Carnival Cruise Line is well known for its casual brand of fun, with a wide variety of games and activities that encourage passengers to simply let loose and enjoy their cruise vacations.

One iconic game that has been a poolside mainstay for years, however, will not be played anymore – the Hairy Chest Contest has been retired.

Hairy Chest Contest Ends

The Hairy Chest Contest was a popular poolside game typically held mid-ship on the Lido Deck, often on a sea day when the deck would be crowded with onlookers and potential participants.

When cruising restarted in July 2021 after the industry-wide shutdown, the Hairy Chest Contest did not resume, and at first it was thought to be due to safety concerns.

Because the contest involves some close contact between participating guests – both the “hairiest chest” contenders as well as the game’s judges – it was likely removed from daily activities to better promote social distancing.

Carnival Cruise Line has now confirmed, however, that the event will not be returning, and that its retirement is “to provide a more family-friendly pool atmosphere,” according to the cruise line, which responded to Cruise Hive.

It is true that the Hairy Chest Contest could get rowdy, even raunchy, depending on the participants joining in. Not only were contestants judged based on their natural hairiness, but different rounds of the competition often included Tarzan-like yells to “Jane” to prove manliness, as well as showing off dance moves that could be provocative and inappropriate for younger guests.

The exact rounds of competition and how they were encouraged often depended on the individual cruise director or Fun Squad member directing the competition. Crowd approval often escalated for more risqué performances, encouraging even more potentially offensive behavior.

Fan Reactions

During the pandemic shutdown, Carnival Cruise Line may have been testing the popularity of the Hairy Chest Contest with loyal cruisers.

In September 2020, brand ambassador John Heald asked about the Hairy Chest Contest on his Facebook page, specifically: “Do you still think the Hairy Chest Contest has a part to play in our fun times on board?”

By sheer polling as indicated by emojis (a popular way to gauge reactions on social media), 82% of respondents favored keeping the event, while just 18% agreed that it should be ended.

Sentiment in the comments at the time indicated that a lot of people agree the contest can get inappropriate, even vulgar. If other people enjoy it, however, many people commented that it should be kept, and no one is forced to participate or watch the game.

Many people also shared fond memories of the game, such as beloved relatives who have since passed having won or participated, or else it being a great time to get involved in a silly and memorable way.

Alternative Activities

In lieu of the Hairy Chest Contest, Carnival Cruise Line is likely to try out a variety of more family-friendly activities. “Our cruise directors and Fun Squads have new and existing lido activities to offer,” the spokesperson confirmed. The new lido activities include:

• Red’s Challenge: Red’s Challenge is a RedFrog Bar-themed Lido event, in which four teams compete amongst each other.
• Guess That Groove: A team competition game that combines music from all genres and decades into an interactive party.
• Pool and Deck Games: There are multiple pool games, including S-pool-ing Bee, Dolphone Race, Alphabet Soup, Synchronized Swimming, and Perfect Partners.

Other poolside activities already in place on Carnival cruise ships include ice carving demonstrations, towel animal invasions showcasing dozens of creations, and the cruise line’s charitable fundraiser, Groove for St. Jude, an afternoon deck party that raises money for the line’s long-term partner, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

It is likely that a number of different activities will be tested on different ships, with cruise directors sharing their experiences about which options are most popular. This could bring even more variety to the Lido deck aboard Carnival’s ships, with even more fun activities all passengers can enjoy.

In communications sent to travel partners, Carnival Cruise Line has announced some permanent changes to onboard dining venues across the fleet.

Many of these changes, which have been in place for some time already due to crew staffing shortages, will not have dramatic impacts for guests’ experiences, while others will be sorely missed.

Dining Cutbacks

Effective as of August 1, 2022, Carnival is cutting back on a wide range of dining services, venues, and operating times. These cutbacks are not as extreme as they may at first seem, however.

Carnival cruise ships will no longer have a 24-hour pizzeria. Instead, the Pizza Pirate or Pizzeria del Capitano (depending on the ship) will operate from 9 a.m. until 4 a.m., and will be closed for the five least busy hours of the 24-hour period. These operating hours, or a similar closure, have been in place for many weeks due to staffing shortages.

Guests craving a late night snack will no longer be able to enjoy Late Night Snacks in the Lido Restaurant, which had often been light fare from a single buffet line, but will be able to get Pizza Plus options instead. This includes the late night pizza as well as pasta, Caesar salad, and sandwich options from the pizzeria.

The popular Sea Day Brunch with its exclusive offerings in the main dining room, always a guest favorite, will be shortened by one hour, concluding at noon instead of 1 p.m. As with the pizzeria’s new shortened hours, this late hour is typically the least popular for brunch guests, and therefore will not impact many cruisers.

The fun vibe of Ocean Plaza, a fixture onboard seven Carnival vessels – Breeze, Dream, Horizon, Magic, Panorama, Sunshine, and Vista – will no longer be available with a light snack menu for breakfast and lunch.

Room service door hanger menus will no longer be available for placing outside stateroom doors to request breakfast. While room service offerings will not change, guests must now call room service to place their orders. This change may be one of the most missed for frequent cruisers who enjoy setting up a room service breakfast, but will be easily adapted for stateroom phone ordering.

Complimentary occasion cakes – popular for birthdays and anniversaries – will no longer be available during dinner in the main dining room. Instead, happy occasions will be marked by candles in a guest’s dessert of choice, ordered from that day’s menu selections – such as the popular warm chocolate melting cake.

While this may seem an extensive list of closures, cutbacks, and changes, it is not actually quite so drastic, and Carnival cruise ships still offer many tasty and tempting options for all tastes.

Gone – But Not Forever

Two popular dining treats are still paused throughout the Carnival fleet, but may be returning soon.

The extraordinary and delicious Chocolate Extravaganza buffet, typically offered on the last Fun Day at Sea, will continue to be paused at this time, but may return on future cruises.

This decadent buffet often includes a range of chocolate cakes, mousses, cookies, truffles, and more, as well as a chocolate fountain and graceful swans crafted from pastries and ice cream.

The Afternoon Tea Time, an elegant snack time and social hour, is still on hiatus, but will be returning. Similarly, the post-Military Appreciation event snacks will also return soon.

No firm dates have been established for these events to resume, but are likely to be brought back onto individual ships as staffing permits.

Already Back!

Two very popular dining options that were initially halted in mid-May have already returned – the exclusive Chef’s Table event resumed at the end of June, and the specialty restaurant Cucina del Capitano will reopen fleet-wide on August 6, 2022. Both are great hits with guests.

Chef’s Table is available on every Carnival ship, while Cucina del Capitano is available on nine vessels – Breeze, Horizon, Magic, Panorama, Radiance, Sunrise, Sunshine, Vista, and Mardi Gras.

Both will also be featured on the upcoming Carnival Celebration, as well as Carnival Jubilee in late 2023.

With more and more cruise lines gradually eliminating pre-cruise COVID-19 testing for shorter voyages, it can be confusing which sailings still do require tests not because of the voyage length, but because of the ports that will be visited.

Carnival Cruise Line has clarified which sailings, even short ones, that still require all guests to have a negative test result before embarkation.

Testing Still Required for Popular Destinations

In a post to his Facebook page, Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald has clarified that all guests, regardless of vaccination status, must still have a negative pre-cruise COVID-19 test prior to sailing to some destinations, no matter what the length of the cruise.

“I am here to help as many of you as I can and of course the fluid situation we in the cruise industry find ourselves in was made very obvious again last night with the latest news on testing,” Heald said, referencing that different cruise lines do have different requirements.

Heald went on to simplify Carnival Cruise Line’s testing requirements, stating that testing is still required for all passengers on all cruises, regardless of length, that call on any ports in Bermuda, The Bahamas, or Grand Cayman.

To be clear, cruises sailing to Kings Wharf (Bermuda) as well as George Town (Grand Cayman), still require pre-cruise testing.

Similarly, all cruises to any port of call in The Bahamas – Nassau, Freeport, Bimini, and even the cruise line’s private island destinations, Half Moon Cay or Princess Cays – require that all passengers have a negative test result before embarkation.

It does not matter if the cruise has other ports of call on its itinerary; if the sailing visits any of the ports listed above, tests are still required at this time.

This clarification comes just days before Carnival Cruise Line’s new testing protocols go into effect on August 4, which state that testing is no longer required for fully vaccinated guests on cruises of five days or less.

Guests booked on short sailings should not, however, that the updated protocols do clearly state that the requirements apply “except where destination requirements differ” – a distinction that is made several times on the cruise line’s Have Fun. Be Safe. protocols page.

“I know this is disappointing news,” Heald said. “This was of course not what we wanted but proof again that we have to abide by the ever changing rules and requirements of the places we visit.”

On all cruises of six nights or longer, pre-cruise tests are still required for all passengers regardless of ports of call, embarkation port, or vaccination status.

Short Sailings That Do NOT Require Testing

This clarification may be disappointing to a number of guests booked on short 3-4 night sailings, as many of those cruises sail solely to The Bahamas. Because of the destination requirements, those cruises still require a pre-cruise test.

There are several Carnival cruise options coming in the next few weeks that will not require testing for vaccinated guests, however, such as:

• 5-night Western Caribbean sailings from New Orleans aboard Carnival Valor, Mobile on Carnival Ecstasy, or Galveston on Carnival Breeze that call on Cozumel and Progreso or Costa Maya, Mexico
• 5-night Western Caribbean sailings from Tampa on Carnival Paradise visiting Mahogany Bay, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico
• 5-night Western Caribbean sailings from Port Canaveral aboard Carnival Freedom visiting Amber Cove and Grand Turk
• 4-night Baja Mexico itineraries from Long Beach aboard Carnival Radiance visiting Ensenada and Catalina
• 3-4-night Baja Mexico cruises from San Francisco aboard Carnival Miracle or from Long Beach aboard Carnival Radiance calling only on Ensenada, Mexico
• 4-night Western Caribbean sailings from New Orleans aboard Carnival Valor or from Tampa aboard Carnival Paradise, only visiting Cozumel, Mexico
• 4-night Western Caribbean voyages from Miami aboard Carnival Conquest or Carnival Sunrise that visit Key West and Cozumel

These short itineraries still offer guests a variety of cruise vacation options on many different Fun Ships if they prefer not to test before sailing.

Testing Guidelines Changing on Other Cruise Lines

While several other cruise lines have also begun to drop pre-cruise testing requirements for shorter sailings, including MSC Cruises (sailings from August 8) as well as Royal Caribbean International and its sister lines, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea (sailings from August 8), testing remains in place for most longer itineraries.

Guests booked on any upcoming cruises should stay in close contact with their cruise line as their embarkation date approaches, as protocols are likely to continue to evolve and testing requirements may continue to change on short notice at scheduled ports of call.