Carnival Guest, Banned for Life After TikTok Video, Shares Ban Letter

Social media influencers do all kinds of things to get clicks and views, but sometimes all that attention can get them in trouble if they are breaking a company’s policy–or at least looking like that are.

A previous Carnival Cruise Line guest with a vibrant TikTok following has been banned by the cruise line after posting a video showing an alleged alcohol smuggling hack.

From Viral “Hack” to Lifetime Ban

TikToker Courtney Murley thought she had a clever trick for her Carnival cruise, and she decided to share it with the world. Now, instead of viral fame for a “hack,” she’s sharing a very different kind of social media post: her lifetime ban letter from Carnival Cruise Line.

It all started with a video Murley posted earlier this year, allegedly showing her and a travel companion successfully sneaking alcohol onto Carnival Conquest.

The TikTok post, which quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views, showed the cruisers taking their luggage into their cabin, seemingly revealing liquor hidden in toiletry containers.

Her caption proudly stated the following:

“Def waited until after I got home to post this! Hahahaha but it worked. Forget a drink package lol…. okay we ended up drinking probably what we would of paid for a drink package anyways but still was fun to try and see if the rum runners would work.“

But Murley’s social media post quickly backfired. She recently received a letter from Carnival Cruise Line which she then shared on TikTok. 

The letter clearly stated that her cruising days with Carnival were done:

“This letter is to inform you that you will not be able to sail onboard any Carnival Cruise Line vessel in the future due to the smuggling of alcohol onboard the Carnival Conquest on March 31st, 2025, and subsequently posting about it on social media platforms. Your attempt to book a future cruise will result in cancellation and a possible loss of deposit monies.”

Murley has since tried to backtrack, claiming her initial video was “satirical” and that she never actually smuggled alcohol, but rather showed “juice in a tampon flask” for “views.”

“What I’m mad about is that they are banning me for something that didn’t happen. They said for smuggling alcohol. I did not smuggle alcohol. Not one ounce of alcohol was smuggled onto the ship. Not one. Not a single drop. What you see on that video is not alcohol. Is everything on the Internet real?” Murley stated in her follow up post.

However, the damage was already done. For Carnival, the video itself promoted a clear violation of their policies.

Heald’s Warning: Social Media Is Being Watched

This isn’t an isolated incident, and Carnival is making it clear they’re not messing around. Carnival’s own Brand Ambassador, John Heald, has been sounding the alarm on his Facebook Live videos, reminding everyone that the cruise line is actively monitoring social media for precisely these kinds of “clever” tips and tricks.

Heald has openly talked about receiving numerous links from followers to social media videos where guests show off their hidden liquor tactics.

“Somebody – actually, I think it was at least a dozen people – wrote to me sending me a link to a social media video… where this – this is crazy, right?” Heald exclaimed, referencing the old (and prohibited) tricks like hiding booze in hairbrushes or umbrellas.

While acknowledging that these smuggling methods aren’t new—”We have known for years that you can go on Mrs. Amazon, and you can get used to smuggle booze in, right?”—Heald expressed particular frustration with the public boasting.

“But what absolutely drives me crazy – it makes me laugh, to be very honest – is when people get on the ship, and they go, ‘Ohh, look what we smuggled on board, a tube full of vodka. Ha Ha Ha! We’re so clever.’”

If you post about breaking their rules, especially the alcohol policy, you’re making it incredibly easy for them to find you. “Of course, of course, we have people monitoring social media pages, of course, we do. And then you monitor it, people watching it, and you send it to me, and you say, ‘Look, look!’”, Heald previously stated.

The consequences, as Courtney Murley learned the hard way, are swift and long-lasting.  While she can appeal the decision, it’s unlikely the cruise line will reverse course.  

The message, as seen in the ban letter Murley received from Carnival, is pretty clear: that viral moment could cost you a lifetime of cruises.

In the follow-up post that showed the letter from Carnival, Murley stated “thank goodness we love MSC & Royal better“, but this has some wondering if cruise lines share this kind of information with each other.  In other words, will other cruise lines add names to their ban-list based on what they do on ships not in their brand?

This topic often comes up in relation to lifetime bans that are the result of fighting on cruise ships.  Time will tell if Murley’s followers see her sailing on another cruise ship in the near future.  But it’s unlikely she will be posting these kinds of “hacks” whether they are satire or not.