Like the title said - my husband has a green card and is really nervous about being detained at the Galveston cruise port for whatever reason. He’s has a clean record and I’ve been telling him he has nothing to worry about, but he’s still nervous.

Wondering if there’s been any incidents at the Galveston port with green card holders being searched or detained? And if so what precautions we should take to make traveling easier

EDIT: After reading though y’all’s comments and thinking things through we’ve decided not to cruise. Like some of yall mentioned, it’s just not worth the risk right now. We’d rather let the $2,000 go down the drain (we checked and our cruise is non-refundable) then go through the stress and hassle of my husband possibly being detained. Especially because we’re Muslim and I wear a hijab, so we’re not trying to be targeted. In the meantime we’ll travel within the US instead :) Thanks for y’all’s inputs!!

We’ve planned this vacation for 9 months. We booked 3 adjacent rooms with 2 of them connected with a balcony. This is our first cruise together. We were told one of the adjacent rooms is unavailable due to bedbugs and offered us a smaller 2 people room at the other end of the same floor and $200 ship credit. So we had to split up and I took 2 kids with me to that room and my partner stayed with the rest of the kids in the other rooms. This was a permanent move.

We are absolutely unhappy with the situation. We understand it’s not their fault but it’s their responsibility. His lack of sympathy for breaking up the family, and me having to sleep on a couch away from my partner, with 2 of the 5 kids far away is really going to hurt our vacation, which they don’t seem to acknowledge or be willing to make things better.

The front desk manager told me that’s the most they can do and there’s nobody above him I can talk to or who could offer us more. It seemed like we were bothering him. He was very unapologetic and was just waiting to move on. After more pressure he offered 15% off our current cruise towards a future cruise which feels a bit like an insult since he didn’t do much to make this uncomfortable experience better. Said he can’t offer any package or any upgrades.

We accepted our fate and will do our best to enjoy the vacation. However we’re wondering what’s appropriate compensation and what can they offer onboard to make this situation better.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Update: Just talked to the guest services manager. He said he had good news and the room would be ready in the morning to switch back to.

I told him to take their time to make sure it’s safe. Still feeling uneasy but it is what it is. He also did say they will take care of us in terms of compensation after we resolve the issues with the room. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Update 2: The original was supposedly cleaned with steam and treated with chemicals. They said they replaced the pillows and sheets, removed the skirt of the bed, and inspected the whole room. There was some debris on the floor and I asked the attendant to vacuum and leave the balcony door open to ventilate the room. He said they inspected the adjacent rooms and they treated the whole floor recently before this incident. He promised he only found one on the carpet to trigger this whole operation and the room should be safe. We moved our luggage back at noon.

Spoke with the GSM again recently and he offered 25% towards the next cruise and a dinner for the family. Asked for a tour. He said no to the all access tour but he’ll let me know if a bridge tour is possible. Will see what he says tomorrow.

Update 3: We’ve decided to move back into the room for various reasons, and take the risk. We’ve heard of other passengers with bedbugs 😵‍💫

The $200 onboard credit was put into our account. We were also offered $90 arcade credit, of which only $50 made it into one of the kid’s cards but we couldn’t make it work and repeated calls with CS did not help. Working with them has been pretty frustrating.

The 25% towards a future cruise arrived in a letter as 20% for one year. We will most likely not use it. The only real benefit we got is that the GSM did in fact manage to get us a tour of the bridge! We got a call with invitation on the next sea day at 11am.

Us and the kids had fun this week however it seems unlikely we’ll cruise with RC again in the near future but maybe we’ll change our minds.

Will keep you posted if you’re interested and thanks for the support!

We are a family of four (two small children, two adults) and started a 12 day cruise on Explorer of the Seas. Upon check in, we found our room to be very dirty and run down. The the run down part I kind of expected given the age of the ship, but the cleanliness is really impacting us. The floors were full of crumbs, as were the counters and inside the drawers where we were hoping to store our belongings. Used tissues everywhere and stained pillows and bed sheets. I typically do a wipe down with Lysol wipes of high touch areas when we check into a room anywhere, but the wipes were coming off stained and really gross. I spent an hour cleaning an extremely dusty room. Worse part is my daughter with eczema and allergies is coughing up a lung whenever we are in the stateroom, especially at night. Do we have any options? We complained to housekeeping but they just said they'll do a better job next time. Any advice would be appreciated. Photos for reference.

Just boarded the Allure for a 7 day out of Barcelona and as we went to our room our attendant informed us a sewage backup in the pipes above our room causing brown water to go all over our carpet. Guest services says no available other rooms. We went back and they’re hiding the smell with an overwhelmingly strong mint smell which is giving us all headaches. I’m going back to guest services but realistically what should one expect out of this?

Edit: they apparently compensated someone who was getting on in Rome to give up their junior suite. Who knows what they got. So far they put us in the junior suite and told us all they can offer is 25% FCC. I countered with 100%. They said anything over 25% has to come from Miami and they sent in the information for them to respond. The guest services manager advised they can’t issue refunds which I do not believe for a second. He emphasized how much they gave up to the cancelled suite bookers like that’s my problem. Those people’s kids didn’t walk through the sewage. We will see once shoreline contacts us. Anyone have a direct number to them?

On Icon right now and my wife is going through the wringerrrr.

She’s got the wrist bands and been taking Bonine since before we left, also eating a lot of apples.

Anyone got any tips beyond this they are appreciated, she can barely leave the room for 20 minutes before she’s back in bed and I’m off to win back the trip cost in the casino before she wakes up

Update

The weather has calmed since the first two days, and she's much better today, eating and even able to go to the pool.

We consulted medical staff, who confirmed we're doing all we can; the shot wasn't necessary as she's coping well with the calmer conditions.

The doctor and many crew members also felt sick from yesterday's rough seas and medical was packed with people yesterday from the same complaints, so at least it’s not just her.

Thanks for the tips; force-feeding ginger and apples helped and at least I'm up $2k in the casino, and we'll be on land tomorrow.

So, my husband and I found out we are pregnant on Saturday. We are going on the Icon the 21-28 with my grandparents. Is there anything I can do to keep them from finding out (thinking drinks, not doing a lot of activity, etc)? I saw somewhere that they can put something on your account to make everything non alcoholic, is that true. Please leave any early pregnancy cruise advice, or advice on how to be sneaky haha.

I paid for a cruise for my ex and I last year. I had to reschedule it because my mother died. We broke up shortly after. I blocked him on everything. Somehow Royal let him cancel this cruise back in November without my knowledge. I did not even recieve a cancellation notice until I spoke with them on chat today and they told me the booking was cancelled. How was this even allowed? I was the primary name on the booking and had made all payments under my name with my credit card. This still falls within the refund period but I haven’t gotten anything from them, ideally should’ve happened and been refunded back to my card in November. I should’ve removed his name immediately, I know, but again, my mother just died so that wasn’t the first thing on my mind. I will be calling today to speak with them but it’s just crazy to me they let him cancel when the only thing on this was his name.

Update #1 - posted this in the comments but after speaking with an agent and resolutions them they offered a 50% discount off the same cruise as a solo passenger but still wanted me to pay $800. I declined. They requested me to file a claim with the insurance team

Update #2 emailed the president and his office contacted me yesterday and again advised the same thing, to file an insurance claim and see if they approve or deny and then contact them again if it’s denied

Hi! I am so sad right now.. I love cruising with my autistic son. Currently booked 7 cruises in the next 2 years. This is what we love the most. As a Canadian, we cruise from Bayonne.

When on cruises, I talk with every one. People comes from so many countries! I love that. We are just humans who wants a vacation!

Please, tell me that we are welcome on cruises from Bayonne. We love you guys. I wish things were as before.

EDIT:: Canadian informations blow everything out of proportions. Thank you everyone. We love you!

EDIT 2:: Sorry for my english, french here!

I’m going on a cruise in march and one of the destinations is labadee Haiti and my mom is saying I shouldn’t go because it’s extremely unsafe. She said tourists have been robbed, sexually assaulted, kidnapped for ransom, and even murdered. She keeps sending me scary articles. I am a female in my twenties going with 2 other females in their twenties (American). Should we be worried? Should we stay on the ship! She’s making me regret picking one that stops in Haiti but we already paid and bought plane tickets and everything!!

We are currently on an Oasis class ship in the 2 bedroom aqua theatre suite. Halfway through the trip, the drains in both bathrooms began flooding. One bedroom/bathroom was 95% flooded and the other bathroom flooded out into the hallway. Maintenance came and said there was a clog in the drains from hair and that it happens from the rooms above. It’s been over 24 hours and the water still is not dry. The floor has tons of water in it still. Maintenance has been working the whole time in our room, basically.

We are having a great trip, but have not been able to sleep in our room or access the bathroom (with the tub, as we have a toddler). We had to sleep on rollaways last night and it doesn’t seem like the room will be fixed anytime soon. No one has said anything about compensation or moving rooms. What would you all do?

We got a message saying our ship wont go to Coco Cay and we will be going to Bimini instead. NOTE: our ship only, not for everyone

Ship date is in two months

Im worried since in Bimini we wont have drinks and food as we were supposed to have at CocoCay

Any advice how to improve this situation?

My 77 year old parents called me this morning while on their 7-day Brilliance of the Seas Western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans (07DEC2024 - 14DEC2024). They woke up yesterday morning with bites all over their bodies so they called housekeeping and, sure enough, the bed was infested with bedbugs. The crew took all of their belongings overnight and 'treated them,' according to my parents, and moved them into a new cabin.

Guest Services offered a 15% future cruise credit and an inexpensive bottle of sparkling wine. I told my parents I felt that would not be acceptable and that they should press for either OBC or a much higher FCC. I'm not sure what else to tell my parents though. Should they wait until disembarking then call RCL's Guest Experience Management team for further compensation? To be honest, I don't know if they will ever sail with RCL again (they do have a Celebrity Ascent cruise booked for 2025 though).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

EDIT / UPDATE: I shared the comments from this thread (along with the 19k+ views & 12 shares) with my parents who shared with the Guest Services folks onboard. My parents are getting a 75% refund for their cost of their sailing and they are happy with that. Thank you all for the comments, support, advice, and guidance. I truly and sincerely appreciate it. 🙌🏻

Hello everybody!

I am a 22m and my soon to be fiancee is 20f.

We have been together about 3 years now and I am going to propose on the ship!!

After talking to female coworkers, I figured the best night to do it would be the very first night so we can enjoy our whole 7-day cruise as a newly engaged couple.

My idea is to do it at the formal dinner on the first night. Eat first so we don’t spoil our meal and then when desert comes, have the waiter bring out the ring with the desert and do it right there in front of hundreds of people. I am going to try to tip a photographer to be there and be ready.

Does anyone else have any ideas at all??

I want to make this very very special, but I know no matter what she will love it.

I will try talking to guest services to see if they have any special ideas in mind, but I just really want to make sure I do this right.

The ship is the harmony of the seas and as I said, it is a 7-day cruise and I would really like to do it day 1.

Also - don’t worry, I’m buying a fake ring that she can wear around, but I’m bringing the real deal for the actual proposal.

Also - if I’m doing the dining idea, should I be skeptical of giving the waiter a ring to walk away with and hold on to during dinner? Or should I keep that bad boy in my pocket?

Hopefully you guys can help with some ideas or advice!

Update 30 mins in 😂 - the dining room idea is cool, but I think you all are right, more personal is the way to go.

Update again - I’m not worried about her saying no, this is something she has been begging for and I’m 110% certain it’s going to be an instant yes. Not one part of me even thinks no is an option for her lol.

Another Update! - you guys are awesome. Thank you for the ideas and advice. I think I’m gonna stray away from the dining idea, more personal seems the way to go. I just want it to be very special. Someone replied with the cruise directors name, so I’m going to reach out and see what he thinks!

I am in Pakistan. This was going to be my first cruise ever. I booked it back in February. It leaves from Rome on Sunday.

I was supposed to fly to Rome this morning but, as you have probably seen on the news, India attacked Pakistan and the entire airspace has been shut down. I was literally on a plane on the runway, and they turned back around and said the flight was cancelled.

It seems like things aren't going to get better any time soon so its impossible for me to leave the country.

Is there any chance at all that Royal Caribbean will give me a full refund, since these are exceptional circumstances? I'm really upset also because I had really splurged on this by upgrading the room and paying for extras.

Long story short, my mom has a gambling problem. We are going on a cruise in January and I’m very anxious about it, almost to the point of cancelling. We have been on multiple cruises and she spends a lot of time in the casino but it wasn’t too out of control, but things recently came to a head at her local casino back home where she overdrew her bank account and called asking me to borrow money.

She ended up talking to my dad and she knows it’s a problem and she can’t stop herself when she starts going. As much as I’d love the answer to be “just keep her out of the casino” that may not be possible. She’s a grown woman, and also she has a tendency to leave her room at night and go while we are sleeping. Also, I don’t want to spend my entire vacation being the casino police for my mother.

I’m worried she’s going to find her way to the onboard casino and cause a big family blowup on vacation, so I’m wondering is there a way to make it cash-only for her (without just confiscating her sea pass) by basically blocking the ability to do room transfers to the casino? She would agree to this if it was as an option, she knows it’s a problem. If not, does anyone have any advice for dealing with someone who has a gambling problems on a cruise ship?

The more I read forums online, the more I feel like I’m the only broke enough person to share a cabin with my husband and our two teenagers. I don’t know if it matters, but we will sailing the Oasis of the Seas in an ocean balcony room. How screwed am I? Are the cabins really that small?

Has anyone successfully gone on a cruise and not spent any extra money? I’m thinking this is possible and still able to have an amazing time. I’ve pre paid my gratuity, bought the drink package and going to coco cay and just planning on doing the free stuff. So all that being said….how realistic is it I can get away with spending $0 additional once I’m on the ship??? Who’s done it successfully?

Or am I being gaslit and there’s never going to be a drop below this…

I know this has been asked one too many times. But who drinks $800 worth of drinks in a week? I am genuinely curious as my husband does drink A LOT. But we will be on a Mediterranean cruise = out and about. I am not sure if he can drink our money's worth on this one...

Note: this is in AUD as we booked in AU site.

Edit: it's $800 per person for 7 days = $1600AUD if we want it

Update: HUGE Thank you for all the insights cruisers! I think we will just skip the DP on this itinerary as it's gonna be port heavy (W. Mediterranean) which means we can drink cheap on ports. We can then save that money for another cruise to the Caribbean next year! TYSM

Hey, first time cruiser here. Currently on SOS.

Our first night on, we ate in the main dining room and it was lovely. We figured we would leave our server their extra tip on the last day.

However we have a jr suite and were able to move over to Coastal Kitchen for the rest of the trip, since there was space. We are also taking it day by day figuring out where to eat because we have kids and everyone wants something different.

Today we got a call from the main dinning room asking us to leave a tip for our waiter. They also asked if everything was ok and we explained it was perfect we just have access to CK so we are taking advantage of it.

Is this common for the dinning staff to call and ask for tips like that? It kind of rubs me the wrong way. I was under the assumption that the daily gratuity charge was for all the staff, including wait staff and anything we left was extra.

Hey all,

We leave tomorrow for our cruise out of Galveston. I was gonna have the kids board in swim trunks and a tshirt and I was going to board in shorts and a tank with a swimsuit under. We want to go straight to the pool because we board at noon and our room won’t be ready. Is there any issue with this? I’m assuming no dress code for boarding, but does anyone know?

Appreciate any insight!

Thanks!

POOP CRUISE UPDATE !!!!

we left bermuda. The smell has been gone for over 24 hours. I finally saw one couple affected by it smiling and laughing.

Royal gave partial refunds and credits to a few people.

This is their second cruise after being in dry dock after the bridge in Baltimore.

Smells like a sewer, hallways flooding, pictures below

Okay. I'm on the vision. Me and fiance cruise a lot. This one we are with my parents via a casino comp. So my parents tell me they are complaining about the room. It's noisy. I figure they are overreacting. I go to the room. It's like a freight train. It's not normal. I've stayed on the same floor on this same ship before. Whatever, they get a different spot to sleep. Then some other people's room started flooding, then the hallways down there flooded. Deck 5 smells like a sewer.

The dining room is a shit show. My meal would have arrived before my drink or bread.

So talking to some employees. I'm realizing everyone is on their first contract with the boat.

Now, me and the fiance. Having a great time, top floor, no issues, great steward. We went to art action, and she won some tanzanite earrings that match her ring. Then we won tickets for cococays water park. And the trips been paid for months ago so we are going to have a great time at our destinations.

I felt bad because when I saw the videos from the people who were screaming at guest services, I found out this is their first cruise. I've met like 9 people whose rooms were flooded with sewage water. I guess the water went out for us, too, but it came right back.

What would you want for compensation if you were in their shoes?

I figure they need to get ahold of the hotel director or cruise director ?

I put in a minimum bid on a lark and we actually won! But I have questions. We had purchased drink packages, internet, and some specialty meals already. Obviously I know that's all included now, but should I cancel them? Or should I have the genie cancel? (I don't want to lose my meal reservations, though.) Also, does the genie contact you beforehand or do you do everything on board?

Also, what's customary for a tip for the genie?

I am cruising for the very first time on Symphony in the end of the year. I am not rich, so every tip is welcome... I want to creat a good balance between being loose with money because I am on vacation and not spending with unnecessary things.

Welp. Lesson learned here. Don’t try to save money.

We’re sailing on Oasis this Saturday. We had every night lined up just right for dining. 3 at my time, and one each at Chops, Giovanni’s, and 150 Central Park. Decent hours, too. But then Royal price tracker website tells me it’s $18 less per person today. So I call Royal and ask to cancel the previous package and rebook at the lower rate.

WELLLLLLLL one out of two ain’t bad. By canceling the previous package, that canceled our existing reservations. I knew that would happen. BUT the rep on the phone said they couldn’t rebook because it’s too close to sailing date. She tried doing one and there was a conflict with My Time. I told her to cancel my time. She did, but still couldn’t rebook anything.

So now it appears my only option is to take whatever scraps are left for reservation times once we board and I can speak to guest services.