Royal Caribbean Guest Perplexed by “Hidden Speaker” in Cabin
For most cruisers, their stateroom is their private sanctuary to take a break from the exciting activities onboard and unwind in the peace and quiet.
While some may opt to listen to their own music or podcasts, passengers control what may be on the radio – that is, until there is a glitch and a “hidden speaker” develops a mind of its own.
One recent guest onboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas ran into this strange situation when a speaker under their vanity randomly began playing music.
“First time on independence of the seas, we’ve been on three other royal ships, and never seen anything like this before,” the anonymous cruiser shared on Reddit.
Based on the timing of his post, it appears that the guest is currently onboard the 4,375-guest ship for a 9-night sailing throughout Spain and Portugal – which embarked from Southampton, UK, on June 9, 2025.
“We’re in a junior suite, and there’s a speaker hidden under the vanity unit that’s quietly playing music like what you would hear out in the corridors. It seemed to stop at night, but we can’t seem to figure out how to get it to stop again,” they continued, before asking if anyone had experienced something similar.
Royal Caribbean fans were quick to advise that there is a volume knob near the vanity to turn the sound down or off, but unfortunately, this feature seemed to be broken.
The cruiser updated in the comments section: “There is [a knob] but it doesn’t seem to work, and the attendant couldn’t get it to work either, maintenance are coming round at some point to help sort it out.”
While the cruise lines try not to disturb guests or make announcements late at night, cruise cabins are almost always equipped with speakers in case urgent updates need to be given during an emergency.
Randomly playing music is not common – although it did happen to me while onboard the new MSC World America during her inaugural voyage from April 9 to April 12, 2025.
Some jazzy tunes suddenly started playing through the speaker in the ceiling of my cruise cabin – as well as in several other staterooms – lasting for several hours before the glitch was resolved.
Cracking Down on Speakers
Ironically, Royal Caribbean has been cracking down on the use of speakers onboard while this guest is bothered by music coming directly from the cruise ship.
In March of this year, the cruise line banned personal and Bluetooth speakers from Perfect Day at CocoCay – Royal Caribbean’s private destination in the Bahamas.
Cruisers are still welcomed to listen to their own music or podcasts with headphones, but this policy ensures that other guests do not need to hear it while enjoying the island – which features its own music and ambiance.
There have already been reports of crew members confiscating speakers from inconsiderate passengers while visiting the exclusive cruise port.
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While Royal Caribbean has not officially added speakers to their Prohibited Items list as of the time of publication, which means the devices can still be used onboard, the cruise line does continue to advise guests to use headphones in public spaces and keep the volume low.
That said, crew members may still confiscate speakers onboard from particularly disruptive guests on a case-by-case basis.
However, many in the cruise community suspect that banning these devices from CocoCay is just the precursor to officially banning them onboard – which would follow in the footsteps of some of the cruise brand’s biggest competitors.
At the end of 2024, for example, Carnival enacted a fleet-wide ban of Bluetooth speakers – citing the enjoyment of all guests and safety reasons as the cause.
Hopefully, the cruiser who experienced the surprise music in his junior suite won’t be bothered by unwanted tunes for much longer – whether that is from other guests or directly from the Freedom-class cruise ship.
Royal Caribbean Guest Perplexed by “Hidden Speaker” in Cabin