As a brand, Carnival Cruise Line deeply respects its guests who have served in the military, are actively serving, or are part of military families – which is why a Military Appreciation Gathering is held on every single sailing.
However, one veteran – who was clearly misinformed about Carnival’s policies – took it as an insult that non-military passengers were allowed to attend the gathering to show their respect for current and past service members.
He made his anger known in a rather hostile message to Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald on his Facebook page.
“Having not been informed of this at the time of booking I find this extremely disappointing that Carnival Cruise Lines have made the deplorable decision to allow non serving passengers to walk into the military veterans event,” the unidentified veteran wrote.
His top complaint was that this enabled non-service members to enter the raffle for a free cruise – through which Carnival awards a lucky veteran or active service member with a free cruise on a monthly basis. All qualified guests have to do to enter is swipe their Sail & Sign card at the Military Appreciation event.
“This does thin out the chances of decorated military veterans entering the win the cruise raffle when any common Joe can enter a ticket…Perhaps if you had not been a coward and had served your country when it needed you then you would be more sympathetic. Carnival in recent years has reduced its Veterans gathering to almost nothing,” continued the angry cruiser.
Heald responded with much more respect than he was given – but made it a point to correct the misinformed guest.
“Thank you sir and thank you for your service and for the courage you had to do so. We only allow military veterans to take part in the raffle and the winners’ military credentials are checked before we award the cruise,” Heald replied.
Indeed, the winner of the free cruise must submit documentation to prove they have or are currently serving before Carnival hands over the award. If the person is not eligible to receive the free cruise, a new name is drawn.
Should Non-Military Guests Be Allowed at Military Events?
As recently as the end of October, another cruiser was frustrated by what he perceived as “stolen valor” when non-military passengers attended the Military Appreciation Gathering.
The unidentified guest was worried that regular guests would pretend to be service members or veterans to win the free cruise.
“I am curious Heald if you are aware of something that is everywhere in these United States. Stolen Valor. This is when someone is a military imposter. He will wear a uniform to get attention because they are sick in mind and soul. My relevancy here is about your raffle for veterans to win a free cruise,” the guest wrote at the time.
Heald, of course, confirmed that proof of service had to be verified before the prize would be awarded – and likely thought he was done with the matter until the latest incident with the angry veteran.
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This latest complaint also re-raises the question of if non-military personnel should be allowed to attend the events – if only to express their gratitude to service members and their families.
“We always attend the military appreciation event when we cruise. We want to show our gratitude, respect, and pride in the sacrifices made by those who served and their families. My husband and I never served, but have had multiple family members that have,” one cruiser replied in the comments section of Heald’s latest post.
At the time of the October controversy, Heald also put a poll on his Facebook page to ask his followers if non-military guests should be allowed to attend.
Within just about an hour of posting the poll, more than 7,000 votes agreed with the idea that “the veterans gathering should be for all guests to attend” while just over 2,100 votes preferred “the veterans gathering should only be for veterans and not open for everyone else.”
