Carnival Cruise Just Banned 'Offensive' Clothing and Accessories Aboard Its Ships
Don’t pack any provocative graphic T-shirts, vacationers — if the attire isn’t for all ages, it’s now banned aboard one cruise line.
In new specifications within its dress code policies, Carnival Cruises has outlined measures to ban inappropriate clothing worn by guests, urging customers to “ensure their clothing and accessories are respectful” to others on the ship.
“Specifically, items worn during the cruise should not contain any message that may be considered offensive or contain nudity, profanity, sexual innuendo/suggestions,” reads Carnival’s “Know Before You Go” fact sheet. “In addition, clothing/accessories should not promote negative ethnic or racial, commentary, or hatred or violence in any form.”
“At Carnival, we want to make sure that all of our guests feel comfortable when cruising with us, and that includes being around guests wearing clothing with inappropriate or threatening images or language,” a spokesperson for Carnival told PEOPLE in a statement.
“Like other cruise lines, we have long had some basic clothing guidelines in place and our guests respect them and understand we are a family-focused business,” they continued.
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“Our guests have largely responded with support, like we knew they would, because we have long fostered an environment where everyone feels welcome,” the spokesperson added.
The decision was made due to instances of customers wearing “very threatening messages” on their clothes on other cruises and vacation destinations. Those outside reports prompted the team to think “about how we were prepared to handle such a situation and the need for clarification to both guests and crew,” said the spokesperson.
The additional outline joins other dress code regulations, like the occasional “Cruise Elegant” nights when formal attire is required and jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, shorts, T-shirts, sportswear, shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suits are disallowed for the evening.
“We really don’t anticipate this being a significant issue and our crew is not onboard to be the clothing or expression police,” the spokesperson said. “We will evaluate situations on a case-by-case basis and respectfully ask guests to change a clothing item that clearly threatens or conveys hateful ideas or lewd images.”
