Massive Compensation Offered After Royal Caribbean Overbooks February Sailing

Guests excited about their upcoming Oasis of the Seas sailing on Saturday, February 7 just might be more excited about not setting sail after all. Royal Caribbean has reached out to travelers with a special offer, likely due to overbooking.

The notification email concerns the ship’s 8-night Southern Caribbean itinerary departing Fort Lauderdale this weekend. Port visits are planned to Aruba, Curacao, and Perfect Day at CocoCay (weather permitting of course!).

“Ahead of our Oasis of the Seas February 7, 2026, sailing, we are looking to see if you and your travel party have flexible travel arrangements,” the email said.

If guests do not have that flexibility, there is no need to do anything and they will be able to enjoy their cruise as planned. For guests who do have travel flexibility, however, Royal Caribbean has a very tempting offer indeed.

“Offer: Cancel your booking and receive a 100% refund, PLUS a 50% Future Cruise Credit to book an alternative Royal Caribbean sailing.”

Yes, you read that right. Guests who accept the offer will receive a full refund with no fees or penalties, including non-refundable deposits and reimbursement for pre-purchased expenses such as flights or hotels.

Additionally, guests who accept the special offer will also receive a future cruise credit (FCC) worth 50% of their original cruise fare. This amount does not include port fees, taxes, or other onboard pre-purchased expenses, such as drink or dining packages, shore tours, or pre-paid gratuities.

The FCC can then be used on any future Royal Caribbean cruise so long as the new sailing departs no later than February 7, 2027. The new cruise does not need to set sail from Fort Lauderdale, be aboard Oasis of the Seas, or be on a similar itinerary, but can be any sailing guests choose, including the upcoming Legend of the Seas.

To be clear, the FCC total will be based on the price of the Oasis of the Seas fare and is not a guarantee of a 50% discount on the future cruise, but the dollar amount can be applied to that future sailing regardless of fare price.

To take advantage of the offer, interested guests must fill out a survey and wait to hear if they are selected. The offer is only for a limited time and is subject to availability.

Is Oasis of the Seas Oversold?

While Royal Caribbean does not confirm that Oasis of the Seas is oversold for the February 7 departure, that is the most likely explanation for such a generous offer. Even though the ship can welcome 6,780 guests at maximum occupancy, there just may not be room for everyone.

Overbookings could result from technical problems with online booking engines, phantom cabins being booked that might not actually exist following upgrades or renovations, or simply errors in the reservations system.

Cruise lines can also deliberately overbook a few cabins, knowing from their decades of experience that some guests will cancel at the last minute or simply not show on embarkation day.

By making very attractive special offers, the cruise line would be hoping to resolve the situation so all guests are happy, without the need to force anyone to miss their vacation because of room availability.

Some guests would likely accept the special offer and be thrilled with the prospect of a generous FCC to rebook on a different sailing, and other guests get to enjoy their vacation without knowing they might have missed out if no one took the deal.

So what would happen if not enough guests took advantage of the special offer? It’s possible that another, even more attractive offer might be made, such as upping the FCC amount or adding onboard credit to the future booking, which could tempt a few more guests to take advantage of the deal.

In very rare cases, guests may be denied boarding if no staterooms are available. This did happen for a Quantum of the Seas sailing from Brisbane, Australia, in November 2023. Those guests were given a full refund and a 25% FCC for their abruptly cancelled vacation.

In late 2022 and early 2023, Wonder of the Seas also had a number of overbooked cruises, as did Allure of the Seas. More recently, Liberty of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas both had overbooked sailings in May 2025. Adventure of the Seas was overbooked in June 2025, and Radiance of the Seas had a similar problem in October 2025.

The exact offers made to guests on impacted sailings varies depending on the extent of the overbooking, the time before sailing for Royal Caribbean to correct the situation, and other factors.