Devastated guests turned away in Brisbane after Royal Caribbean oversold cruise

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas sails past Manhattan.

Devastated holidaymakers attempting to board a cruise hip sailing from Brisbane were informed there was no cabin available on the ship for them after they arrived at the port ready for their vacation.

Royal Caribbean confirmed to news.com.au it had oversold its Quantum of the Seas eight-night South Pacific cruise, which departed from the Queensland capital on Tuesday. The news came to light after a letter handed to unlucky travellers at the terminal was shared on social media.

It said: “We regret to inform you we have been unable to allocate a stateroom number to your reservation.”

“The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, and we apologise for the inconvenience. Every aspect of your time with us should be enjoyable, so we have put together some alternate options for you.”

Passengers who had not been assigned a room were given four options.

The first was to remain on standby and “hope that a stateroom will be assigned at the pier before check-in closes”, and if a room did become available, they would receive $US100 (about NZ$160) of on-board credit.

Royal Caribbean oversold its Quantum of the Seas cruise and turned guests away at the terminal on Tuesday. Photo / Reddit

If no cabin became free, they would get a full refund and a 25 per cent future cruise credit.

Option two was to move to a cruise itinerary similar to the one they had booked at the end of January, and option three was to go on a different seven or eight-night cruise. Both options included free upgrades “where available”.

Option four was the ability to cancel and get a full refund with an added 25 per cent future cruise credit.

The cruise line apologised for the inconvenience in a statement to news.com.au.

“Making our guests’ vacations a reality is what we do, and while disruptions to their plans can occasionally happen, we do our best to minimise those chances,” Royal Caribbean said.

Royal Caribbean International launched Quantum of the Seas in November 2014.

“The demand for the recent November 28 cruise on board Quantum of the Seas went beyond the rooms that were available.

“Unfortunately, efforts to accommodate all those who wished to sail that fell short for a group of our guests, and some were unable to sail as planned.”

Royal Caribbean did not reveal how many passengers had been affected by the incident.

A shocked traveller who posted the letter on Reddit said it was to be their first cruise. However, when they arrived at the port, they and 13 other couples were handed the letter saying there would potentially be no space for them on board.

They said only two of the 13 couples were allowed to board the ship - the rest were told to make other plans.

The guest took to social media to ask for advice from their followers, seeing as though they couldn’t book another cruise “due to leave restrictions”.

“Absolutely devastated and completely ruined my holiday,” they wrote.