Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Sep. 08, 2011 LegalMatter	Jul. 31, 2002 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2002 GBP (£)	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($) Passenger	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 Royal Caribbean International Cruise Ships Second New Generation Passenger	Mar. 31, 2012 Line of Credit	Mar. 31, 2012 Debt Securities	Jul. 31, 2002 Lower Limit	Jul. 31, 2002 Upper Limit	Sep. 30, 2010 United States District Court for Puerto Rico USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 United States District Court for Puerto Rico Lower Limit USD ($)
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Aggregate additional capacity				11,200		4,100
Scheduled to enter service						2nd Quarter 2015
Aggregate cost of ships expected to enter service				$ 3,000,000,000
Deposit for the purchase of ships expected to enter service				227,900,000
Percentage of aggregate cost exposed to fluctuations in the euro exchange rate				46.30%	43.30%
Number of class action lawsuits filed	3
Consolidated amended complaint filed date	Feb. 17, 2012
Claim amounts sought												40,000,000
Treble damages sought by international representative											120,000,000
Initial lease contractual life		25 years	25 years
Optional lease cancellation period									10 years	18 years
Optional lease cancellation year									2012	2020
Lease term		10 years	10 years
Future payment if lease terminated		$ 106,700,000	£ 66,800,000
Common stock ownership description				If (i) any person other than A. Wilhelmsen AS. and Cruise Associates and their respective affiliates (the “Applicable Group”) acquires ownership of more than 30% of our common stock and the Applicable Group owns less of our common stock than such person, or (ii) subject to certain exceptions, during any 24-month period, a majority of the Board is no longer comprised of individuals who were members of the Board on the first day of such period, we may be obligated to prepay indebtedness outstanding under the majority of our credit facilities, which we may be unable to replace on similar terms.
Debt instrument covenant, percentage of ownership by a person							30.00%	50.00%