A cruise ship passenger recently found herself confined to a room for the remainder of her voyage after a physical altercation occurred during a show on the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas. Claudette (@claudettee.c) shared her experience in a series of TikTok videos that have since racked up over 1.6 million views.
Per BroBible, in her first clip, she shows off her new, austere living quarters, which she refers to as cruise jail. It’s quite jarring because the room is stripped of almost all standard amenities. There are no curtains, showerheads, cables, or even a chair in the space. It’s a setup that is designed to prevent the occupant from causing self-harm. The room features an always-on light and restricts the occupant to receiving food and drinks exclusively through room service.
Later, Claudette uploaded a story time video with all the details. The situation began after her team won a competition during one of the ship’s shows. When they got back to their seats, it was taken by other passengers. Claudette took it in stride, stating, “Move your feet, lose your seat.” The group began looking for new seating, and Claudette eventually approached a woman who was on her phone to see if she could squeeze past her.
I am pretty sure the woman was so engrossed in her phone that she didn’t know what was happening
Claudette couldn’t understand the woman’s response and asked her to repeat it. It immediately made the woman aggressive, who then asked Claudette how many times she was going to pass her. Claudette simply told her that it was her first time passing the individual, and then attempted to pass while holding her hand up in a stop motion.
The woman then smacked her hand. Claudette admits that she reacted by punching the woman, though she claims it wasn’t a particularly hard hit. She describes her action as a way to tell the person not to touch her.
After a brief commotion, the two parties moved to different areas. Not long after, the woman’s husband approached their group. He got into Claudette’s aunt’s face, yelling so aggressively that he had to be pulled away. Security eventually intervened.
Claudette said she cooperated, but the security team was only focused on one fact: “When they spoke to both of us, they asked us what happened, and the only thing they cared about was the fact that I punched her in the face, because punching is assault. Smacking is not.”
Claudette says she was promised access to CCTV footage of the incident to prove she wasn’t the instigator. She stated that the cruise line then reneged. Even though no charges were filed, she was forced to finish her trip in the restricted stateroom.
She mentioned that she was allowed to charge her phone and receive visits from family members, provided they submitted to a pat-down before entering. Since then, another TikToker, who was also a passenger on the ship, sent her a POV video of part of the incident.
Cruise lines maintain strict policies regarding passenger behavior. Royal Caribbean’s Guest Policy makes it clear that the company has the sole discretion to determine if a guest’s presence creates a risk for the vessel, crew, or other passengers. If the ship’s management decides that a guest has breached these standards, they have the authority to remove onboard privileges.
This can include confinement in a stateroom or a holding cell. The policy also stipulates that any expenses incurred as a result of these enforcement actions fall entirely on the passenger. Passengers do agree to these terms before they step onto the ship.
A cruise is an expensive holiday, so it is extremely frustrating when something goes wrong. It could be missing the trip, or having a carefully planned proposal get destroyed. However, being put in a stateroom to wait out a trip you are already on takes the cake. It is no surprise that Claudette has no intention of going on Royal Caribbean ever again.
My only real lingering question from the entire story is, why on earth was Claudette the only one held responsible?
