A cruise is a dream come true for many. There are even people who leave all their earthly affairs behind and buy a ticket for an endless water voyage. But it turns out that cruises can turn into a not-so-pleasant adventure if you are unaware of the rules and bans that have appeared in 2025.
If you haven’t been on a cruise for a long time (or are going for the first time), it wouldn’t hurt to find out the carrier’s precise list of rules, as well as clarify which items you can bring on board and which are strictly prohibited.
The British newspaper Mirror has listed five bans that have come into force only in recent months. So, just in case, it’s worth checking.
Satellite Internet
The primary goal of every cruise company is profit. Not passenger satisfaction and comfort. Therefore, everything is sold there—at a high price. This includes onboard Wi-Fi. Access to it can become a significant expense, and some travelers, aware of this, used to bring portable satellite internet kits like Starlink Mini to provide themselves with reliable and cheap access to the Net.
However, not all cruise companies were happy with such ingenuity. For example, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian have banned tapping into Elon Musk’s internet. This is because satellites can allegedly create interference with ship systems and cause problems with the ship’s own Wi-Fi. Well, according to official statements.
Travel Routers
A few more words about cruise Wi-Fi. On ships abroad, you can buy Wi-Fi packages with different levels of access: from basic, for email and messengers, to premium, for entertainment like conducting your own broadcasts or making video calls. This pleasure costs from $10-15/day (basic) to $40+/day (premium) or $118-$400+ per week, depending on the liner. Often, one router can be used for one device.
But passengers, chasing savings, have been bringing personal routers into their cabins and connecting several devices to them. Cruise companies, learning about such schemes, announced that such speculation could create cybersecurity problems on ships. Passengers now often complain that their devices are confiscated when attempting to bring them in their luggage.
Dancing with Fans
This rather strange ban was introduced by the American company Carnival Cruises in response to a dance boom. The thing is, this year the song “Boots on the Ground” by the group 803Fresh became a trend on TikTok and spawned a popular dance that became an integral part of cruises. An important detail of this dance is a paper fan that needs to be slapped loudly. Dancers use it to keep the rhythm.
However, Carnival Cruises has banned dancing with fans. The official explanation is for safety reasons. They can still be used in other places, for example, on deck. But don’t think about bringing a fan to the closed dance floor.
Bluetooth Speakers
If you dream of sitting on a ship’s balcony and listening to your favorite music at full volume, you may be in for disappointment. Many cruise lines have banned the use of Bluetooth speakers, citing high noise levels, irritation of other passengers, and the potential to block important safety announcements.
The ban on speakers is in effect at Celebrity, Carnival, and MSC.
Stickers in the Form of Upside-Down Pineapples
Images of upside-down pineapples are also taboo on cruise ships. And all because they contain hidden messages. The thing is, swingers have made the pineapple their symbol, and by its image, they identify each other on board.
As one traveler told OutKick magazine, who had the carelessness to wear a shirt with a pineapple (and a bright yellow one at that), he immediately attracted the attention of female passengers. He was simply relaxing on the terrace, and young and older women approached him one after another, flirting, giving compliments, and hinting in every way at a free evening.
The next day, the man, who didn’t understand anything, went for a walk without that shirt and realized that no one was paying attention to him. He found the explanation later on the internet.
At the same time, swingers themselves don’t always wear clothes with pineapples. They find partners much more simply—by sticking “pineapple” stickers on their cabin doors, and the persistent knock doesn’t keep them waiting.
Cruise companies have firmly decided to fight such displays of affection. The rules of some carriers state in black and white: “Items displayed during the cruise must not contain any messages that may be deemed offensive, as well as images of nudity, profanity, sexual hints/innuendos.” Ship staff mercilessly tear stickers off doors, but the matter has not yet reached real punishments for violators.
Cruises in general are capable of shattering many stereotypes of uninformed tourists who have decided to vacation this way for the first time. For example, instead of a measured “lazy” rest, you might get such a насыщенную (intense) program that you’ll get tired and overtired. There are other peculiarities as well.
