Few things cause as much divisiveness between people who like to cruise as much as dress codes. There are entire Facebook conversations where hundreds, even thousands of people take stands on what other people are wearing.
One of the biggest fights is around the dress code in the main dining room (MDR) on Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships. Technically, both cruise lines ban men from wearing shorts and hats.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line shares a key beverage change
On a practical basis, neither cruise line regularly enforces those rules. Unless someone is wearing a bathing suit, both cruise lines generally look the other way when it comes to men and boys wearing shorts.
That's because, in many cases, the fight it would cause with the passenger makes it not worth making them change into something nicer or eat elsewhere. Men and boys wearing shorts and/or hats doesn't really impact the dining experience for other passengers.
The second biggest dress code argument happens around what people wear on the pool deck. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival require women to wear tops but have no other bathing suit rules so you will see some very skimpy suits.
There's also no mention of men and pool deck attire and that's something Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald addressed in a recent Facebook post.
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Carnival shares its pool dress code
Heald spends much of his day answering questions on Facebook from Carnival passengers. When he gets one that would be interesting to his wider audience, he shares it on in a new post.
"Yesterday was a fascinating day. There were complaints about the foghorn on Carnival Legend. A lady was upset at my 'disrespect for Italians' and a question about why we allow men to wear Speedo-type budgie smugglers on Lido deck when 'there are families around,'" he shared.
Heald answered the Speedo question with his typical sense of humor.
"Now seeing some men wear these is I admit rather disturbing and I refer to myself of course. But for some men (sorry Grace but I have to include Italian men) these are the only thing they will wear. I know one Italian Captain who we, the crew, all jealously called 'The Package' who would only wear these and still does today," he added.
There are limits to where a Speedo can be worn.
"Anyway, wearing them in the Lido buffet is not allowed," he shared.
Heald did acknowledge that some Speedo-clad (or thong-wearing) passengers might make it through to the buffet.
"I know the crew do all they can to tell people to cover up but with hundreds of guests coming and going they don’t always catch everyone. But complaining about a chap currently sailing on the Carnival Elation for wearing a pair of budgie smugglers by the swimming pool makes me simply want to respond by saying ‘ Well then don't look, then FFS.” But of course, I didn’t," he added.
"FFS" in Heald's world, means "for fun's sake."
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Carnival's Heald addresses passenger complaints
Heald believes that social media has made people less tolerant and more willing to complain.
"Dealing with extreme guest situations can be exhausting I must admit, but it is vital for me to handle them with care and attention as they can have a big impact on Carnival’s reputation and your loyalty," he wrote. "However can I also say that in this age of instant social media reaction it is so easy to have a moan. This never used to happen anywhere near as much in the days when everyone didn’t walk around the ship with an eye phone in their hand."
Heald never refers to brands by their proper names, hence his use of "eye phone" instead of iPhone. He believes that reactions are just different now.
"Before social media that lady who complained about the budgie smuggler would have most likely gone 'yuck' and carried on having fun instead of stopping her fun, pausing her own hard-earned cruise vacation to write a message to me asking 'why Carnival allows this,'" he added.
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Most passengers who commented on the post agreed with that sentiment.
"I believe that some people just need something to complain about. They need to learn to ignore what they do not care for and not let the little things bother them. They will have a better cruise if they do," Mabel Cartwright shared.
Related: Carnival Cruise considers bringing back cruise ship tradition
Shawn Caccia shared a similar thought.
"Nowadays, I feel like people are more concerned with having their eye phones like a quick-draw pistol, ready to capture anything that they could deem wrong. If they spent half the time just relaxing and enjoying the fun times to be had, they would care a lot less about what another person was wearing to swim," he wrote.
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