Carnival Embarkation Drug Searches

[Butterbean1000]

I really don't get why this is such a big deal.  Everyone knows bringing pot and drugs on board is forbidden.   But people don't want to follow the rules.   I can't tell you how many times I have been pulled out at the airport for additional searches. (I have a 'cage' in my spine and metal detectors go off every time.) Inconvenient and a little embarrassing,  but I get it. 

[jamie717]

5 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Did you report that to Carnival? I certainly would have.

We did not. I think the excitement of getting the six of us on the ship, after the delay, took over and we just went about our vacation. 

[odis]

41 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Who said  anything about being detained?   

The OP. Being pulled out of line into a separate room for questioning, and being led to believe you are not free to leave, is being detained. 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, odis said:

The OP. Being pulled out of line into a separate room for questioning, and being led to believe you are not free to leave, is being detained. 

You can leave (the room) at any time, getting on the ship is another issue.  Perception is everything.  Trust me, if you want to know what detained is I can send you some pics.  Ahhh, going into another room for them to look in a bag, questioned?  Ha

 

The point is that there is a problem, a big problem. Rules are there for a purpose, when we bend a rule here or there….meh no big deal.  It is my vacation, I can do what I want.  Pot is legal in lots of places….well kudos to Carnival for drawing a line in the sand.   They can deal with it any way they want, just like TSA at airports.  It protects all of us and ENHANCES the cruise experience,  The op said they were “pulling” out 1 per minute due to the alerting (I presume).  Two hour embarkation, that equals over 120+ people….I have a hard time swallowing all that.  Maybe the dogs had a bad day…

 

Wonder if there were rubber hoses and tasers for the questioning….maybe bamboo shoots under the finger nails….😂   Moving on now.

[dallasdan]

I cruised out of Galveston 2 weeks ago.  Did have to walk past the drug dog.  Didn't see anyone selected to be checked at random.  Interesting, a few of us had a sticker on our checked bags saying they were inspected by the drug dog.  None of us had drugs so I think they must check some bags at random.

 

 

[Cushing985]

4 hours ago, tonit964 said:

I’m pretty sure the misspelling was intentional based on the comment about the boss. 🤣

I agree but I'm always up for a spelling or grammar lesson.

[jsglow]

I'm all for enforcement. I'm also all for the officers overseeing the situation being as courteous as possible. Everyone has the right to be treated, and have their possessions treated, with respect. Any delay of a truly innocent person should not take more than 10 minutes and be accompanied by appropriate 'please and thank you' remarks. The briefly inconvenienced passenger should take a similar approach. 

[odis]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

You can leave (the room) at any time, getting on the ship is another issue.  Perception is everything.  Trust me, if you want to know what detained is I can send you some pics.  Ahhh, going into another room for them to look in a bag, questioned?  Ha

 

The point is that there is a problem, a big problem. Rules are there for a purpose, when we bend a rule here or there….meh no big deal.  It is my vacation, I can do what I want.  Pot is legal in lots of places….well kudos to Carnival for drawing a line in the sand.   They can deal with it any way they want, just like TSA at airports.  It protects all of us and ENHANCES the cruise experience,  The op said they were “pulling” out 1 per minute due to the alerting (I presume).  Two hour embarkation, that equals over 120+ people….I have a hard time swallowing all that.  Maybe the dogs had a bad day…

 

Wonder if there were rubber hoses and tasers for the questioning….maybe bamboo shoots under the finger nails….😂   Moving on now.

If you are fine with suspicionless searches by the government, cool.  

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Describe wrong for me.  They can do whatever they want.  They can select every person or 1 in 10 or everyone with red hair or everyone that have a blue back pack.  

It is wrong to base the searches on ethnicity, appearance, age, etc. That is not to say they should not do searches based on what the dogs might smell or even totally at random.

 

And it not just the "usual suspects" for being profiled. Back in the 1970s I knew a very pretty young woman who worked a late shift at a postal annex. Whenever she worked, she drove home late.She told me she got pulled over by the police almost every night.

 

And I should point out given the anecdotal evidence of all the posts complaining about smelling pot smoke on Carnival ships, it would seem that what they are doing is NOT working.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I really don't get why this is such a big deal.  Everyone knows bringing pot and drugs on board is forbidden.   But people don't want to follow the rules.   I can't tell you how many times I have been pulled out at the airport for additional searches. (I have a 'cage' in my spine and metal detectors go off every time.) Inconvenient and a little embarrassing,  but I get it. 

Do you have a doctor's letter explaining that cage and that it will set off the metal detectors?

 

My DW has such a doctor's letter about metal in her elbow, though she has never set off a metal detector.

[simplelife]

Port authorities are state jurisdictions. All this dig-sniffing seems to be mostly a Texas thing, and perhaps Florida too

[Essiesmom]

I was pulled out for luggage search once in, I think Atlanta airport.  We were already through security and checkin.  At the gate waiting, I think.  Not too much after 9/11.  I was on my way to an international destination.  As a middle aged white female with a very American name, I realized I was included to make the group seem diverse.  They were really seeking out the middle eastern travelers.  EM

[ninjacat123]

I was pulled aside when I was flying to San Diego from Fort Lauderdale.  I was traveling by myself with an almost 2 year old and a 4 year old.  My daughters watched through the plexiglass (being held by female security staff) as I was searched and then their stroller.  My girls were fine throughout this, probably because I didn't look upset.  After that, I heard that security would frequently target moms with strollers for possibly being drug mules etc.

[mamiamjo]

Wow. We cruised out of Galveston twice in the past month. We saw the dog, but really didn't notice anyone being inspected/detained. I wonder what criteria they are using?

[sammee]

They can search all they want, anything to keep that smell off the ship. That crap actually makes me sick.

[Butterbean1000]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Do you have a doctor's letter explaining that cage and that it will set off the metal detectors?

 

My DW has such a doctor's letter about metal in her elbow, though she has never set off a metal detector.

I do.  They still do a pat down.  BTW, I had a hip replacement and it never set off the detectors.  It's made out of different metals.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Butterbean1000

[Butterbean1000]

5 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

You can leave (the room) at any time, getting on the ship is another issue.  Perception is everything.  Trust me, if you want to know what detained is I can send you some pics.  Ahhh, going into another room for them to look in a bag, questioned?  Ha

 

The point is that there is a problem, a big problem. Rules are there for a purpose, when we bend a rule here or there….meh no big deal.  It is my vacation, I can do what I want.  Pot is legal in lots of places….well kudos to Carnival for drawing a line in the sand.   They can deal with it any way they want, just like TSA at airports.  It protects all of us and ENHANCES the cruise experience,  The op said they were “pulling” out 1 per minute due to the alerting (I presume).  Two hour embarkation, that equals over 120+ people….I have a hard time swallowing all that.  Maybe the dogs had a bad day…

 

Wonder if there were rubber hoses and tasers for the questioning….maybe bamboo shoots under the finger nails….😂   Moving on now.

This ^

[silvercrikhix]

Wow, been off this a few weeks and bam!  Weed Controversy. 
ok, did AK this summer. Rec weed is legal there.  We smelled weed in a hall once. 
‘but, I know for a fact that several people had edibles on board. We think that’s nuts so we quickly

walk away. We want no legal issues  We could care less, but it’s STUPID.  
And yep, you can’t cure stupid!!. 🤷‍♀️  

[Illbcruzn4life]

7 hours ago, simplelife said:

Port authorities are state jurisdictions. All this dig-sniffing seems to be mostly a Texas thing, and perhaps Florida too

we had to do it in Miami. Told to stand against the wall and put our carryons on the floor in front of us. Dog walked by, sniffed and continued on.

[sfaaa]

On 11/9/2023 at 6:30 PM, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

It's not just prior to boarding or during the boarding process anymore.  Now the dogs stay on board for the entire cruise.  We were on the Venezia out of New York for 21 days and ran into security with the dog multiple times in different areas of the ship.

I like what I am seeing.

[jimbo5544]

15 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It is wrong to base the searches on ethnicity, appearance, age, etc. That is not to say they should not do searches based on what the dogs might smell or even totally at random.

 

And it not just the "usual suspects" for being profiled. Back in the 1970s I knew a very pretty young woman who worked a late shift at a postal annex. Whenever she worked, she drove home late.She told me she got pulled over by the police almost every night.

 

And I should point out given the anecdotal evidence of all the posts complaining about smelling pot smoke on Carnival ships, it would seem that what they are doing is NOT working.

First iff, they  have raised the level recently, hence the thread.  If it is still not working they need more controls.  There is no need to derail this to police thread or what happened in the 70’s.  Carnival is doing the tight thin.  

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

we had to do it in Miami. Told to stand against the wall and put our carryons on the floor in front of us. Dog walked by, sniffed and continued on.

Same here.  This is fine.  To suggest otherwise is pure folly.  

[bafinegan]

In todays world this has really become a necessity  😒

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

First iff, they  have raised the level recently, hence the thread.  If it is still not working they need more controls.  There is no need to derail this to police thread or what happened in the 70’s.  Carnival is doing the tight thin.  

Profiling is wrong whether done by the police or the cruise lines.

 

Having the drug dogs sniff everyone's carryons is different than singling out different groups to be searched.

[mz-s]

They have to keep the drugs off the ships. I am not really in favor of suspicion-less searches by anybody - least of all the government. But given how out of control the drug problem has been on Carnival lately, and the violence and all that often goes hand-in-hand with drug use - they have to do something.

 

I am not really sure what other options Carnival has to keep drugs off their ships.