take (for some members of the group who would have to make it to the airport in the original arrival port). It was a mess coordinating at the start - but this wasn't the cruise line's fault so some of us sucked it up, hoping to keep the atmosphere relaxed and focused on our parents.

A month after the confirmation deadline, we all receive an email saying we didn't confirm (even though we did), and therefore "as per your request your booking for [this cruise sailing x day] has been cancelled and a full refund will be issued within x days..."
We didn't cancel, we didn't want a refund, we just wanted the time we planned together to actually be spent on the cruise and not have to plan extra accommodation or activities if we were to not be on a cruise.
Some of us spoke to the cruise line asking why we were cancelled/refunded the booking - apparently they said "there is no documentation in our notes about you confirming the cruise."
This isn't true because there were calls to Royal Caribbean's customer service about how it was locked in after we already chose [this option] (to travel on the second cruise to another destination and arriving at another port) and that we would not be able to change it.

The icing on top? After we all discussed it further and just said we won't be travelling on this cruise line, one of the group said that Royal Caribbean called them up asking if they'd book another cruise with them!
They just asked why they were cancelled to begin with even though a month prior they were "locked in and already chose this option" - to which RC said they'd call back in the afternoon and never did.

We all suspect RC cancelled our bookings because the rates at which we paid for the first cruise were cheaper than the rates we would've had to pay on the second cruise (the rates were locked at the first cruise's price because of the redeployment) - and that RC wanted "less paying customers" to be kicked off to allow "full price paying customers" to book the cruise.

In saying all this, the customer service were actually helpful when I had questions about the cruise, proceedings, options, etc.
However the cruise line itself is immoral and definitely NOT where anyone should spend their money.