There’s a reason Carnival Cruise Line would like passengers to refrain from feeding seagulls and other wildlife when on their ships.
I’ve seen firsthand what happens when someone on board gets the bright idea of feeding the nearby wildlife. It isn’t pretty.
Most cruise line policies are there to keep everyone happy sailing along. Sure, some seem like no-brainers to most passengers, but there’s always a few who like to test the waters.
A recent message from a Carnival passenger was addressed by Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald on the topic of feeding seagulls.
The passenger, referred to as V, was in Alaska when some left over bread was all too alluring to some nearby seagulls.
Here is the entire message from the passenger:
“On our cruise on the Luminosa around Alaska and while on our own personal balcony me and my husband were throwing some left over bread from room service in the air for the seagulls to eat. We were in Ketchikan.”
“Some busy body reported us. We had someone from security knock on our door and humiliate us by telling us like we were school kids. Seagulls are Gods creatures. I like them, they don’t cause any bother (and their cries make you feel as though you are really on the high seas.? SMH that this happened John Heald.”
Heald replied to the complaint, explaining why the cruise line has this policy in place, saying,
“I do understand but I am sure the security team member did not “ humiliate “ you but was doing his job to kindly ask you not to feed the birds. I know our wonderful naturalist on board will make announcements not to feed them.”
The problem? Birds don’t discriminate on where they decide to leave their droppings. And on a cruise ship that tries as hard as possible to keep a clean environment, this only complicates matters.
“When you have dozens of birds attracted to the ship they can make a huge mess as they drop massive dollops of poo all over the ship,” Heald added.
This policy is consistent with the rule that nothing is to be thrown overboard as well.
“So our housekeeping department thank you for not feeding them. There are of course strict environmental reasons as well. Throwing anything overboard is forbidden and so that includes feeding them,” Heald said.
Additionally, when passengers start feeding seagulls it only attracts more wildlife. I’ve been on some cruise ships that had outdoor spaces overwhelmed by seagulls who were feasting on abandoned plates.
When sailing out of Long Beach, California years ago, I remember the entire pool deck of Carnival Imagination being covered with a net to try to combat this problem.
Certain cruise ports and parts of the world have more problems with birds than others, but it’s important that all passengers know not to feed the wildlife flying around the ship.
