Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
GUIDE
How to understand cruise cancellation and refund policies
Cruise cancellation and refund policy is the set of contract terms that decides what a passenger still owes, or can get back, when a booked sailing is given up before departure. On the two lines checked, those terms are not set out in one place: Princess Cruises ties the applicable passage contract to the voyage's departure port, and Royal Caribbean lists payment and cancellation policies as one FAQ topic with future cruise credit redemption as a separate topic. [4] [1]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- Princess Cruises issues more than one passage contract, and which version governs a booking depends on the voyage's departure port; booked passengers are told to sign in to Manage Booking to read the contract for their own booking. [4]
- Royal Caribbean lists "Payment & Cancellation Policies" and "Future Cruise Credit Redemption" as two distinct topics in its FAQ index, so the FAQ index presents the credit question separately from the cancellation question. [1]
Where the rules for your sailing live
Princess states that its passage contract versions apply according to the voyage departure port, and that a booked passenger should sign in to Manage Booking to reach the contract that pertains to their specific booking. [4] The page therefore points booked passengers to their own booking rather than naming one contract for all Princess voyages. [4]
Princess also splits its contracts geographically: one contract generally applies to most voyages except select itineraries departing from Australia, Japan, Singapore, China and Korea, while a second contract applies to select voyages from ports within those countries. [4] Two passengers boarding in different regions can therefore be covered by different passage contracts. [4]
Royal Caribbean's FAQ index groups its answers into topics that include Payment & Cancellation Policies and Future Cruise Credit Redemption, and the site footer links a Cruise contract. [1] Travel protection is not one of those FAQ topics: it appears elsewhere on the same site, under Manage my cruise and again in the footer. [1] The index checked here is a directory of topics; it does not itself set out deadlines or charges. [1]
Refunds and future cruise credits
Royal Caribbean's FAQ index keeps the two questions in separate topics: "Future Cruise Credit Redemption" appears as its own topic, listed apart from "Payment & Cancellation Policies". [1] The index checked here is a directory of topics; it does not set out when a cancelled booking produces money back, when it produces a credit instead, or what a credit may be spent on. [1]
The Princess page checked does not mention future cruise credits. [4]
Travel protection and insurance
Both lines link to travel protection material: Royal Caribbean as a link under Manage my cruise and again in the footer, Princess as Princess Vacation Protection in its site footer and a Vacation Protection Plan in the Manage booking menu. [1] [4] Neither page checked sets out what such a plan covers, what it excludes, when a claim must be filed, or whether a payout is affected by cancellation charges the line has already applied. [1] [4]
Exceptions and limits
- Departure port. The main Princess contract does not extend to select itineraries departing from Australia, Japan, Singapore, China and Korea, which are covered by a separate contract. [4]
- Booking channel. Princess's route to the applicable contract is Manage Booking, which is aimed at passengers who have already booked. [4] Royal Caribbean's site lists meetings, incentives and charters as a business line, but no charter cancellation terms appear on the page checked. [1]
- Fare type and sailing date.
- Statutory rights. Any cancellation or refund rights a passenger holds under the law of their own market are not described on either page checked. [1] [4]
Sources
Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. The pages checked are Royal Caribbean's FAQ index and the Princess Cruises passage contract page. The pages checked do not publish a penalty schedule or refund table.
- Royal Caribbean frequently asked questions, checked 18 October 2026
- Princess Cruises passage contract, checked 18 October 2026