A cruise passenger who was on a Royal Caribbean cruise tried to sue for a refund after he claimed his vacation was ruined due to neighbors who snored too loudly.
Brendan Ritson demanded a full refund of his cruise fare after an 11 night cruise to the South Pacific in December 2016. After the cruise line refused to give him a refund, Ritson took the matter to court where his appeal was recently rejected. The court ruled that his refusal to move to a different cabin was unreasonable.
On the first night of their cruise, Ritson discovered a water leak in their inside stateroom. The ship upgraded them to an ocean view cabin. Three nights later, a mother and daughter moved into the cabin next to them. The two cabins had an adjoining door between them that remained locked.
Eight days into the cruise, Ritson complained that the noise from his new neighbors was offensive and intrusive. He said they snored, spoke loudly, and argued and used offensive language. The ship offered him a replacement interior cabin (similar to the one he initially booked) but he refused to take it as he didn’t want to be “downgraded”.
The next day, he was offered yet another cabin on the ship but refused to take it. Later that night, he called the front desk complaining about his neighbors snoring and how he wanted the noise to be stopped.
The ship offered him yet another new cabin on the last day of the cruise. Ritson said that by then his vacation was ruined.
The court ruled that while the noise from his neighbors may have been disruptive, the cruise ship had not failed to provide quality of service to him by offering him different cabins several times.
The court dismissed his $3,000 claim for a refund as his refusal to move to a different cabin was unreasonable.
