Feeling thirsty on your cruise? If so, we’d suggest not trying to skirt the rules when it comes to bringing alcohol onto the ship if you are sailing Carnival. Doing so could mean you can’t sail with the line anymore.
It’s well-known that cruise lines are tight when it comes to boarding with alcohol. Many of them, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean allow you to bring on a small quantity of non-alcoholic drinks. Passengers are also typically allowed to bring on a bottle of wine or champagne.
But when it comes to beer or liquor, it’s restricted across all the major cruise lines.
That doesn’t stop many passengers from trying to smuggle booze on, however. Social media is full of videos of people showing off their ability to bring alcohol on a cruise. And a search of Amazon shows all sorts of supplies for disguising alcohol, from collapsible pouches to bottles designed to look like sunscreen or binoculars.
Carnival: “We Tell Them They Can’t Cruise With Us Anymore”
Passengers trying to bring on alcohol is nothing new. The cruise lines are aware of the issue and frankly there isn’t a method they haven’t seen before.
In fact, they explicitly cover the consequences of smuggling alcohol on their websites. Carnival, for example, says that apart from the allowances mentioned, “all liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.”
But a new video posted to Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald’s Facebook page takes a much more stern approach.
In that video, Heald commented about sneaking alcohol onboard after being alerted to videos of passengers doing just that on social media.
He didn’t mince words with what will happen.
“Of course we have people monitoring social media pages,” Heald said. “And then we go to their cabin, and then we find it [alcohol], and then we tell them they can’t cruise with us anymore.”
“I know why people do it. I get that. But don’t do it,” he continued.
You can see the full video below with the comments about alcohol starting at 1:30:
Anecdotally, we’ve never heard of a passenger being booted off Carnival for bringing on alcohol they aren’t supposed to have. Generally, it’s heard that the alcohol is removed if found and discarded.
One commenter to the video on Facebook even mentioned this. “Whatever happened to taking it out of their luggage and leaving a note? So we’re going to ban cruisers now that’s insanity” they posted.
But Carnival’s ticket contract lays out clearly that the cruise line has the right to remove people that break the rule. In a section of the contract that all passengers agree to when sailing, it covers what happens when you don’t comply with many rules, including smuggling on booze.
“Guest agrees that Carnival has the right to disembark any Guest who violates this policy and as well as any adults traveling with minors who violate this policy or any other shipboard regulation,” the policy says.
To be safe, it’s smart not to try and sneak booze on any cruise line. But if you do decide to break the rule, it’s even smarter not to brag about it on social media.
