Is it rude to allow children and families to use smartphones and tablets while sitting at the dinner table together on a cruise?
One recent passenger sailing on Carnival Cruise Line’s 3,646-guest Carnival Dream thinks so.
The passenger, identifying as a parent of three children aged 7, 11, and 15, shared their views in a message to John Heald, the cruise line’s brand ambassador.
“We are a good Christian family. We do not allow [our children] to take their phones or tablets to the dining room for any meal,” the parent said.
“Seeing families all on their phones at dinner is appalling. Carnival should enforce a no-phones and no-tablets rule at the dinner table,” the guest continued. “Carnival should set a precedent that would set it apart from other cruise lines.”
The parent also emphasized the importance of fostering face-to-face communication during family meals, writing, “It’s so important for children to communicate verbally, learn eye contact, and feel like they’re listened to.”
In response, Heald acknowledged the challenges of balancing differing parental styles and said parenting “is a personal thing and not for us as a cruise line to decide if children should be allowed to use their electronics in the dining room.”
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As a parent, himself, Heald shared his own struggle with technology with his kids but also noted the difficulty of enforcing a universal rule across the fleet.
It is worth noting that no other cruise line implements a technology-free dining experience, and that all cruise lines have been implementing improvements to their Wi-Fi packages to help keep families connected through their phones and tablets.
Passengers Seemingly in Agreement
Of course, the comment sparked a debate on Heald’s Facebook page with hundreds of responses. Those who are pro-technology during dinner said they often use the family time to share photos and moments they caught while separated during the day aboard the ship.
One passenger said it’s also when they review Carnival’s FunTimes schedule of daily activities to choose what they want to do next together. “This is our time to connect with each other. How we do that is no one else’s business,” she added.
Another said, “Phones do not mean we’re not communicating. I have so many funny memories recorded on my phone and my kids’ phones and us in the dining room having a blast together on our cruises.”
Other passengers pointed out that many menus on ships are only accessible by the Carnival HUB app and that having a phone is a necessity for choosing a meal.
Plus, cruise lines – and their chefs – love when passengers take photos of the meals and anything else they may be enjoying and share them on social media. Not only is it free marketing, but it lets the ships know what guests like and what they don’t.
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Still, even those who agreed that electronics should be limited support the right of a parent to make their own decisions.
“Wonderful values you are teaching your children about those phones,” said one. “Only person who should be teaching values to our children are us, not Carnival.”
Added another, “I think no devices at the dinner table is a good policy. But a personal policy. It is not Carnival’s place to set this type of standard, not enforce it.”
The discussion follows recent bans on other technology items on Carnival Cruise Lines, including Bluetooth and portable speakers, to limit disruption to other passengers. Other cruise lines also have banned some devices, such as baby monitors and travel routers.
Guests wondering what they can and cannot take onboard a Carnival cruise will find a list of prohibited items on its website.
