Carnival Cruise Line has decided not to follow Royal Caribbean’s recent ban on certain electrical travel plugs, which has stirred confusion among travelers.
Royal Caribbean initially announced the ban to address safety concerns, but many passengers were unsure of what devices they could bring aboard. After some clarification, the company stated that only USB chargers would be allowed.
A Carnival passenger asked brand ambassador John Heald on Facebook if they had any plans to ban multi-use travel plugs, to which he replied:
❝ I read about this and we have no plans to do the same. Thank you, just remember no power strips with a surge protector are allowed, ❞ replied Heald.
Even though Carnival isn’t banning these devices, they suggest travelers leave non-essential gadgets at home to avoid stress.
Royal Caribbean hasn’t publicly explained the specific reasoning behind its sudden policy change. However, incidents on two of their ships may offer some insight.
In late September, Utopia of the Seas suffered a power outage that affected air conditioning and caused intermittent power loss throughout the day. A similar situation occurred on Harmony of the Seas the previous week.
What Items are Banned on Carnival?
To ensure the safety and security of all guests and crew, Carnival Cruise Line prohibits the following items from being brought on board, along with certain types of behavior.
Prohibited Items
You can read the entire list of banned items here.
- Any illegal narcotics/drugs, including synthetic, designer drugs, marijuana, cannabis and cannabis derivatives such as Cannabidiol (CBD) items which may be labeled as medical marijuana. While certain CBD products used for medicinal purposes may be legal in the U.S. based on state and local laws, they are not legal under U.S. federal law and in all the ports we visit and therefore are also considered prohibited items.
- All weapons and any item made, adapted, or intended for use as an offensive weapon: firearms (including replicas, imitations, and their components), spears or spear guns, crossbows, crossbow bolts, and longbow arrows; blunt weapons, including knuckle dusters, brass knuckles, clubs, coshes, batons, flails or Nunchaku; sharp pointed weapons, including throwing stars; air, BB, pellet pistols or rifles, stun devices and tasers, any projectile-weapon, including paintball guns, etc.
- All items containing incapacitating substances, such as gas guns, tear gas sprays, mace, phosphorus, acid and other dangerous chemicals that could be used to maim or disable
- All ammunition
- All explosives, including imitation explosives and devices
- Fireworks, flares, pyrotechnics
- Flammable substances and hazardous chemicals (e.g., petrol, methylated spirits, paint thinners)
- Compressed gas tanks, bottles, cylinders including dive tanks, propane tanks and aerosol cans (Refer to Exemptions)
- Alcohol (hard liquor) and beer
