Carnival Cruise Line Is Cracking Down on “Offensive” Clothing With New Dress Code

Carnival Cruise Line is banning “offensive” clothing on their ships, cracking down on apparel displaying profanity or nudity.

The new dress code was implemented in December, per a Facebook post by Carnival brand ambassador John Heald. He noted the cruise line’s FAQ section had been updated to reflect that “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.”

The cruise line added: “All guests are expected to ensure their clothing and accessories are respectful to fellow guests.”

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen told CNN that while Carnival didn’t want to become “the clothing or expression police,” the company felt it was necessary to change the dress code after reports of people in other travel sectors wearing things with "very threatening messages."

Gulliksen told CruiseCritic that clothing will be evaluated on a “case by case basis,” and people who violate the policy will be asked to change.

"We want to make sure that all of our guests feel comfortable when cruising with us, and that includes being around guests wearing clothing with inappropriate images or language,” he said.

A poll conducted on Heald’s Facebook post showed that more than 23,000 people voted and 97 percent agreed with the new dress code policy.

"I like the new policy, especially in regard to profanity or sexual innuendo," momof3cruisers posted on CruiseCritic. "Little kids don't need to be seeing that. But I have a hard time believing anything will be done."

Joe817 posted that they hoped the new policy was an effective one, according to the site.

“I cringed every time I saw someone with a profanity-bearing T-shirt,” Joe817 said.

But some were skeptical.

“I can't agree with a broad policy,” Robin Carlow wrote on Heald’s Facebook post, adding that people are “coming from different areas with different reference points regarding what is offensive.”