A top cruising expert has warned passengers not to get their upcoming cruise holiday off to a bad start by leaving three seemingly innocent items at home.
While it can be difficult to know exactly what to pack for a cruise holiday, Gary Bembridge, who runs the YouTube channel Tips For Travellers, has recommended some items that passengers should avoid taking on certain brands of ship.
In a recent video, Gary discusses a number of unusual banned items, stating that Royal Caribbean passengers should never bring multi-plug outlets with them.
He explained: “Many, many cruisers are annoyed that Royal Caribbean have banned multi-plug outlets, those that allow you to plug in several devices at once, adding them to the already banned surge protector cords and power strips.
“All cruise lines ban any extension cord with a surge protector feature as, unlike at home, they are not compatible and could affect the electrical system on ships and cause a fire in your cabin.”
While passengers on board any cruise should avoid bringing extension cords with them, which are widely banned to reduce the risk of fires breaking out on board, guests on Royal Caribbean ships should also avoid multi-plug outlets.
These devices can be handy, allowing guests to plug in a range of electrical devices at once in their cabin. However, they could also overload the socket.
Nevertheless, cruise passengers can still bring a multi-plug outlet as long as it features only a range of different USB sockets, which typically power devices at a lower voltage.
Later in the video, Gary highlighted that one of the weirdest items banned on a cruise ship is a sticker of an upside-down pineapple typically used to decorate doors, which has an unfortunate connotation.
He added: “Cruise groups, forums and blogs were all chuckling when Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald reported that the infamous upside-down pineapple door decorations were no longer permitted on Carnival ships and would be removed.
“For those who don’t know, an upside-down pineapple has become a bit of cruise folklore and is reportedly used to advertise you’re into the swinger’s lifestyle, inviting interested parties to connect. It got a bit murkier as he later deleted the post, but it seems it is banned as a door decoration.”
Finally, Gary suggested that passengers on a Carnival cruise ship should also leave their Bluetooth speaker at home, which could result in passengers not hearing warning announcements.
He continued: “Here is the ban that really upset me the most, and that is the ban on Bluetooth speakers, including white noise machines and other types of audio equipment, by Carnival.
“They’ve said that if any passenger tries to bring them on board at embarkation or at a port, they’ll be confiscated, and if cruisers buy a Bluetooth speaker in the onboard shops, they will be held until the end of the cruise.”