Keeping cruise ships clean is a massive effort.
While most passengers don't intentionally make a mess, every interaction between a person and a surface requires cleaning. That's always been the case but it became more evident, and urgent, during the Covid pandemic.
Now, when a passenger gets up from a table in the buffet, at the coffee shop or elsewhere on the ship, a crew member quickly cleans that spot for the next person. It's a labor-intensive process designed to kill germs and stop illness from spreading.
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You may not notice it, but the same process takes place all over the ship. A team of people cleans and sanitizes the railings on public staircases, a process that essentially starts again each time it finishes.
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And of course crew members steadily clean the public bathrooms. This thankless and endless job is especially challenging in the men's rooms, where a combination of poor aim and a moving ship tends to lead to surfaces that need cleaning.
Carnival Cruise Line, like its rivals, has stepped up its cleaning and sanitization efforts since the pandemic eased. It has also taken a step to prevent one cleaning problem that's time-consuming and more than a little gross.
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald was challenged on that effort in a recent exchange on his Facebook page.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival tries to stop a sticky problem
Heald never shies away from tough questions, and he tends to highlight the ones that might make the most people angry. That's because he wants to be up front and not answer the same question over and over.
He dealt with an angry passenger in an Oct. 2 exchange.
"Can you explain why Carnival shops have no chewing gum to purchase?" wrote one passenger. "We use gum while flying to avoid problems with our ears. Plus John we have both had bariatric surgery and our medical team told us that we should have three pieces a day.
"We did not have a lot of time to get from the plane and to the Jubilee. We were shocked and angry that the ship does not sell gum on the ships," they wrote.
"I was told teenagers caused too many problems and they no longer sell it. Why are we being punished for what these brats are doing. So many Americans chew gum for many different reasons."
Gum is not forbidden on Carnival ships and it can be brought on airplanes. It is also sold in airports for the reason the passenger described above.
Heald was decisive and honest in his answer.
"I do understand that you have medical reasons to eat gum however, let me say something if I may. The simple reason we don’t sell chewing gum on board is that it is a nightmare. ... a John Heald wearing a luminous green mankini, spread across your dining room table with an apple in my mouth kind of nightmare," he wrote.
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Gum remains a Carnival problem
Gum is a problem for the cruise line even though it's not sold on board.
"Even though we don’t sell it onboard we still find lumps of it all over the ship," he noted. "On carpet, under chairs, and in places that are hard to imagine just how it got there and what kind of human animal would have put it there.
"So, while I would never dare dispute the virtues of chewing gum being good for you but I am happy, not sorry, to say that we won’t be selling it in the future."
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Most of the more than 500 comments posted on Heald's response supported the cruise line. Many did not understand why the passenger didn't simply pack some gum.
"Since you have many days to pack and get things you need for your cruise add gum to the list and put in your carry-on," wrote Deborah Starkey-Street. "Due to ear issues, I chew gum on a plane but always buy it before we get to the airport."
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Some were less nice than others on that concept.
"I guess if my medical team said I needed a particular supplement, I'd probably have that packed; in a handbag, suitcase, etc.," Lynn Creef Snyder added. "Never assume where you're going, is going to have what you need."
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