New cruisers sometimes make honest mistakes about what they can and can't bring onboard.
If you haven't cruised, for example, you may not realize that surge protectors aren't allowed. You can bring cruise-safe outlet extenders — and you should, preferably with added USB ports. But anything with surge protection will be confiscated.
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Passengers also can't bring anything that might start a fire. That includes candles (electric candles are allowed if you need some mood lighting) and irons. Yes, your clothes may be wrinkled from traveling, but irons are not allowed.
You can bring matches and most lighters onboard, but they may only be used for cigarettes and cigars when smoking them in areas where those activities are allowed.
It's also strictly forbidden to bring beer, wine, or liquor onboard although both Carnival and Royal Caribbean do allow passengers to carry on a limited amount of wine. If you attempt to hide liquor in shampoo bottles or try other devious ways of bringing booze onboard, you will face confiscations and potential fines, or even being escorted off the ship.
All cruise lines sailing from U.S. ports also ban cannabis and CBD. Even people with prescriptions or who are sailing from ports with legal cannabis will be thrown off the ship, and possibly banned from the cruise line if caught with those substances.
In addition, cruise lines ban weapons of any sort. That includes the obvious ones, and maybe some items you may not think of as being usable as weapons.
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Carnival bans a popular tool
Carnival has very strict rules for what's allowed onboard which it lays out on its website. It does have some specific exceptions, albeit with some strong rules around those exceptions.
Knives, scissors, and open razors. (Recreational dive knives are allowed, but must be held in the custody of the Guest Services Manager or Chief Security Officer and must be checked out/in by the owner for dive excursions during the cruise. Large scissors used by scrapbook and quilting enthusiasts are at times permitted with prior notification from the Security Services Department, but are held on board in the same manner as dive knives.)
You can bring a nail clipper, but the cruise line is quite strict on anything that could be used as a weapon. This surprised one passenger, who shared his anger with Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald.
"Most working-class American men carry small pocket knives or a multi-tool. I always have my Leatherman ARC with me. I have had this for almost 15 years, I had it confiscated by security during embarkations on Jubilee today. Explain to me John Heald why. What harm is there in me having this on the ship? I am very angry," the passenger wrote.
Heald admitted that he did not know what a Leatherman ARC was and asked his followers what they thought of the issue.
"I asked Uncle Google what exactly this is and I can see why it was taken and I can also see why someone would be so upset if they have had it for so long," he answered. "What I am not understanding is why someone would need to bring this on a cruise."
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Carnival passengers share thoughts on banned items
More than 1,200 people commented on Heald's post. Many were not overly sympathetic to the original poster.
"Leathermen are well known that you can't take those through any TSA security - along with nearly literally any other blade. I'm going to assume that this was a first-time cruiser that had also never flown, which is in theory possible — my own dad has neither flown nor cruised to date — and didn't have anyone to tell him/ for him to ask about this pre-cruise," posted Jeff VR Sexton.
Others were even less understanding.
"A knife is not needed on a cruise — could be used as a weapon to do harm. Just follow the rules and leave it at home," wrote Jodi Lundgren O'Brien.
Ellen Everett echoed those sentiments.
"There’s no need for a knife on a cruise ship. And I wouldn’t say that most working-class American men carry them. Some do, but not most. Some things are prohibited that I have to leave at home, too. He’ll live," she shared.
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Others understood where the poster was coming from, but also made it clear that they sided with the cruise line.
"I’ve carried a Swiss army knife with me for close to 40 years now. It comes in handy in so many random situations that come up on almost a daily basis," wrote Phillip Imbesi. "That said I understand that there are places where I need to not have it and the ship would be one. It’s the rules pure and simple."
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