Royal Caribbean Cruises Reviews 

I would give 0 stars if I could! This company hates wildlife, they are about to destroy the habitat of turtles, jaguars and other endangered species.

The Hispanic and white/European staff clearly treat black customers different. The Hispanic and white/European staff were intrusive, rude and disrespectful.

If we could give a 0 we would! This was a horrible experience. No prices are listed on the RC app. When we visited the spa no prices for any services were posted, nor were they communicated to us when we booked a couples Swedish massage. In the RC app, the massages are clearly stated as “priced per couple.” We checked twice with the staff to make sure it was priced per couple and not individually. After our massage we saw we had been charged individually. We went to guest services twice and both time they told us that we would be issued a refund. No refund was ever issued, and upon our 3rd time visiting guest services they put us on the phone with the spa manager, Tailyn, who was extremely rude and unwilling to even listen to our concerns. DO NOT BOOK THE SPA!!!!

I booked a family cruise for my 3 children, brother, sister-in-law, my husband and myself on Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean for June 13-21st, 2026.
Royal Caribbean placed my children on the 14th floor and my husband and I on floor 3!
I called customer service to have the cabins closer together, and they are willing to change cabins if we pay additional fees 😡
I have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for over 10 years and this will be the LAST cruise! Never again!! 😤😡🤬

We were booked on a cruise from Sydney to New Zealand on 27th January 2026. The cruise was cancelled at short notice and we were booked on to another cruise by our travel agent. When we returned home, Royal Caribbean asked us to send receipts for our incidental expenses which we incurred before we started our new cruise, along with hotel costs for two nights. We submitted the receipts and Royal Caribbean agreed the amount we were owed. We are still waiting for the money! We have spoken to Royal Caribbean on several occasions and each time have been told to wait 7-10 days and the money will arrive, only to find they haven’t even sent it. Would never use them again and would not recommend them as a company

We have a cruise booked for October was going to pay in full today but. Noticed my deluxe beverage package was missing we saved it when it wss 55 percent off now they want us to pay 500 plus dollars more we have 8 plus rooms booked the person I talk too said he could only had the new price what a joke Norwegian cruise has frre booze with there packages look to transfer all our rooms hate being scammed

I’ve cruised Royal Caribbean since 1997 but never again.

We were sold a cruise where the marketing featured the Cococay stop as a massive part of the experience but the call was deleted on sailing day with no replacement and no compensation unlike a similar issue in 2019when we got a pro rata refund. We had a truly awful experience in Japanese Hibachi restaurant, mediocre service elsewhere and found 2/4 slides oou. Complained by email and basically told to get stuffed. Escalated twice and third response said we won’t respond if you write again. Like WTF? Truly dreadful - off on MSC in August with a status match!

Not an avid cruiser.
The expectations were missed by A LOT!!
$85 parking lot fee
Miscommunication across the board on ship.
Food was disappointing unless you wanted to pay for dinner.
Lots of walking...
I didn't see the value personally. Won't do again.

I recently sailed on Royal Caribbean aboard Freedom of the Seas for a 4-night Eastern Caribbean cruise to Turks and Caicos with my best friend, and unfortunately this was not the relaxing experience we hoped for.

The ship felt extremely overcrowded almost the entire trip. Finding a pool chair was nearly impossible unless you claimed one very early, and there was very little shade or umbrella coverage anywhere on deck. The pool areas were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with very loud party crowds at nearly all hours.

Cleanliness was also disappointing. Public areas often felt sticky and unkempt, trash was frequently left around by passengers, and people were inconsiderately reserving chairs for long periods without using them. At one point, there was a *human substance* in one of the main pools that required the pool to be drained.

The pools were all very small, absolutely packed with people from open to close, and just ick. We called them people soup. Some guests had zero shame in engaging in whatever activity that struck them in the moment. I didn’t even put a foot in a pool the whole trip.

The food also fell far below expectations. One of the biggest disappointments was the “New York strip,” which arrived cracker thin, dry, and lacking flavor. Overall, the dining experience felt more mass-produced than quality-focused. The lines in the buffet at breakfast would give just about anyone anxiety.

Another major issue was the bar service around the pool decks. Lines were sometimes 5–6 rows deep, making it difficult to even approach the bars. I can’t be totally sure, but the drinks were suspiciously weak. I had the drink package and used it quite often. There’s no way I’d be able to have that many drinks at home so the math ain’t mathing here.

Another thing that I found exhausting was the constant extra charges - wifi is extra, any drink over $14 is extra, can’t go to several of the restaurants, have to pay for your refillable cup, and so on. Elevators would be out of order. Guests liked to push their way in front of you for just about anything. This was just not my scene.

There were still a few positives — the itinerary itself was fun, and spending time with my friend made the trip worthwhile — but overall this cruise felt overcrowded, chaotic, and far less relaxing than expected. I would not recommend this cruise and I will not be returning.

On oasis of the seas in April /May of 2026
The good. The dining room food and the room cleaners.
The bad. Away overcrowded. Had to sign up for shows and still could not get in. Shows kept having technical difficulties. There were people who were massive and could not get in showers so you would see them in the hot tubs in the morning. All music wayyyyy tooooo loud. I will never do this boat again. I may never do RC again 700 + kids on the boat is not fun and old people that should be in the manor who are riding their mororiWd scooters is not fun..... And the nickle and diming you all the time is detestable.

I am so angry at RC for splitting my reservation just to get more money out of me that this will be my last. There use to be this “customer service” thing that doesn’t apply anymore.

My wife and I booked a cruise from Sydney around New Zealand to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The cruise was scheduled to depart on 27 January 2026. Late on the evening of 24 January, we received an email advising that the cruise had been cancelled due to engine problems. While we completely understand that technical issues can happen, the service we received afterwards was extremely disappointing.

We had originally paid for the cruise from a bank account that was closed shortly afterwards. On 25 January, we immediately contacted Royal Caribbean customer service to explain the situation. After a very long wait, we eventually spoke to an agent who advised us that the refund first had to be processed back to the original account. Once the bank rejected the payment, Royal Caribbean would contact us to arrange an alternative refund method.

Unfortunately, this process turned into a nightmare. After six very long phone calls and more than three months of waiting, we finally received our refund.

As this trip was for our anniversary, we decided to salvage our holiday by flying to Hamilton Island for a shorter break instead.

In Royal Caribbean’s cancellation email, we were advised that, in addition to the refund, we could claim up to:

$400 per person for flights
$400 for hotel accommodation (2 nights at $200 per night)
$100 per person for incidentals
A 25% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valid for one year

Originally, we had booked one night at an airport hotel before departure, but after the cancellation we extended this to two nights. Because the additional night was not immediately connected to the cancelled cruise dates, Royal Caribbean refused to reimburse the extra night’s accommodation.

As we are from South Africa, we also lost approximately $600 due to exchange rate fluctuations caused by the strengthening of our currency during the refund delay. We attempted to claim this under incidentals, but this was also declined.

In addition, we had already paid around $600 for New Zealand visas, which became completely unusable after the cancellation. This claim was also rejected.

Our son emigrated to Australia in April 2025, and visiting him was the main reason for our trip to Australia. The cruise was intended as a special anniversary addition to the holiday. Our son will be visiting us in South Africa for five weeks in October 2026, so we do not plan to return to Australia until January or February 2027. We therefore asked Royal Caribbean if they could extend the validity of the Future Cruise Credit so that we could still do the New Zealand cruise in early 2027. Since it is extremely expensive for us to fly to the US, Europe, or Australia solely to use the credit within one year, we felt this was a reasonable request. Unfortunately, this too was denied, despite costing the company virtually nothing.

Some people may feel we are being overly critical, but after the delays, poor communication, and lack of flexibility, we believe Royal Caribbean could have shown more goodwill and met us halfway on at least some of our requests. Although we have enjoyed cruising with them in the past, this experience has left us questioning whether we will choose Royal Caribbean again in the future.

“Loyal to Royal” has always been my motto when it comes to cruising. I truly love vacationing with Royal and have always preferred their cruise line.

Recently, many customers received refunds from Royal in error. The company later recovered those funds, and everything initially seemed resolved. Unfortunately, I was charged back twice, and Royal insisted the charges were correct. I spent over 90 minutes on the phone going through the numbers with an agent, but despite the discrepancies, I was repeatedly told to contact my bank and file a dispute if I believed the charges were incorrect.

What disappointed me most was the customer service experience. The agent initially refused to connect me with a supervisor. When she finally agreed, I was placed on an extended hold and never received any further assistance. As someone who spends a significant amount of money cruising with Royal, I expected much better treatment.
The cruises themselves and the onboard staff are absolutely amazing, which makes this situation even more disappointing. I sincerely hope other loyal customers do not have the same experience, but this situation will definitely cause me to consider other cruise lines moving forward.”

⭐ 1 Star – Terrible Customer Service & Ongoing System Failures

Extremely disappointing experience with Royal Caribbean before our holiday has even started.

After booking an expensive family Alaska cruise on Anthem of the Seas, we experienced ongoing technical issues preventing us from booking excursions, dining reservations and packages for one of our cabins. The same errors occurred across both the website and mobile app.

Over several days I spent around 4.5 hours on calls with customer services, repeatedly explaining the same issue to different advisors whilst multiple IT tickets were raised with no resolution or follow-up.

Although some reservations were eventually completed, we lost our preferred restaurant timings during the delays and the issues are still not fully resolved.

What has been most disappointing is Royal Caribbean’s response to the complaint. Despite acknowledging the inconvenience caused, the Executive Office stated their decision was final and advised that no further correspondence would be acknowledged.

For a company positioning itself as a premium cruise provider, the customer experience and complaint handling have been extremely poor.

Where do I begin? This cruise was supposed to be a lovely week getaway. We boarded excited and looking forward to our trip to Mexico with Royal Caribbean.

Unfortunately, the experience started off rough almost immediately. After boarding, it took nearly five hours for our luggage to arrive at our room. While frustrating, we initially brushed it off and tried to make the best of it.

The first stop on our agenda was the gym — and honestly, it was shocking. The fitness center felt extremely outdated, cramped, and poorly maintained. Several machines were out of service, the equipment looked ancient, and overall it felt rundown and neglected. For a major cruise line, the condition of the gym was incredibly disappointing and nowhere near what we expected.

As the days went on, we started realizing this ship is simply old and worn out. It clearly has a lot of sea miles on it. We still tried to make the best of the vacation, but the experience kept getting worse.

The bed in our room was rock hard and uncomfortable, the TV selection was extremely limited with maybe 15 movies available, and overall the ship just felt outdated and overcrowded. To make matters worse, the AC in our room went out multiple times during the trip, which made the room miserable at times. Housekeeping also failed to properly stock the bathroom with basic shampoo and conditioner throughout the cruise, which just added to the frustration.

The only real positives were the friendly staff and the food — both of which were genuinely good.

But the final straw came on the last day. I started feeling sick and called three separate times asking if I could purchase NyQuil or some basic cold medicine onboard. I was told they would not sell it to me unless I scheduled a doctor’s visit first — which costs roughly $300 onboard. Absolutely ridiculous.

That completely put the nail in the coffin for us. Between the outdated ship, poor amenities, uncomfortable room, repeated AC issues, lack of basic toiletries, and the absurd medical policy, this experience left a terrible impression. We will never book another Royal Caribbean cruise again.

Last night on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas our cabin flooded.

Not a small leak. Flooded.

By 8 AM, our original room was basically unusable. Wet floors, soaked towels everywhere, standing water in the bathroom, and now a musty smell that makes the room feel unlivable.

So Royal Caribbean moved us to a “new” room.

Here’s the problem:
This is the condition they moved us INTO.

Dirty cups left out.
Food sitting on the desk.
Used tissues.
Unmade beds.
The room clearly hadn’t been cleaned or reset.

We understand things happen on cruises. Floods happen. Maintenance issues happen. Nobody expects perfection.

But moving guests from one unlivable room directly into another room that wasn’t even prepared? That’s the part that’s hard to understand.

And the craziest part?
Guest Services acted like a tiny onboard credit should make this whole thing disappear.

Royal Caribbean is a billion-dollar company. People save for YEARS for these vacations. This isn’t a cheap weekend getaway.

At some point customer service has to actually mean something.

Has anyone else had experiences like this on Royal Caribbean lately?

#RoyalCaribbean #AdventureOfTheSeas #CruiseFail #CruiseShip #TravelNightmare #CustomerService #CruiseLife #VacationGoneWrong #RoyalCaribbeanCruise #Cruising

Horrible experience.

I am writing to express my deep concern about an incident that occurred during my recent cruise on the Odyssey of the Seas. My wife and I were in our room 8548 when we were disturbed by the security team during our afternoon nap on May 4, 2026.

The security team bullied uu into an unwanted and disturbing conversation about taking pictures in the public pool area. They claimed that someone had accused us of taking pictures of them and insisted that it was illegal to take pictures of people on the ship.

I find it highly inappropriate that the security team made such claims without any evidence. They also informed us that we could only take pictures of the general areas of the ship, but not of the people. This is extremely difficult to do on a ship full of thousands of people.

I am deeply troubled by the actions of the management and security staff of the Odyssey. They went out of their way to ruin our cruise and vacation. The security team even had me show them the pictures on my personal phone, which is an invasion of my privacy.

It is evident that almost everyone in that area was taking pictures or videos of everything or everyone there eyes could see.

This kind of bullying behavior and unnecessary targeting is completely unacceptable. Royal Caribbean has just lost a valuable customer, and I will be sure to amplify this situation on social media and with everyone we know or come into contact with.

I strongly suggest that Royal Caribbean implement proper training for its security staff to prevent such mistreatment of guests in the future.
I am writing to express my deep concern about an incident that occurred during my recent cruise on the Odyssey of the Seas. My wife and I were in our room 8548 when we were disturbed by the security team during our afternoon nap on May 4, 2026.

The security team bullied uu into an unwanted and disturbing conversation about taking pictures in the public pool area. They claimed that someone had accused us of taking pictures of them and insisted that it was illegal to take pictures of people on the ship.

I find it highly inappropriate that the security team made such claims without any evidence. They also informed us that we could only take pictures of the general areas of the ship, but not of the people. This is extremely difficult to do on a ship full of thousands of people.

I am deeply troubled by the actions of the management and security staff of the Odyssey. They went out of their way to ruin our cruise and vacation. The security team even had me show them the pictures on my personal phone, which is an invasion of my privacy.

It is evident that almost everyone in that area was taking pictures or videos of everything or everyone there eyes could see.

This kind of bullying behavior and unnecessary targeting is completely unacceptable. Royal Caribbean has just lost a valuable customer, and I will be sure to amplify this situation on social media and with everyone we know or come into contact with.

I strongly suggest that Royal Caribbean implement proper training for its security staff to prevent such mistreatment of guests in the future.

What happened RCCL?

Previous cruises were great couldn't fault them.

Fast forward to current ones not even on ship yet and issues started. Despite booking guaranteed room, I have been given one the worst rooms you could ask for. Reason they have overbooked! Will they fix it, no they wont unless I pay another £3000 on top ! For 2027 I was undecided between cruise lines for Fjords, guess what RCCL the choice now doesn't include you!

Many are unsure of the gratuities, RCCl needs to be more transparent on where these go and what cover.

The same company that offers to you and unforgettable experience through their cruisers...The same company is trying to DESTROY a natural reserve (A JUNGLE) in Mahahual, Quintana Roo this is an ECOCIDE

Royal Caribbean and Silversea say that status matching is automatic. But I have been going in circles for seven months with both organisation's saying the other is responsible for matching. Absolutely useless on customer service and really needs consumer regulators to look at false and misleading statements on their websites.