A Georgia-based content creator said she had a largely positive experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise, until a room service delivery on her last day left her concerned about cleanliness standards onboard.
Tamika Reeves-Thomas, who posts on TikTok under the handle @marriedwithchildren03, shared a video of what she said was a dirty dish cover that came with her breakfast order on the Jewel of the Seas.
In the TikTok video, she described her overall experience on the ship as “perfect” and said the food and service had been good throughout the trip. But when she lifted the cover off her breakfast plate on the final day, she said she noticed visible stains and what appeared to be ketchup on the underside of the lid, despite saying her order did not include the condiment.
“Please do better. Pay too much money for this type of service,” she said in the video, addressing Royal Caribbean directly. The post has since drawn more than 283,500 views.
Reeves-Thomas said she noticed similar issues with other room service lids after inspecting them
Reeves-Thomas said she tried to be understanding, acknowledging that the ship serves a large number of passengers. “I can understand to a certain extent,” she said, “but at the same time, that’s even more of a reason to make sure that you are careful.”
After noticing the stained lid, she said she began checking the covers on her other room service orders and claimed she found similar problems across most of them. “So pretty much almost all of them,” she said. “They didn’t have stuff like this… but the tops were definitely greasy, as if they’re not washing them.”
She also said the issue was a particular concern for her personally. “I have immune disease, chronic illness, stuff like this I can’t do,” she said in the video. She added that she wished she had checked the lids every day throughout the trip rather than only noticing the issue on the last day. She is not the only passenger to have raised cleanliness concerns on a Royal Caribbean ship, another guest flagged unsanitary conditions found on a towel during her cruise.
One reviewer on CruiseCritic claimed to have found an unidentified substance on the in-room television that was “difficult to clean off,” and described the bathroom as “tired to say the least,” though they noted it was clean.
A separate user on Reddit alleged that hygiene standards on the Jewel of the Seas fell short during their sailing. “There was no hygiene at all,” they wrote. “No one was making people wash their hands before entering the buffet. There was a Purell stand but at least half the guests just walked right by it.”
The same reviewer claimed that tongs were dropped on the floor and put back into food, and that dishes at the buffet were dirty. “No one was wiping tables between guests just clearing dirty plates,” they wrote.
Viewers who commented on Reeves-Thomas’s video had mixed reactions. Some said they found the situation unacceptable. “A cruise line can screw up most things and I won’t care, but dirty dishes or silverware are inexcusable,” one commenter wrote. “Quality control should be elevated to the highest level for those tasks.”
Others shared their own negative experiences on the same ship. “I went on the same ship in 2022. Food sucked, ship was rocking too hard, and I ordered strawberries and champagne for the first day that they never brought,” one person wrote. Another commenter claimed, “I was not impressed by Royal Caribbean, our room was filthy. Hair everywhere, marks on toilet.”
Not all viewers shared those views. One commenter appeared to downplay the incident, writing, “Simple accident. Accidents happen. No reason to even post this.” Disputes between passengers onboard have also made headlines, including one Royal Caribbean traveler who was sent to cruise jail after a seating dispute turned physical.
Reeves-Thomas concluded her video by urging the cruise line to pay closer attention to how dish covers are cleaned between uses. “Just be careful, make sure you wash your tops,” she said. Royal Caribbean has not publicly responded to Reeves-Thomas’s video.
Published: Jul 13, 2026 11:09 am