Carnival Cruise Line explains why a kind gesture is prohibited

Many cruise passengers form bonds with crew members.

It is not uncommon for people to slowly build friendships over the course of a voyage or several voyages and then keep in touch with that crew member once they leave the ship.

Sometimes passengers may even book a sailing because they know a favorite waiter, bartender or musician might be on board. In other cases, regular sailors simply sail often enough that they seem to know someone on every ship in the fleet.

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Many frequent cruisers build enough relationships to bring gifts with them, even if they’re not entirely sure they’ll be sailing with a crew they already know. Often these gifts are hard-to-obtain items for crew members when on board or in port.

A passenger might know that a certain crew member/friend likes something, or might simply be trying to surprise them with a special treat. That could mean certain brands of chocolate or snack chips, or even personal care products.

It’s a nice tradition that the cruise line upholds — but there are rules. Carnival brand ambassador John Heald recently had to address an angry passenger who accidentally broke one of them.

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You can bring crew members packed snacks.

Image source: Shutterstock

Carnival forbids this practice

While you are allowed to bring gifts for crew members, there are rules and limits.

“As I explained earlier to a lady currently on one of our ships, please don’t be offended if a crew member politely tells you they can’t take home-baked cookies,” he wrote Heald in response to the passenger.

He explained why Carnival does not allow crew members to accept home baked goods.

“While the sentiment is to be applauded, crew members have been instructed not to take them. There are health and safety reasons for this, which I’m sure you don’t need me to explain,” he added.

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Heald also asked the angry passenger not to be offended that the crew member had to refuse the gift.

“I sincerely hope you will reconsider removing your freebies,” he shared.

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Carnival shares its crew gift policy

One of Heald’s jobs is to make sure important information like this gets to the cruisers.

“The reason I’m posting this here is because I think it’s very important that other people know this rule. If you want to bring something to a crew member then it must be factory sealed in the original factory box or package,” he wrote.

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Heald also tried to give the Carnival crew some cover.

“Again, I don’t want you to be upset if a crew member says no.” It’s embarrassing and hard for them to do, but they protect themselves and follow our rules.

Many of the comments on Heald’s post fully understood why the home-baked rule was put in place.

“The world is too crazy to take chances! Thank you for putting these rules in place to help keep the fabulous crew safe!” Catie Field wrote.

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Many posters have also noted that chocolate is popular with the crew, as is old money.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I also understand the situation. I imagine it’s hard to say no sometimes, but I don’t bake, so it’s not a problem for me anyway. Otherwise, I ask if they’d like a Port candy or crisps. but in rest just money i saw youtube videos of their places not much room so leave the money you imagine.

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