Royal Caribbean Cruises Reviews 

I requested a refund of my pre paid gratuities whilst on the Brilliance of the seas during the transatlantic crossing which ended on 11 May. It is now a month since I requested the refund of over £421 and despite calling almost daily I have not had my money, this feels like theft. I have had interest charge on my credit card because of the pure incompetence of Royal Caribbean. Customer service used to be great now it’s appalling and Michael Bayley and his team simply don’t care

We got screwed on a cruise booking, we went with 3 parties in our group who booked together, the 2 of them were able to book an "XB" cabin which is any available balcony, (and subsequently, about 25% cheaper) than picking your own balcony.. we were not able to select the XB option, of course until the next day it magically appeared again for us later that week. We ended up paying +$300 more than everyone else in our group because of a technical error. Not fun! Will never use them again, total scam and not worth it. I called to get it adjusted 1 day later and they said it was "too late" -- thanks for nothing, Thanks for allowing us to get ripped off +25% on our vacation compared to the other 2 groups who booked at the same exact hour as us. Fun start to the trip!

Have not even started the cruise and its a mess. I have been on over 20 cruises, but this time booked a group cruise for my 65th birthday in November. The entire process has been nothing but aggravation, With setting up the individual reservations, packages, access to the group. I have booked 10 rooms for 22 guests. NEVER AGAIN!! There is no special treatment when working with a " Group specialist" This whole experience has me never wanting to go on a RCL cruise again!!!

I have the worst experience on this cruise the staff treated us like trash we waited at the bar for 20 mins before we where acknowledge but everyone else that was white got royal treatment my shower was cold I had to shower in the sink and I bought a drink package and they keep telling me my card was inactive I had to go to customer service several times daily just to be able to get a drink after we spent 300 per person on UNLIMITED DRINKS. We had a family of 61 on board and the experience was not at all good they where very nasty and rude to us for no reason and I’m very upset I spent all that money for a bad experience. Even when we where at coco island my card didn’t work for drinks and I was told we had to go alllll the way back to the ship to get it fixed smh never again .

I sailed on Icon of the Seas 4/11/2026 through 4/18/2026 Eastern Caribbean Cruise for our Honeymoon. We live in Orange County Ca and selected Icon for its 7 waterslides onboard, spa services, and culinary options when compared to Carnival, Virgin and NCL that leave from San Pedro Ca for 30-50% less. We are EXTREMELY disappointed with Royal and will NEVER sail on any Royal cruise ship. We paid $2,000 to fly roundtrip from OC to Miami where the ships port is, and another $8,000 for 2 people mid ship floor 7 balcony sea view room. The staff are very rude with the exception of housekeeping. The dining room looks great but tastes awful. We tried several dishes from the main dining room over our 7 day cruise and they were TERRIBLE. The waterpark onboard had 6 of the 7 slides out of service the entire cruise. Complaints were made by numerous guests and maintenance never fixed or even attempted to fix the problem. The had a lifeguard blocking all 6 slides with a "down for maintenance" sign the entire cruise. The cruise ship is the destination and why we flew from OC to Miami for $2k and paid $3K more just to sail on Icon. The biggest selling point of Icon is the drop slides, no other ship has the type or number of water slides Icon has. The only slide that was open was a super slow, zero drop boring slide. I wasted 3 hours of my cruise waiting in line for a disappointing kiddie slide. The CASINO is a SCAM. The dealers, and casino staff don't give the correct credit for hours played or average bet. I had a discrepancy and received 4 separate answers from 4 different casino managers even after the cameras were checked. They casino staff especially Crescenzio are delusional. Crescenzio refused reward credit and accused me of not playing at a table when I was. After he insulted me by saying, "It's not like your going to get a free cruise" and re-checked the cameras they supposedly already checked...Crescenzio apologized after he realized I was playing there for over 2.5 hours at a $25 minimum table. On top of Crescenzio over the top rudeness he asked me to point out other cruise guests on the casino floor to verify my play. This was beyond unprofessional, none the less I obliged and spotted several guest on the casino floor to verify my play/average bet. I wasted 4+ hours of my last night sailing disputing my casino play. The casino acknowledged their mistakes and unprofessionalism by Crescenzio by offering me a $100 onboard credit which was beyond insulting. The Spa sauna didn't work the entire cruise due to "maintenance". The staff was aware, and again nothing was done. This was a serviced paid for and not received. Royal Caribbean is extremely over priced, provided a terrible experience, staff has terrible attitudes, rude, and food is TERRIBLE. I cruise Carnival and NCL yearly. Carnival and NCL is 100 times better value, cheaper, and main dining room food is very good. Royal Caribbean is a bait and switch, they advertise cool ships, you pay, board, and everything cool and different from typical ships is "down for maintenance". Royal stated they knew about this issue 10 days prior to my sailing. They never sent an email stating the slides will be down the entire cruise, BUT Royal continued to push and sale us onboard amenities and activities even while aboard the ship on departure day. The service is HORRIBLE! After my cruise I spent 6+ hours speaking with representative Louis, Sky, and Carlo with zero care or solution to my issues. The representatives spoke broken English and very hard to communicate with. STAY AWAY FROM ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!

Is there any option less than 1 star? No compassion for a military family! All we asked for was to move the date or for a credit and nothing! They will keep 75% of the paid in full amount and a big old screw you to us! Stay away from this place. Better off on the SS Minnow!

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.