The internet is full of so-called travel hacks and ways around cruise ship guidelines and restrictions, but Carnival Cruise Line has responded swiftly and severely to one poor maneuver for a guest who claims to regularly smoke on their stateroom balcony. To be clear and concise – this behavior and flagrant disregard for onboard safety is never tolerated.

“I have been on 30 cruises. I smoke on the balcony. I paid for the cruise. The steward always brings an ashtray with $50 tip,” an unidentified guest messaged John Heald.

Heald is Carnival Cruise Line’s official brand ambassador. He answers hundreds of questions each day from cruise fans and eager travelers via his popular Facebook page, and often addresses a wide variety of concerns with grace and humor.

This obvious circumvention of the rules and disregard for safety, however, raises Heald’s ire, with good reason. Not only is it a safety violation, but it also reflects poorly – and Heald feels, inaccurately – on the cruise line’s cabin attendants.

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“I know the cabin attendants, I know them well, better than most having spent so many years working alongside them,” Heald explained. “I know that none of them would never jeopardise their job, a job that helps and provides for their families at home, for an extra tip $50 just to provide a guest with an ashtray. If they were caught , they would be going home, their job would be over.”

Smoking is never permitted on stateroom balconies, a policy which is clearly outlined in Carnival Cruise Line’s Cruise Ticket Contract, Section 9(b):

“Smoking is only permitted in designated areas. Guest agrees to refrain from smoking in non-designated areas and agrees that Carnival has the right to assess up to a $500 charge, per violation, and to disembark the Guest … with no refund.”

Furthermore, the policy explicitly addresses smoking on stateroom balconies. For the purposes of Carnival’s smoking policy, all types of smoking – cigarettes, cigars, pipes, vaporizers, and electronic cigarettes – are included in the prohibition.

“All staterooms and suite accommodations, including the outside balconies, are NON-SMOKING,” the policy reads. “Any evidence of smoking in a stateroom or balcony, e.g.; smoke smell/residue, butts, ashes, upholstery/furniture burns, tampering of the smoke alarm, will constitute a violation.”

Heald emphasizes this policy as well as its consequences. The cruise line does not pull any punches with such safety violations, as even a small fire could have a catastrophic result at sea.

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“Anyone caught smoking on the balcony will face serious consequences also. If we catch someone doing so or find ash or anything smoking related on the balcony there will be a $500 fine and the serious possibility of not being allowed to cruise with us again,” Heald said.

Heald also confirmed that the individual who made the original claim of tipping their cabin attendant $50 to bring an ashtray has already been banned from sailing with Carnival Cruise Line, while urging others not to follow their irresponsible example.

“Speaking as sailor and a human being. Smoking on your balcony is selfish, truly selfish. It is wrong and it is dangerous so please, do not do it,” he said.

What If You Witness Smoking?

Anyone who sees other travelers smoking outside designated areas, especially on stateroom balconies, is urged to alert the ship’s Security or Guest Services department. While it may seem like tattling, it is a safety issue and a great concern for everyone aboard.

“Please, if anyone sees someone smoking on the balcony, call 7777 or 8000 immediately,” Heald said. “Don’t wait, please report it. Be a tell tale tit because it is the right thing to do to protect the ship from the dangers of fire that smoking on a balcony has caused in the past.”

Several cruise ships under the Carnival Corporation & plc umbrella have have fire incidents that may have been caused by smoking.

For example, in May 2023, P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Adventure had a fire at night, impacting several balcony staterooms and causing an evacuation to muster stations. In 2006, the then Star Princess of Princess Cruises – now P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Encounter – had a devastating fire that damaged more than 200 cabins and caused the death of a passenger.

It is only coincidental that these two tragic incidents both involved ships now sailing with P&O Cruises Australia. It was announced just days ago that Carnival Cruise Line will be absorbing P&O Cruises Australia as the brand is dissolved in early 2025. Both Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter will be rebranded as Carnival cruise ships but will continue to sail from Australia after their renovations.

Undoubtedly, smoking will continue to be prohibited outside designated areas on both ships, regardless of which cruise line they sail with.

Earlier this year, a viral video circulated of a Carnival cruise passenger tampering with large water bottles in her stateroom, refilling and resealing the bottles as savings “hack” to avoid paying for the bottles. Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, has now confirmed the consequences of that ludicrous behavior.

While the short video – just a few seconds long – never identified the exact ship or when the video was filmed, it clearly took place onboard a Carnival cruise ship.

The tag on the water bottle said “Carnival” and one of the cruise line’s Snoozin’ door signs was briefly visible in the background. Carnival offers 1.5-liter bottles of Crystal Geyser water in guest staterooms for convenient purchases.

The woman in the video refilled one of those large water bottles from her bathroom tap, then used a small bottle of glue to reseal the cap. She then replaced the cardboard sales tag on the bottle and even gave a thumbs-up for her cleverness at the end of the video. To date, the video has been viewed more than 260,000 times.

The video sparked great concern among cruisers about the safety of bottled water onboard ships and how easy tampering with the bottles may or may not be, as well as what consequences should be brought against travelers stealing in this way. Now, Carnival Cruise Line has responded to the incident.

“The lady who was also on [TikTok] showing how to drink water from the bottles in the cabin without breaking the seal [has] been banned from cruising with us ever again,” confirmed John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador.

It is a relief to learn that Carnival Cruise Line takes this type of incident seriously. The concern about contaminated water, which could potentially be laced with toxins or other substances, is a real one for many travelers after seeing this video.

To be clear, there are many similar videos available with nearly identical “hacks” for resealing different types of bottles, but this is always considered theft. Cruise Hive in no way endorses such actions or any such technique.

Read Also: How Do Cruise Ships Get Fresh Water?

What is still unknown is whether or not Carnival’s cabin attendants might examine any bottles remaining in each stateroom at the end of a cruise for any signs of tampering.

To be safe, passengers should always closely examine the bottles in their cabin when they arrive. When in doubt, requesting fresh bottles from the cabin attendant or purchasing bottles from one of the bars onboard are other options.

Saving Money on Water

Some viewers may consider this unethical hack as an opportunity to save a few bucks on their cruise beverages. It should be noted, however, that tap water onboard cruise ships is perfectly safe to drink. Guests can also get water from self-serve beverage stations, but should be courteous about refilling bottles or otherwise holding up the lines when other passengers are waiting to get their own drinks.

Carnival Cruise Line has come under fire in recent weeks about changes in bottled water prices. In just 17 months, the cruise line increased the price of its bottled water three times, an all-together 202% price hike on the 12-pack of 16.9-ounce bottles. Initially, the cost was just $4.95, but now it is $14.95.

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While this is just $1.25 per bottle – still less expensive than bottles of water that might be bought from an airport, theme park, or street vendor – it is quite a shocking increase from the original cost of $.41 per bottle, especially in such a relatively short time period.

Still, even such a dramatic price increase is no excuse for theft, deception, and tampering. It is a credit to Carnival Cruise Line that they investigated the video so thoroughly in order to identify the guest and take the appropriate action to ensure she will never be refilling Carnival water bottles illegally again.