Cancelling One Leg of a Back-to-Back: What You Owe and What Happens to the Other Leg
A back-to-back is two bookings, so each leg has its own cancellation clock. Here are the charges, a worked example, and what cancelling one leg does not do.
On a back-to-back you cancel each leg on its own, and each leg has its own price of cancelling. Royal Caribbean works out the charge from how many days are left before that leg sails and how many nights that leg is. Leg two sails later than leg one, so its clock starts later. That gap can work for you, and it can catch you out.
Why a back-to-back has two clocks
Royal Caribbean sells each sailing as its own booking. A back-to-back is two of them one after the other, which is why you pay some things twice. The same holds for the cancellation schedule: it is written for one cruise, measured from the first day of that cruise. Nothing on the page joins two bookings into one trip. That is how we read it, because the page never mentions back-to-backs. If it matters to you, ask Royal Caribbean before you rely on it.
What each leg costs to cancel
The charge is a percentage of the total price of the booking you cancel. It depends on the length of that cruise. There are two schedules, and which one you get depends on when you made the booking. The one for bookings made on or after 11 October 2026 is below. Read the date on your own confirmation to see which applies to you.
| You cancel this many days before the cruise starts | 1 to 4 nights | 5 to 9 nights | 10 nights or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 days or more | No charge | No charge | No charge |
| 90 to 119 days | No charge | No charge | 50% |
| 75 to 89 days | No charge | 50% | 50% |
| 61 to 74 days | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| 31 to 60 days | 75% | 75% | 75% |
| 30 days or fewer | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Royal Caribbean cancellation and refund policy, read 11 October 2026, for bookings made on or after 11 October 2026 (for some Alaska, Hawaii, Transpacific, Panama Canal and Pacific Coastal sailings departing on or after 11 April 2028 the same schedule applies to bookings made on or after 29 September 2026). No charge means no cancellation charge. A nonrefundable deposit is a separate matter, see below.
For a booking made before 11 October 2026 the page gives a different schedule for 5 to 14 night cruises: no charge until 90 days out, then 25% from 89 to 75 days, 50% from 74 to 61 days, 75% from 60 to 31 days and 100% at 30 days or fewer. For cruises of 15 nights or more it moves the free window back to 120 days. The one-to-four night schedule is the same on both.
A worked example: two seven-night legs
Say you booked two seven-night legs on or after 11 October 2026, and leg two sails the day leg one comes back, seven days after leg one starts. Each leg is a 5 to 9 night cruise, so the middle column above applies to both. Here is what the days look like.
| Days before leg one starts | Days before leg two starts | Cancel leg one | Cancel leg two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 or more | 97 or more | No charge | No charge |
| 89 to 83 | 96 to 90 | 50% | No charge |
| 82 to 61 | 89 to 68 | 50% | 50% |
| 60 to 54 | 67 to 61 | 75% | 50% |
| 53 to 31 | 60 to 38 | 75% | 75% |
| 30 or fewer | 37 or fewer | 100% | 75% to 100% |
Our arithmetic from the table above, with leg two starting seven days after leg one. Percentages are of the total price of the booking you cancel.
Look at the second row. Leg one has already moved to 50% while leg two is still free to cancel. So if your plans change and you only want one leg, the leg you can still drop for nothing is the later one. That is a fact of the calendar, not a trick. It is useful to know if you hold two offers and one of them stops working. The two offers article has the rules on that.
What cancelling one leg does not do
- It does not cancel the other leg. Nothing on Royal Caribbean’s page links the two bookings. If you want both gone, cancel both.
- It does not move your dates. Leg two still sails when it sails, from the port leg one would have ended in. If you skip leg one, you have to get yourself to that port. See passport or birth certificate if the trip ends somewhere else.
- It does not refund a nonrefundable deposit. On the nonrefundable deposit fares, the page says the full deposit is held when you cancel and any other payments are refunded. Check which fare you booked.
- It does not touch taxes and fees. The page says taxes, fees and any fuel supplement charges are refunded when a cruise is cancelled.
What happens once the first leg has started
The page says cancelling after a cruise has begun, leaving early for any reason, or not showing up is without refund. That sentence talks about the cruise you are on. Leg two has not begun while leg one is under way, so in our reading the schedule above still applies to it. The page does not say so. If you might drop leg two from the ship, call Royal Caribbean before you sail and get the answer in writing.
If a casino offer paid for the leg
A cancelled leg that an offer paid for is not only a money question. Royal Caribbean’s casino terms say a change or cancellation may forfeit the offer, and cancelling a stateroom offer booking two days or fewer before sailing means a $200 per stateroom deposit on a stateroom offer you book in the next twelve months. We cover both in Can You Use Two Club Royale Offers on Back-to-Back Cruises?. Do not cancel an offer leg without reading that first.
How you cancel, and when the money comes back
- Sign in to your guest account on Royal Caribbean, find the reservation and choose Manage Reservation. The page says you can cancel online.
- Cancel each leg on its own reservation. A cancellation is effective when Royal Caribbean receives the notice, so do not leave it to the last day of a window.
- If a refund is due, the cancellation page says to expect 7 to 10 business days for it to reach your original payment method, and the refunds page says some take up to 30 days to post. Royal Caribbean says your bank sets the final timing. If you paid through a travel advisor, the refund goes back to them.
If Royal Caribbean cancels or delays a leg
A different rule applies when the line cancels a voyage or delays embarkation by three days or more. If you choose not to sail on the delayed voyage or a substitute, you can get a refund or a future cruise credit. The page says the line usually issues the credit by itself, and that you must ask for a refund within six months of the cancellation date or the scheduled sailing date, whichever is earlier. This does not cover chartered sailings.
Plan for it
- Write both legs’ sail dates in your calendar, and next to each the date 90 days before.
- Check the date on each confirmation to see which schedule applies.
- If you only want one leg, decide before the first leg’s 90 day mark, so the later leg is still free.
- Use legtolegcruises.com to see the back-to-backs your offers cover, so you book the two legs you will actually sail.
Sources
The legtolegcruises.com Logbook is independent editorial and is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International or Club Royale. Offers, fares, and program rules vary and change often; confirm every detail with Royal Caribbean before you book.