Cruise lines have a lot of rules on their ships.
That's because for the length of your cruise vacation, you are essentially living in a society with a few thousand other people.
Some rules make sense in a shared living space: Asking people to be quiet in public hallways, for example, is one that's easy to understand. You never know who might be taking a nap and it's just not that hard to be courteous.
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Cruise passengers struggle with other rules. Some, for example, don't see why they need to put a coverup over their bathing suit to grab some food in the buffet. That rule often is only loosely enforced, which can confuse passengers.
On the cruise ship the cruise line makes the rules. Usually these are uniform, but something like extra rocky seas can lead the captain to declare certain areas off-limits or even to call for a curfew. Those situations are rare but they do happen, and passengers must comply.
In addition to the on-board rules, cruise lines also have to communicate, and take steps to enforce, the specific rules for various ports.
Mexico, for example, strictly bans vapes in public places, and the captain will make that clear in multiple announcements before a port stop there.
In some countries camouflage is not allowed, and the cruise lines do their best to share them with passengers.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival enforces a key food rule
The challenge with enforcing and communicating many of the portside rules is that some of them may not seem logical to passengers. That leads to some angry interactions between passengers and crew.
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald shared a recent angry email from a passenger that detailed one of those situations.
"I was victimized on my Carnival cruise," the unidentified passenger wrote. "This isn’t my first cruise. I have cruised with ---- & cruised with ----. It is pretty normal to grab a few rolls, some meat/cheese, fruit, and a cookie to take off the boat when you're in port. I'm not talking about a feast.
"I was putting this into a plastic container when a worker told me I could not do it. He took the food and emptied into the garbage. So this rude and prejudiced worker would rather waste food than me and my kids eat it on the beach in Cozumel."
Heald responded by explaining what the rules are when it comes to bringing food into port.
"Thank you and this is a good point worthy of a reply and sharing this with everyone," the executive wrote. "You cannot take food off the ship. Most places we visit have very, very strict rules about taking food such as meat, cheese, pastries, bread, etc off the ship. And some will have fines you will have to pay if you do. So please do not try and either enjoy lunch ashore or return to the ship to eat. I know you have children but these are the rules for everyone."
The brand ambassador also defended the crew member's actions.
"The reason the crew member threw the food away was because you had touched it so obviously it could not go back on the buffet line," he added.
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Carnival passengers share their port experiences
More than 600 people commented on Heald's post and most said they knew the rule.
"She should know better," wrote Laura Edmonds. "Also, no fruits are allowed either. We take packaged items on our cruises even now for excursions. They are allowed if in a sealed original package crackers, Pop Tarts, trail mix, etc. When our boys were younger then later our grandson were with us this was much easier than looking for a venue especially if it was a beach day."
Others echoed that the passenger should have known better.
"If she’s an experienced cruiser then she should know what the rules are. Just because she has done it on other brands, doesn’t mean they allowed it, it just means she didn’t get caught," posted Janice B. VanWagoner.
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(Heald, it should be noted, did not share a gender for the person who sent the original complaint.)
Some ships use dogs to detect people leaving or boarding with loose food.
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"They would not have gotten past the dog had they not been stopped on the ship," Kelly Isbell wrote. "I was leaving the ship once when a lady tried to carry off a banana, some people just don't realize it's an issue, I guess."
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