Want to Wear That “Lurid” Shirt on Carnival? Forget It

Carnival Cruise Line has just updated its FAQ guidance on what passengers should and shouldn’t wear during their next excursion. Respect is at the very heart of these guidelines, but John Heald, the brand’s ambassador, addressed this revamp in a public Facebook dialogue and poll earlier this week.

For those looking for some sartorial guidance for their next cruise, Carnival is here to help. As noted by Cruise Radio, it has recently revamped one of its 56 FAQs to offer guests more clarity on what they can and – perhaps more importantly, can’t – wear on their next cruise.

Dress With Respect…And Forget That “Lurid” Shirt

Full guidance is available to view but, in a nutshell, the cruise line explains that, “All guests are expected to ensure their clothing and accessories are respectful to fellow guests. Specifically, items worn during the cruise should not contain any message that may be considered offensive or contain nudity, profanity, sexual innuendo/suggestions. In addition, clothing/accessories should not promote negative ethnic or racial, commentary, or hatred or violence in any form.”

Addressing this revamp in the public forum on Sunday, John Heald, Carnival’s brand ambassador, posted a poll on his Facebook page in response to a message that he received from a passenger earlier this week.

The unidentified passenger got in touch with Heald to raise concerns over “disgusting and lurid” shirts that another traveler was threatening to wear on her next cruise. In their message to Heald, the passenger asked, “My question is will someone on the ship stop her from doing this?”.

In his response, Heald wrote, “I hope this lady changes her mind and despite whatever she may think of me will have a brilliant cruise and enjoy the service and the fun that the crew will give her.
The main reason I am posting this is in answer to the question “ we will allow this “ – the answer is no.”

Many Cruisers Agree With Policy, But Have Questions

Heald went on to mention that Carnival had recently updated its FAQs on appropriate cruise wear – pointing out the line’s updated guidance – and asked users if they agreed with the line’s new policy.

The majority of respondents to Heald’s poll agreed with the updated policy, but there were concerns over both how Carnival will enforce these new standards as well as how, exactly, the company will gauge the offensiveness of the clothing in question.

“I agree but who is going to enforce the policy? Surely not the person that “enforced” the policy when a lady walked into the dining room for dinner wearing a sheer cover over a thong,” wrote user Sue Frey, while Jake Fenley said, “I don’t agree with this at all. The first sentence says anything that people find offensive. Well some people find everything offensive.”

“I would agree if it weren’t so vague. Who get to determines what’s offensive? What I find funny some find offensive and vice versa. The “should not contain any message that may be considered offensive” leaves it wide open for everyone to be offended by everything they see,” added Christine Hover.

A More Balanced View

Offering a more balanced view, Cruise Radio reasoned, “Like so many things in life, this whole situation could be resolved if people simply showed a modicum of respect toward one another on both sides of the issue…And maybe, just maybe, those on the other side of the argument could think twice before wearing something they know is going to get under the skin of some people.”

[Featured Image:  railfreak_99/Flickr]