Carnival Cruise Line addresses pressing ban, offers alternatives
The cruise line understands cruiser concerns about this ban and wants passengers to know about alternative options available on board.
For safety reasons, Carnival and other cruise lines prohibit passengers from bringing a number of common travel items aboard their ships.
Before packing, cruise passengers are encouraged to review the prohibited items list that’s available on their cruise line’s website. Yet certain banned travel items are confiscated in cruise terminals every time a cruise ship sets sail.
Related: Cruisers rejoice: Mexico mostly drops $42 cruise tax
These confiscations regularly result in displeased passengers but, more importantly, ensure safer sailings.
As Carnival Cruise Line’s online representative, Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald often receives complaints from passengers who are peeved about banned items. He responds on his popular Facebook page that’s followed by more than 600,000 people.
In an effort to help passengers understand the reasoning behind one controversial ban while explaining some helpful alternative options available on board, Heald publicly responded to a complaint from a disgruntled passenger in one of his latest Facebook videos for Carnival cruisers.
Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or your first) cruise.
Carnival brand ambassador tackles complaint on travel iron ban
Transcript:
John Heald: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to Australia, New Zealand, and Cleveland, Ohio. Sodding cold. Welcome to today's three-minute video.
Straight into a letter this morning. We've got to go quick. Straight into the letter, and the letter — I miss letters. Don't you miss letters?
Anyway, this is a post from yesterday that says, from a lovely person:
“My travel iron was confiscated today as I got on Panorama and I'm very disgruntled. There are not enough irons on board for [well, there's actually more than 2,000, 4,000 people]. Why is this banned? It makes no sense. Having wrinkled clothes are the sign of poor upbringing. Who would wear a wrinkled gown on formal night? Everyone needs to press clothes for formal night. We are grownups, not children. I served my country for 12 years.”
Related: Carnival Cruise Line warns against common snack hack
Now, lots of places to go with that one. But first of all, the most important thing: Thank you, sir, for your service.
And I am very ashamed that I do not know how to do any ironing and pressing. I left home. Mum did it. Went straight to the ship. The ship did it. Came home. Embarrassing. Don't know how to press clothes.
But you obviously do, having served your country. So, I will say thank you for your service. That's the most important thing.
I'm not sure these days it's a sign of poor upbringing, as you said, but I do understand.
And I'm sure you really do understand that the reason we do not allow irons, hot irons on board for pressing clothes — apparently that's how you iron — it's a safety thing. It's an absolute safety thing. So that's why.
Ironing rooms, pressing services available on Carnival cruise ships
Now, some of the ships do have ironing, or pressing, or laundry rooms where you can do pressing.
We don't have them on Mardi Gras, Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Venezia, Carnival Firenze. We do have them on Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure and all the other ships.
So, you can, but you can also just leave it with your cabin attendant and he or she will take it to the laundry, have it pressed and return to you immediately. So, it's, well, quickly, I should say, rather than immediately. So that's another way to do it.
But we do not allow travel irons, hot irons on board — that's the international symbol for ironing — on board. So, please remember it's a fire safety risk, right? That's the bottom line. That is what it is all about. And you know, a fire in a cabin is a very serious and dangerous thing.
Remind me to tell you this story one time about when I was on the Carnival Destiny and, well, I'll tell you now very quickly.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador hits breaking point
Carnival brand ambassador shares funny story about small fire on ship
I was cruise director on the Carnival Destiny. And there was a small fire in a crew cabin. And, from the DJ, and of course, he was part of my department. So, the captain called me — I swear on my love of everything, this is absolutely true — he called me and said, “John, John, come, come over to the bridge. There is a big problem with your DJ.”
I said, “Captain, what's the problem?”
He said, “John, your DJ was, he started a fire in the cabin and we had to call the Alpha team.”
And the long story short here is that the DJ was dating a dancer and the dancer dumped the DJ to go out with an Italian officer.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line shares clear rules on Real ID
The DJ was from a specific island in the Caribbean and he was practicing a form of, voodoo, I guess, and was burning — on a little sort of Bunsen burner cooker thing — a carrot — swear to everything that I love, this is true.
He was burning a carrot. And as the captain put it back in 1996 here:
“John, he was burning the carrot, saying it was the officer's 'gobadiazza' — it was the 'gobadiazza' of the officer.
And, of course, we had to fire the DJ, but, that's a very lighthearted point on why we definitely do not allow anything like that in the cabin. No irons, please. Yes, they will be confiscated.
I got an email from a very bored housewife who wants to, you know, she's a very, very bored housewife. She's 32 years of age and she's looking for some action…I'm going to send her my ironing. That'll keep her busy.
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)
Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
