Carnival Cruise Line passengers support ban on popular item

On land, you sometimes end up on the road at a stop sign next to one of those cars that seems to have the speakers on the outside. It’s loud music that you’re forced to listen to whether you want to or not.

Sometimes this happens outside of cars as well, as people choose to wear Bluetooth speakers instead of headphones. This is often a problem at community pools, and while it’s usually against the rules, there’s generally no one around to enforce the rule.

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It’s hard to know when someone who does this is being malicious on purpose or simply doesn’t see how their actions affect others. You might think that dogs barking Christmas carols or the latest death metal album should be heard by everyone around you, but at least some people disagree.

This can be an even more serious problem on cruise ships, where personal space is limited. Some people bring a small speaker on board to play white noise while they sleep or soft music while they relax.

The cabin walls, however, are thin, and even people trying to be respectful sometimes bleed their cabin noise and/or music into others. Some passengers, however, are not at all kind to others and openly flout the rules by using portable speakers to provide a soundtrack to their cruise that is shared with others.

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Music is often played on the pool deck, but that depends on the cruise line, not its passengers.

Image source: Carnival Corporation.

Carnival allows Bluetooth speakers

Carnival Cruise Line currently allows passengers to bring Bluetooth speakers, but they cannot be used in public areas. Brand ambassador John Heald disagrees with this practice.

“If I’m listening to some folk music from Cleveland, Ohio when I’m on a ship, I use the very capable speaker on my eye phone or headphones,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Cleveland is a frequent mock target for Heald, who always refers to Apple’s iPhone as an “eye phone.”

“My personal opinion, and it’s a personal opinion, is that we shouldn’t allow Bluetooth speakers on board at any time. I don’t see a circumstance where people need it when they can use the speakerphone on their phone or headphones,” he added .

Heald, it should be noted, does not speak for the cruise line. He shares his own opinion, which he followed by asking his followers for theirs in a poll.

The survey offers two options for portable Bluetooth speakers:

• They should not be allowed on ships
• I disagree, I bring one when I go on a cruise. They should be allowed to.

Carnival passengers chose a clear winner.

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Carnival passengers want Bluetooth speakers banned

Almost 90% of the more than 15,000 votes cast (89%) want to ban Bluetooth speakers from ships. The vote is, of course, non-binding, but Heald will relay the results to “The Beards,” his name for Carnival’s senior management.

Some people have shared stories of people being inconsiderate with Bluetooth speakers.

“I like music as background noise. But when someone, like a gentleman on a cruise I took, has a big Bluetooth speaker turned up so loud, even his own party had to yell at each other while walking around on the pool deck, then just disturbing,” Sandra Hart said.

Kimberly Brooks offered a similar story.

“The last time we were on a cruise, we had to listen to someone’s music on the Lido deck. I prefer listening to reggae music and DJs. It was like this guy was competing with their music and no one told him to go back. It was very frustrating. Yes, we could have up and moved, but we had great seats around the pool,” she wrote.

There were some people who argued for the respectful use of Bluetooth speakers in their cabin.

“I bring one every time I cruise. I just listen to it in my room when I’m getting ready for the day and for dinner,” posted La Sirene Dantor Feray.

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Jeniffer LeeAnn echoed this idea.

“Just as well. I’m not loud but the quality is better than my phone’s speaker. That’s the only reason I use it rather than just my phone,” she wrote.

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