Cruise passenger Laura Dowsethill paid for an unobstructed cabin on her Royal Caribbean cruise and was shocked to find her view was far from what she expected.

Dowsethill posted her cabin to a Royal Caribbean Facebook group and it instantly became the subject of significant debate.

Dowstehill said: “I paid for a 0% chance of obstruction and was given rooms to choose from. This was a non-obstructed superior balcony room apparently. Photos online of similar view rooms were given, with no obstruction.

“I chose the actual cabin number based on my research and looking at photos of the class cabin it was online. I got my room number immediately.”

Dowsethill added it was such a disappointment she barely used the balcony.

“We ended up barely using the balcony. It was lit up at night so unfortunately more noticeable. I wish we didn’t pay extra for it.”

The general sentiment was that the service was unacceptable and customers deserved the cabin they paid for.

Slevea Hülle said: “Not acceptable, that’s a partially obstructed room. I’d go to guest services.

“And I’m a little taken aback by the ‘first world problem’ comments. This is what you paid for and you’re entitled for the product you did pay for.”

Many commenters suggested Dowsethill should have googled her room number, but this was also met with opposition.

Aislin Steele said: “Sorry but if I’m paying extra for an unobstructed view why on earth do I have to go and google my damn room to know if it’s unobstructed?

” I had my first cruise last year and this would’ve annoyed me so much. I have never seen this being a problem and would not have thought this could happen.”

Other cruise passengers shared similar stories

Peter Leslie said: “This was our unobstructed cabin on Quantum in November 2022. Went to guest services and was eventually relocated a day later.”

Ian Keen shared an image taken by his friends.

“Our friends booked a balcony and RC gave them this.”

Mary Finlay wrote about her experience of being unhappy with her Royal Caribbean cabin.

“RC has a very strange idea of what is obstructed and what is not. This was our view on Quantum and when we questioned it we were told our cabin was classed as an unobstructed view.”

Our own horror story involves a cabin on a ship in the Med. We were told this was our room for the next 10 days…

We grabbed our cases and took them to reception, telling the manager: “If this is our room, we’re leaving the ship now.”

Here’s what we got as a result. Bit different, right?

Tips for getting a cabin you’re happy with

• When you book your cabin, you can often choose between choosing your own cabin or paying slightly less for a non-guaranteed cabin. You can then google your cabin and see if you are happy with the view offered.
• If you step into your cabin and don’t believe you’re happy with what you were offered, the first step is to contact either the ships guest services or your travel agent and see if you can move to a different cabin or be compensated if you believe you weren’t given what you were paid for.
• If you feel like making extra sure, you can find Royal Caribbean Facebook Groups and ask if people have used that particular cabin before and can advise on its qualities.