Carnival Cruise Line Ambassador John Heald fields all kinds of questions and comments through his Facebook page. Today, he recently shared a story that highlights some of the expectations of passengers, even in the middle of an emergency situation.
The story, as told by Heald during a video post, began with a guest needing urgent medical attention that could not be provided on the ship. The captain made the decision to return the ship to PortMiami, arriving late, “around 11:30, midnight, somewhere around then.”
This early return affected the ship’s onboard shops and casino. As Heald explained, “That of course meant that they had to close the shops and the casino early.”
According to Heald, the guest was outraged, expressing “demands for compensation” and complaining that they “weren’t even able to get off the ship in Miami because customs hadn’t cleared the ship.”
However, perhaps this passenger didn’t realize that that closing of the casino was not just a whimsical crew decision. This was part of maritime laws and regulations.
Cruise ship casinos and gift shops operate under a specific legal framework that requires them to be closed while in port. This is because when a ship is in a country’s territorial waters—typically within 12 nautical miles of the coastline—it must abide by that country’s laws, including those on gambling and retail.
Heald, in his response to the guest’s complaint, had to “really, really hold myself back.”
He then explained the situation clearly, saying, “We’re not allowed to open the casino. We have to close the gift shops when we’re back into Florida waters legally.”
He also noted that the ship couldn’t be cleared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection until the proper time and that compensation would not be given.
The process of a ship being cleared by customs is not so quick and easy. After returning to a U.S. port, the ship’s crew submits manifests and other required documentation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Heald estimated that the cruise passenger had missed out on “approximately four to five hours less time that she had to use the gift shops and the casino.”
He ended the video with a powerful and pointed question: “Is four or five hours time in the casino and spending money in the gift shop, is that too big a price to pay to save a human life?”
The guest, according to Heald, “didn’t like that answer very much” and stated she would never cruise with Carnival again because of the lack of compensation and Heald’s response.
Heald then asked, “Do you really want to cruise with someone whose value of human life is based on whether she gets a couple of hours extra in the casino?”
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