Royal Caribbean Ticket Contract Fine Print: 7 Things It Lets Them Do

You agree to Royal Caribbean’s Cruise/Cruisetour Ticket Contract when you book. Most people never read it. This companion walks seven provisions from the U.S. version. Each one was re-read on the live page on 2 Oct 2026. The footer on that page reads R(US)OCT2026.

The contract that applies is the one for guests whose primary country of residence is the United States. The text is the U.S. Cruise/Cruisetour Ticket Contract. If you live somewhere else, start at royalcaribbean.com/guest-terms and open the version for your country. This page is a plain-English reading of the U.S. text. It is not legal advice.

Watch the video above for the spoken rundown. The sections below are the clauses you can check yourself. For where the line has drawn other lines in public, see 6 Things Royal Caribbean’s CEO Refuses to Change. Day-to-day Royal Caribbean coverage is on the Royal Caribbean news hub.

1. They can change or cancel your cruise without prior notice

Section 7.b says the line may, “for any reason at any time and without prior notice,” cancel, advance, postpone, or deviate from any scheduled sailing, port of call, destination, lodging, or activity, or substitute another ship or port.

A cancelled booking and a skipped port follow different rules.

Section 7.a covers cancelling the agreement before you board. Your sole remedy there is a refund or a future cruise credit. The contract says the line has no further liability for damages or compensation of any kind.

A skipped port, a swapped ship, or a shifted schedule sits in Section 7.b. That section says the line is not liable for any claim, including a refund, because of the change. The exceptions are mechanical failures under Section 7.d, and whatever applicable law still requires.

Your own cancellation fees are a separate rule. Section 8 sets those charges, and the live contract now prints the schedule for bookings made on or after 11 Oct 2026. That change is written up in Royal Caribbean cancellation penalties change on 11 Oct 2026.

Before final payment, read Section 7 against your itinerary. If a port is the reason you booked, price the trip as if that port can move. Save the booking confirmation the day you pay.

2. Lost bags are capped at $300 per guest

Section 4.c limits the line’s liability for loss or damage to your property to $300 per guest. That cap covers the cruise, and it also covers the land-tour portion of a cruisetour.

You can raise it. Declare the true value in writing and, within 10 days of final payment, pay a fee of five percent (5%) of the amount over $300. Liability then stops at the declared value, and it never exceeds $5,000.

Section 4.d says the line does not undertake to carry tools of trade, household goods, fragile items, precious metals, jewelry, documents, or other valuables as baggage. Jewelry, cash, electronics, medications, and eyewear stay outside the line’s liability unless you deposit them with the ship for safekeeping against a receipt. Even then, the Section 4.c cap still applies.

A $300 ceiling will not replace a camera, a laptop, or a watch. Buy baggage coverage that names the higher amount, leave valuables out of checked bags, and use the ship’s safe for what you do bring. If you declare a higher value, do it in writing inside that 10-day window after final payment.

3. They can add a fuel supplement after you book

Section 3.c says the line reserves the right, “without prior notice to Guest,” to impose a fuel supplement. It can land at booking, or at any time before sailing.

The trigger is in the same section. Two price tests can switch it on. West Texas Intermediate fuel closing above US$65.00 per barrel is one. Henry Hub natural gas closing above US$3.00 per million British thermal units is the other. The charge is up to US$12.00 per guest, per day. They can demand that you prepay it before you board, or they can put it on your onboard folio. If you refuse to prepay, the contract says that refusal may be treated as a cancellation by you.

The right sits in the contract on every booking. Before final payment, ask whether a fuel line is already on the invoice. Keep a cash buffer of up to $12 per person per day for the length of the cruise. A late charge you cannot pay can be treated as your cancellation.

4. You pay for emergency medical care and evacuation

Section 5.d says, “Guest shall pay for all medical care or other personal services requested or required, whether onboard or ashore, including the cost of any emergency medical care or transportation incurred by Carrier.” If you cannot pay and the line pays first, you reimburse them.

Section 5.b adds a limit on availability. Medical care on the ship and in port may be limited or delayed, and medical evacuation may not be possible from the ship while it is at sea.

The ship’s medical center is a bill, and an evacuation is a bill. Buy travel insurance that pays for onboard medical care and for evacuation before you need either one. Carry the policy number in your documents, and name a person at home who can reach the insurer if you cannot.

5. They can inspect you and your bags without your knowledge

Section 9.j says that, in the interests of safety and security, you and your baggage are subject to inspection, including electronic monitoring, “with or without the Guest’s consent or knowledge.”

A stateroom search is the next subsection up. Section 9.e lets the line search your stateroom, property, or baggage when, in its sole opinion, your conduct may be a danger, a security risk, or detrimental to others, or a violation of the agreement. Section 9.i says the line may refuse to transport you if you refuse a search for explosives, weapons, dangerous materials, or other stolen, illegal, or prohibited items.

Security screening on a ship is ordinary. The consent language is broad, and it is already in force when you book. Pack to the line’s prohibited-items list. The pier rules are in 7 Royal Caribbean Items Security Takes at the Pier. Do not bring anything you would not want found in a search you were not told about.

6. You waive court, a jury, and class actions for most disputes

Section 10.c says that by agreeing to arbitrate, “you and we each waive the right to sue in court, to trial by jury, or to participate in a class or representative action.” Most disputes must go to individual arbitration after a written notice and an informal settlement conference.

Section 10.b.iv applies to U.S. cruises. It says you may bring claims only in your individual capacity, and it waives class and representative actions.

Section 10.c.ii carves out claims arising from personal injury, illness, or death. Those claims stay outside arbitration. They still have to follow the forum and the clock in Section 10.b. For a U.S. cruise, written notice of an injury, illness, or death claim is due within six months, and the suit has to be filed within one year.

A billing fight, a service complaint, or a fare dispute is an arbitration case, brought alone. An injury is the carve-out, and the six-month notice is easy to miss. If you are hurt, write down the date, get the records, and send written notice to the address in Section 10.b.iii before that window closes. For anything already in dispute, talk to a lawyer. This page cannot tell you whether a clause will hold up in your case.

7. They can use your likeness, and your own footage has limits

Section 15.a grants the line, and others working for it, the right to record your name, likeness, voice, and related attributes. It then grants use of that likeness “on a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free basis” and “for any lawful purpose whatsoever,” including advertising, promotion, marketing, and publicity.

Section 15.b says the line owns the resulting materials, including the copyright.

Section 15.c runs the other direction. Any recording or photograph you make of yourself, other guests, crew, or the ship during the cruise “shall not be used for any commercial purpose, in any media broadcast or for any other nonprivate use without the express prior written consent of Carrier.”

A photographer on the ship can shoot you, and the line can use that image in an ad without paying you. A cruise video you post to earn money, or any broadcast, needs their written consent first. Keep private albums private. If you plan to monetize footage, get the consent in writing before you publish it.

What you can do

Open the U.S. ticket contract before final payment, and save a copy with your confirmation. The contract itself says the line may “change, modify, and update the terms of this Ticket Contract,” and that “you nonetheless agree to be bound by any such change or modification.” The copy you read today can differ from the copy in force on embarkation day. The footer code on 2 Oct 2026 is R(US)OCT2026.

Price the trip with three costs in mind. Your own cancellation clock is in Section 8, and it changes for new bookings on 11 Oct 2026. Lost-bag liability stops at $300 unless you declare more and pay the 5% fee. A fuel supplement can add up to $12 per guest per day before sailing.

Buy travel insurance that covers trip cancellation, baggage above that $300 cap, onboard medical care, and medical evacuation. Keep the policy, the booking invoice, and a written note of anything that goes wrong, with the date.

If you already have a claim, the contract’s deadlines and the arbitration clause are reasons to talk to a lawyer promptly. Nothing on this page is legal advice.