Who to trust when booking a cruise
We were forced to cancel a cruise for my son and his girlfriend and immediately contacted Cruises Only for guidance on how to proceed. We were specifically advised to keep both rooms booked, as my son and I were assigned to one cabin and my wife and his girlfriend to the other, which would supposedly preserve our onboard amenities, excursions, and rewards. We were further told that the charges tied to the two passengers would simply “fall off” once they were marked as “no shows.”
Unfortunately, that advice proved to be completely inaccurate and financially damaging. When we later visited the Next Cruise desk onboard to discuss a future sailing, we were informed that we should have canceled the room entirely. Because we followed the instructions given to us, the cruise line now reflects both cabins as occupied, eliminating any possibility of reimbursement, future cruise credit, or discounted accommodation toward another cruise.
To make matters worse, we had also purchased travel insurance believing it would provide protection in situations exactly like this. After waiting on hold for nearly an hour with the Aon travel insurance representative, we were informed that our policy did not cover cancellations of any kind. It is difficult to understand why such a policy would even be sold as “travel insurance” when it fails to provide one of the most basic protections consumers reasonably expect.
According to the representative at Cruises Only, the original guidance had also come directly from a Royal Caribbean International representative. Regardless of where the misinformation originated, the outcome remains the same: we are now out approximately $2,000 due to poor guidance, misleading information, and a complete lack of accountability. The most frustrating part of this entire experience is that neither company appears willing to take responsibility or show any genuine concern for the financial loss their advice created.







