My wife and I did the Southern Caribbean Cruise out of San Juan on December 5, together with other family members. I have cruised with Royal Caribbean in the past and had great experiences. The company has obviously changed, however, and my experience this time was a nightmare.

First, everyone in our group booked a specific stateroom and paid in full for the cruise at the time of booking. Thereafter, the cruise line changed our room assignment twice, citing unavailability due to Covid and "maintenance." Each time they made a change, they billed us additional amounts. Some members of our group had their reservations cancelled because these improper additional charges were not paid. We spent literally hours on the phone with rude customer service representatives attempting to resolve the company's errors. Believing the problems were resolved, my daughter and her husband were not allowed to board until they paid an additional $1,600 for an airfare charge they had already paid. Again, they had to spend substantial time with customer service once they got on board to have the erroneous charge reversed.

On the second day of the cruise, I suffered a painful back injury when a step on the stairway between the 11th and 12th decks gave way and came off it's frame. I was in pain for the rest of the cruise and it impacted my ability to enjoy cruise activities. While the cost of the ship doctor and medication he provided were covered by the cruise line (so far, at least), I was offered no other compensation for my pain and suffering or the loss of enjoyment of the cruise, other than an unspecified credit against a future cruise, which, based on my experience here, I am sure Royal Caribbean would not honor. Read more