While Carnival's website has a long list of prohibited items, it does not list all of the specific items that passengers cannot bring on board. However, he leaves some room for interpretation in his language to cover items he didn't even consider passengers might attempt to board.
“Carnival Cruise Line prohibits weapons, illegal drugs and certain items that could interfere with the safe operation of its ships or compromise the safety and protected environment of its guests and crew. Carnival conducts security scans of all luggage and reserves the right to confiscate any “Item that, in Carnival's sole discretion, is deemed dangerous or may pose a risk to the ship or its guests, will be removed and disposed of and no compensation will be provided,” the cruise line shared.
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It specifically lists many of the weapons that are not permitted while also making it clear that illegal drugs cannot be carried on board. The cruise line tries to be specific, but they simply can't cover everything.
For example, the list of prohibited items specifically mentions “surfboards, boats and canoes” but does not mention paddleboards. They are prohibited, but some passengers are likely to try to bring them on board.
It is an impossible situation that can provoke the anger of passengers and the astonishment of the cruise ship staff. Carnival brand ambassador John Heald was recently involved in a situation where an item that was not specifically on the prohibited list ended up being confiscated.
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Image source: John Heald/facebook
Angry Carnival passengers had items confiscated
After being away for a few days on Carnival business, Heald returned and shared an angry email from a passenger:
Message: Second time I've asked this. Second time John Heald ignores me. We just left the Breeze. My daughter was having a gender reveal party for her and her partner. They had planned to use the confetti cannons to show the rest of the family if they were having a boy or a girl. There were 15 of us on board this cruise. The confetti cannons were confiscated. They told us they are not allowed. There is nowhere this is written!!! The party was ruined and no one wanted to help us. Why aren't they allowed? SMH
Heald was kind and apologetic in his response, but made it clear why the cruise line doesn't allow confetti cannons, although it doesn't specifically name them on its list of prohibited items.
“Thank you, and I can imagine the disappointment. We don't allow them, and I'll have to see if we can add this specifically to the prohibited list. But since gender reveal parties are very popular, I must explain why we do them. No confetti allowed “The main reason is that if I had done this outdoors and some of the confetti had spilled out, we would be violating environmental rules and regulations,” he wrote.
Heald acknowledged that the cruise line itself sometimes uses confetti inside.
“We use confetti at some show endings in theaters, but not outside. And, in fact, it's not something that's easy for cleaning staff to clean up,” he added. “We do allow confetti at the organized weddings we have on board, but again, only indoors.”
Carnival passengers agree with the ban
Nearly 1,000 people commented on Heald's post in the first four hours it was posted. Most did not sympathize with the author of the original message.
“Almost daily, I shake my head at some of the pure nonsense expressed on social media by people who otherwise seem like normal, functional, reasonably intelligent human beings,” Thomas Pepera shared.
Debbie Touchet Baker seemed to think this was just common sense.
“I agree that this is not allowed. You don't want this to end up in the water and harm wildlife. I would never think of bringing that on board. How could anyone think this would be okay?” she posted.
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Others took a tougher approach.
“Aside from the fact that I consider gender reveal parties to be one of the stupidest 'new traditions' we've ever invented, this seems like a classic case of someone thinking the world revolves around them. People think like this ruin for all of us,” shared Jeff Fishbein.
Rita Shaffer echoed that.
“They don't care about others, only themselves. This should have been done at home so they could clean up the mess, but they should have at least contacted Carnival to arrange the gender reveal, and they would have been told what was allowed.” , he added.
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