Cruise line targets “offensive” clothing for passengers
Carnival Cruise Lines are issuing a new ban on clothing that might be considered “offensive”.
The announcement made in late 2019 has sparked a heated debate on whether regulating clothing worn infringes on “free speech rights” or if it is even enforceable.
Carnival's brand ambassador and senior cruise director, John Heald, released details about the addition to Carnival's dress code on his popular Facebook page, revealing it was added to the FAQ section of Carnival's website "in the past few days."
The section reads: "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."
Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the change to clothing regulations came "after some incidents were reported in the media about other travel sectors where customers were wearing clothing with very threatening messages."
The reports "started a discussion about how we were prepared to handle such a situation and the need for clarification to both guests and crew."
Carnival spokesman Gulliksen said that while the line’s crew members are "not onboard to be the clothing or expression police," staff members will still go out of their way to "look out for guests wearing clothes with inappropriate images or language and ask them to change as needed.
"We will evaluate situations on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate steps as necessary."