Oversold Cruise Leads To An Incredible Offer For Passengers!

How does this keep happening?

Passengers booked on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas 7-night Western Mediterranean cruise departing from Civitavecchia (Rome) on 15th May 2025 have received a surprise offer from the cruise line due to overbooking.

Guests have been presented with three tempting options to help manage the situation, all of which could see guests essentially enjoy a free cruise!

Royal Caribbean has contacted some of the guests on the ship – it’s not yet clear which category of stateroom those guests are booked in, but we know it’s guests who booked an Oceanview or better.

That’s because, in the email, the cruise line offered three solutions – one of which includes a downgrade to an Interior Stateroom.

At the time of writing, this offer only appears to have been made to guests boarding on 15th May in Civitavecchia.

With Allure of the Seas’ current season, the ship is embarking and disembarking guests both in Barcelona and Civitavecchia as it sails around the Med. Guests boarding in Barcelona on either the 11th or 18th May have not yet been contacted, as far as I can tell.

The three offers are:

1. Switch to an Interior Stateroom: Guests can downgrade to a “cozy” (Royal Caribbean’s own words) interior cabin, but in return, they will receive a full refund of their original fare plus a $200 (USD) onboard credit. Despite the smaller cabin, they will still experience all the same dining, entertainment, and amenities of the ship.

2. Transfer to Odyssey of the Seas: Guests can swap their Mediterranean cruise for a 7-night Greek Isles sailing on Odyssey of the Seas, departing three days later from Rome on 18th May 2025. This new itinerary visits Santorini, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Naples. The fare for this new cruise will be fully covered, and guests will receive a full refund of their original fare.

3. Cancel for a Full Refund and Future Cruise Credit: Guests who choose to cancel their reservation will receive a full refund, including non-refundable deposits, plus a 100% future cruise credit for the value of the original fare. This credit can be used on any Royal Caribbean sailing departing by 15th May 2026.

Regardless of which option impacted passengers opt for, they will enjoy either a free cruise or a 100% Future Cruise Credit, alongside a full refund of their fare which they could then put towards a second cruise.

If guests choose either of the first two options, they’re essentially getting their cruise for free. Of course, they may choose to put their refund towards a second cruise, meaning they essentially get a two-for-one deal!

If they choose the third option, they don’t get to enjoy a cruise right now but they can put the 100% Future Cruise Credit towards one, meaning a free cruise at a later date.

In addition to these options, Royal Caribbean has promised to reimburse any non-refundable, pre-paid travel expenses such as hotels and flights for guests who switch or cancel.

Guests were not forced to choose any of the options – the cruise line was looking for volunteers so that most could continue sailing in their originally-chosen stateroom.

Overbooked Again: A Pattern for Allure of the Seas

This isn’t the first time Allure of the Seas has faced overbooking issues. A similar situation occurred with the ship’s 24th April 2025 sailing, where guests were also offered alternative arrangements.

The ship has a history of overbooking around this time of year, with another incident in late April and mid-May 2023.

Overbooking typically occurs when a cruise line sells more staterooms than are available, anticipating that some guests will cancel before the sailing date.

However, this can become an issue if more passengers than expected choose to keep their reservations.

With this latest issue, impacted passengers were only given a couple of days to make their choice from the three options. If no response was given, their booking remained unchanged, and they continued with their original cruise reservation as planned.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.