Turning up with a banned item can see you prevented from boarding [stock image] (Image: Getty)
A cruise ship expert has warned holidaymakers that many lines have a list of banned items that can, if you’re not careful, see you barred from a cruise line for life.
Podcaster Gary Bembridge explains that – often for safety reasons – there are half a dozen items that holidaymakers definitely shouldn’t pack before setting off for a cruise.
Nowadays we tend a use a lot of electrical devices – from phones, tablets, e-readers to hairdryers and curling tongs – and they all need charging up.
But taking along your own mains adaptor to allow you to plug all these devices in at once is absolutely forbidden.
In particular, multi-plug adaptors with a surge protection feature are outlawed, Gary says: “All cruise lines ban any extension cord with a surge protector feature,” he says, “as, unlike at home, they are not compatible and could affect the electrical system on ships and cause a fire in your cabin.
Holidaymakers will often want to take a collection of electronic devices with them (Image: Getty Images)
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“Basically, anything allowing multiple plugs is no longer allowed, certainly on Royal Caribbean,” Gary says.
He stresses that plug adaptors that only feature USB connectors, rather than conventional three-pin plugs, are exempt from the ban.
Staying with electronic items, Gary adds, Bluetooth speakers are also band. Officially for safety reasons according to the Carnival cruise line: “They have said that if any passenger tries to bring them on board at embarkation or at a port, they’ll be confiscated, and if cruisers buy a Bluetooth speaker in the on-board shops, they will be held until the end of the cruise.”
According to Carnival, the ban on speakers is to ensure that passengers can always hear onboard safety announcements, although the fact that headphones are still permitted suggests a different motivation: “I am sure it has really been done as it is annoying and intrusive having people playing loud music at the pools, around the deck, on their balconies and in their cabins,” Gary says.
Gary was ‘devastated’ to learn that Bluetooth speakers were banned [stock] (Image: Supplied)
Gary says that he had always taken a Bluetooth speaker on cruises, partly to play white nouse to help him get off to sleep, and was “devastated” by the ban.
A wi-fi hotspot device can also see you prevented from boarding, Gary says, as well as one of Elon Musk’s increasingly-popular Starlink satellite dishes that offer internet access virtually worldwide. Gary recalled: “Carnival Miracle guest and YouTuber called Richard Shillington brought his own Starlink mini-dish on board his cruise. He made a video showing how he used it on the ship and posted it using it. But as soon as the cruise line saw the video and that he had his own Starlink dish on board, they confiscated it.”
Passengers are also warned that attempting to board with a wheelchair can see you refused boarding, unless you’ve paid extra to book a wheelchair accessible cabin in advance.
Starlink dishes are outlawed on Carnival cruise ships (Image: Ispreview)
“In the past, people using wheelchairs on these lines could often book a regular cabin, particularly if they used a foldable one and only used infrequently,” Gary says. But those people are now prevented from boarding as a result of safety regulations that were initially introduced in 1974.
Because, in the case of an onboard emergency, crews can only supervise the evacuation of a limited number of wheelchair users. For that reason, Gary explains: “If people arrive without having declared that they use a wheelchair and haven’t booked an accessible room, they could be denied boarding at their own cost at check-in.”
Another somewhat unexpected banned item is CBD oil. Increasingly popular for treating joint pain and other minor ailments, it’s not permitted on at least one cruise line.
A cardboard pineapple is carries a secret message to those in the know (Image: Getty Images)
“As Melinda Erin Van Veldhuizen discovered to her huge cost,” Gary says. “Trying to board a Carnival cruise with her family in Port Miami in Florida to celebrate her wedding anniversary.”
CBD gummies were spotted in her bag, and she was denied boarding with no refund.” Not only that, the unlucky woman was also banned for life from cruising on Carnival.
Perhaps the most surprising banned item is a cardboard pineapple. Gary explains that the decoration, when stuck upside-down to a cabin door, is used as a signal to other holidaymakers that the occupants are available for swinging sex encounters.
Gary says he’s surprised they were ever used in the first place: “I’ve never quite understood the hit-and-miss nature of advertising using that on regular cruises, when there are entire ship charters dedicated to swingers run by groups like such as Bliss Cruises which seems a surer thing.”
The bans vary from line to line, and new bans can be introduced without warning so it’s a good idea to search the name of the cruise line and the words “prohibited items” and you will be able to see the latest full list before you set off.
