Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean don't ban key adult items
Just because you're sailing on a family-friendly cruise line does not mean that you can't have some adult fun.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line market their companies as family-friendly. They don't really acknowledge that the parents might want to spend some time alone doing something other than taking a dip in the pool or climbing the rock wall.
Neither cruise line explicitly says, "Drop your kids off at the kid's club so you can have your cabin for some romance," but it's clearly implied.
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Carnival and Royal Caribbean aren't Virgin Voyages where there are no kids, and the ship's general store has a wall of sex toys for sale.
But, just because the family-friendly cruise lines don't push adult fun does not mean they don't allow it. What they don't do is address it. Neither cruise line mentions adult toys on their banned items page.
Because some of those toys use batteries, some passengers have questions as to what they're allowed to bring onboard. One Reddit user was coy, and then not so coy asking about what was allowed onboard.
Can you bring a silicone battery-operated object on the cruise?," OK-Fix5681 wrote as the headline for her post. She then made it clear what she was asking.
"If not allowed, delete. But can I bring a vibrator? Will they check my bag? Will I be embarrassed in front of people? Oh god, I’m going on the Carnival Jubilee cruise with the bf," she added.
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Carnival and Royal Caribbean allow adult toys
While the Reddit community was surprisingly helpful, nobody gave one clear piece of advice that would fully prevent any possible embarrassment. If the woman questioning the policy checked her luggage, she would not be subject to any public embarrassment.
When you check your luggage, it gets screened behind the scenes. Illegal items will be confiscated (and returned when you get back home via a table in the terminal). If bringing a vibrator was not allowed, or the specific one she brought violated a rule, she could simply elect not to pick it up on the table of shame when she returned.
In reality, neither Royal Caribbean nor Carnival has a specific rule banning battery-powered adult toys.
Both cruise lines ban any item that has a heating element (with some limited exceptions), but vibrators would not fall under that ban.
Still, if you bring the item in your carry-on bag, you do risk having security remove the item and question what it is. (I've had to remove a cigar cutter to show what it was more than once and have had to pull a battery pack out of my carry-on at least once.
Carnival passengers share helpful advice
Most of the Reddit comments made it clear that the original poster should not be concerned.
"Security don't get paid enough to bother embarrassing you. I'm sure they see things like that a lot," shared th3thrilld3m0n.
Tfacekillaaa shared some practical advice.
"If the batteries are standard AA/AAA, I recommend flipping them so that it accidentally doesn't turn on. If it's a push button/USB rechargeable, I highly recommend putting it in something that isn't likely to turn it on if jostled, or letting it die and bring the charger. Wrap it in clothes, vs. putting in a toiletry bag because a rogue bottle can put enough pressure on it to turn it on," they posted.
Carolinedwine answered from personal experience.
"I’d say you certainly can as someone left one in the PUBLIC RESTROOM when I was on [Celebrity Apex] in 2023," she wrote.
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JustJohn1965 shared the most practical (and true) advice.
"If it's not on the banned list, they don't care. You'll be fine," he posted.
Mistress-DragonFlame had one final piece of advice.
"Just be sure to pack it away after you clean it and not leave it in the bathroom for your room steward to find. Not that I'd know from personal experience," she wrote.
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