Minnesotans Beware! This Nightmare Cruise Scenario Could Happen!

I've never been on a cruise before. I see the appeal of taking a cruise, but I've never really taken the plunge and bought tickets for one. Right now my family is starting to plan a summer trip somewhere, but I would hate for this type of scenario to play out if and when we take our first cruise! These people thought they had a room on a cruise ship, but in reality, they didn't!

Royal Caribbean has a very loose definition of "guaranteed room." The guest below arrived at the port and was given this letter saying no cabins were available on their cruise. This guest, along with 12 other cabins, were not allowed to board the ship for their 9-night cruise and had their vacations ruined.

Update: the guest has been contacted by RCL head office and was offered a full refund plus 100% FCC and a free deluxe drinks package for any cruise length. Still, it's disturbing that this happened. We've reached out to RCL for comment but have not yet received a response.

The post is from the page Cruise Spotlight on social media and features a piece of paper from Royal Caribbean explaining to the person holding it that the cruise line was unable to accommodate their request for a room.

The post went on to state that 12 other cabins were turned away for the same reason! It makes me wonder if there was something each cabin didn't do when purchasing their trip, but when you buy an airline ticket you can get bumped off the flight too...

An online post from the website ThePointsGuy.com talks a little about the reason a cruise line would oversell a cruise:

It's easy to assume that cruise lines could manage their cabin inventory through their complicated multistaged cancellation policies without the need to oversell. After all, guests who cancel their cruise at the last minute are not given refunds. Why can't the ship sail with a few empty cabins?

Cruise ships often sail with empty rooms, and most lines use upgrade options to eke out a few extra dollars from unsold rooms at the last minute. But the important factor is that cruisers spend hundreds (if not thousands) on things like drinks packages, spa services, port excursions, and specialty dining. Empty cabins don't generate that additional money, so cruise lines oversell popular sailings as airlines do with flights. They hedge their bets, and sometimes the gamble fails.

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I honestly would be horrified ever to take another cruise if this were to happen to me.

The online post went on to state that the guest was given a complete refund and an offer for another cruise, although if you were offered another cruise after this experience would you take it?

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