Carnival Embarkation Drug Searches

[aborgman]

On 11/11/2023 at 7:15 PM, mz-s said:

 

Spoken like a fed. We found nothing so our search program is working.

 

Meanwhile the ships reek of pot every week.

 

Yep...

 

I've been carrying this anti-lion charm around in my pocket, and not once have I been attacked by a Lion here in Michigan.. so it must really work.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I'd guess about 99% of violence on board is attributable to the drug alcohol.

 

.. or .. the rage of some when they're denied #16  😉

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

16 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

 

Customs/police/TSA have certain traits they look for - problem is, there is zero criterion validity to most of them and they have no higher success rates than random. They don'...

 

 

Well, I've never been singled out while going through embarkation.

 

The same can't be said for Disney. Perhaps I have a "certain look", but they've pulled me to the side for extra screening two of of my last three trips to Epcot... LOL

 

Tom

[aborgman]

On 11/12/2023 at 7:48 AM, jimbo5544 said:

If they did not get results they would not do it. 

 

The TSA searches everyone who gets on airplanes, and we know it doesn't work.

Security theater is real.

[jsglow]

13 minutes ago, aborgman said:

They do if you live within 100 miles of the border.

The entire state of Florida, the entire state of Michigan, and the entire state of Maine are within that 100 mile "“reasonable distance” border zone.

That's true and unfortunate.

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

I'd guess about 99% of violence on board is attributable to the drug alcohol.

Sure, but the original topic was "drug dogs searching for illegal drugs" i.e. pot.

[aborgman]

2 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Sure, but the original topic was "drug dogs searching for illegal drugs" i.e. pot.

 

Yes... which is why bringing up violence on board (which is almost 100% caused by alcohol and 0% caused by marijuana) is silly.

 

Don't like the smell? Sure.

It's illegal? Absolutely.

It's their boat and they can ban anything they want? Yep.

 

They're doing it because of violence caused by marijuana? Not one bit.

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 11/11/2023 at 12:43 PM, jsglow said:

But TSA doesn't have any right to stop us on the street.

 

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

They do if you live within 100 miles of the border.

 

TSA isn't stop-and-searching within 100 miles of the border, CBP is.  Nonetheless, it is "the USG" in one shape or form.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

Yep...

 

I've been carrying this anti-lion charm around in my pocket, and not once have I been attacked by a Lion here in Michigan.. so it must really work.

There was once an episode of the tv show The Twilight Zone in which the main character got rid of his anti-lion charm. And then the statues of lions in front of the NY Public Library attacked him.

 

So, be on your guard (or at least if you visit NY City, do not go anywhere near the public library!) 

[odis]

35 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Yes... which is why bringing up violence on board (which is almost 100% caused by alcohol and 0% caused by marijuana) is silly.

 

Don't like the smell? Sure.

It's illegal? Absolutely.

It's their boat and they can ban anything they want? Yep.

 

They're doing it because of violence caused by marijuana? Not one bit.

They are doing it because marijuana use cuts into the onboard alcohol purchases. And maybe the smell. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by odis

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

50 minutes ago, odis said:

They are doing it because marijuana use cuts into the onboard alcohol purchases. And maybe the smell. 

 

Let's not forget fire hazard - though, there's fewer burning seeds nowadays...

 

Tom

[starstruck05]

I highly suggest watching the show "To Catch A Smuggler" on Disney+. All the questions about processes and how they pick people to check and not check and why are answered on that show. It's fascinating and way more complicated than you think. It doesn't feature cruiselines however but CBP process is the same anywhere.

[pc_load_letter]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:54 PM, starstruck05 said:

I highly suggest watching the show "To Catch A Smuggler" on Disney+.

 

Readily available on any service provider that offers National Geographic.

[SPacificbound]

Wow..... We have just over 400 nights at sea, and for the first time ever I just booked a Carnival cruise on Miracle out of Galveston. I wish I could unread this.

[staceyglow]

49 minutes ago, SPacificbound said:

Wow..... We have just over 400 nights at sea, and for the first time ever I just booked a Carnival cruise on Miracle out of Galveston. I wish I could unread this.

Take everything you read on here with a grain of salt.  There are posters who like to exaggerate and use hyperbole.  I have over 150 days on Carnival and haven't seen any of the extreme situations people have posted about.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, starstruck05 said:

Local laws mean nothing for this. It's federally still illegal and if your son was to arrest you or anyone else they would be handling you over to the Feds not local PD. If you want to risk to be banned from cruising over THC be my guest or you can just follow the law. Personally I would rather it just be legal federally. I don't use it but I have friends and family who do for chronic illnesses so I  understand but right now the law is the law. 

i think you missed that the poster you are quoting in not in the US. He lists Ottawa as his residence. 

[starstruck05]

9 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

i think you missed that the poster you are quoting in not in the US. He lists Ottawa as his residence. 

My point is still valid. It's also illegal to cross the border with THC. Hence my comment earlier about watching "To Catch A Smuggler".

[IndyKid]

2 minutes ago, starstruck05 said:

My point is still valid. It's also illegal to cross the border with THC. Hence my comment earlier about watching "To Catch A Smuggler".

My wife recently signed us up for Disney+, so I've been binge watching it. Amazing the ingenuity and the lengths people will go to bring contraband into this country. 

[SeaScout]

58 minutes ago, IndyKid said:

My wife recently signed us up for Disney+, so I've been binge watching it. Amazing the ingenuity and the lengths people will go to bring contraband into this country. 

I've watched that show many times and enjoyed it. The last few times we've cruised, when we got back to Florida for debarkation, we've had zero interaction with Customs and Border Patrol. We've hauled our luggage off with us, stuck our faces at a tablet until it said "approved" and we then walked ourselves and luggage through the doors into the country. Meanwhile on the other side of the terminal they are apparently busy rousting people with personal use amounts of a readily available commercial product, while leaving the country on vacation.  Consider me confused about priorities. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by SeaScout

[ProgRockCruiser]

5 hours ago, SeaScout said:

We've hauled our luggage off with us, stuck our faces at a tablet until it said "approved" and we then walked ourselves and luggage through the doors into the country. Meanwhile on the other side of the terminal they are apparently busy rousting people with personal use amounts of a readily available commercial product, while leaving the country on vacation.  Consider me confused about priorities. 

So again, to clarify: CBP doesn't seem to be the ones doing the searches for pax embarking.  CBP doesn't care how/why you leave the country, or with what.  Carnival cares, because they are taking you to foreign ports who might not appreciate the ready availability of certain products, which if they get lax about might cause them to have to drop those ports.

 

CBP cares about with you are bringing into the US - which is not the typical "contraband" that everyone gets so paranoid about, since so much of it is legal state-side (even if just at the State level). As long as you are a US citizen, re-entering the country is supposed to be low key and drama free.  They don't really care about the extra bottle of liquor that they in theory could ask you to pay $5 import tax on.

[BlerkOne]

On 11/9/2023 at 2:56 PM, txcruiser1234 said:

 

Great cruise... would have been a 10 if not for the needless embarkation drug search.

You lost me at needless. Clearly there is illicit drug use on ships and clearly the "needless" searches sometimes bear fruit. Whether or not someone agrees with the laws and/or rules is irrelevant. The cruise contract states they can search your cabin with or without notice, as well.

[carol louise]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:40 PM, pc_load_letter said:

 

Readily available on any service provider that offers National Geographic.

Just started watching. Fascinating. Thanks!

[Frank12]

On 11/17/2023 at 4:16 PM, staceyglow said:

Take everything you read on here with a grain of salt.  There are posters who like to exaggerate and use hyperbole.  I have over 150 days on Carnival and haven't seen any of the extreme situations people have posted about.

Same. 170 days. Smelled weed a few times but nothing drastic. I've smelled the "poop smell" many more times than weed!😁

[Jay5]

On 11/14/2023 at 10:37 AM, Oceansaway17 said:

I was surprised by this when embarking on Oct 28th in Miami for Horizon.

 

Funny though on day 3 smelled pot on board anyways

Day 3, probably a port day and pot can be purchased in most Caribbean ports.  Usually the drug search only happens at embarkation.

[TerReuv]

On 11/9/2023 at 3:56 PM, txcruiser1234 said:

I know it's a port authority thing, but these enhanced drug searches occur inside the Carnival embarkation process and affect the beginning of the cruise experience. I've been pulled out of line 2 out of our last 3 Carnival cruises (both from Galveston). The first time I chalked up to happenstance, but two out three seems like a trend. Both times, they were pulling about 1 person a minute into the interrogation area. None of the 50 or so searches I witnessed turned up anything. Seems like they are casting a very wide net. 

 

****************

My cruise survey comment to Carnival:

 

Great cruise... would have been a 10 if not for the needless embarkation drug search. I know it's a port authority thing, but it nonetheless affects the overall cruise experience. It turns our normally great priority boarding experience into a questionably invasive pre-boarding interrogation. Having your neatly packed bags tossed in front of you, the groping head to toe (and everything in between) pat down and having to answer personal questions about non-existent drug use are off-putting to say the least and the 30-40 minutes of wasted time are unrecoverable. The fact that the 25 other cruisers pulled into the detention area with me had no prohibited substances (we were all sent on our not so merry ways) leads me to question the methods used to rope folks into these searches. This was the second time in our last three Carnival cruises that this has happened. Together, I've witnessed about 50 of these searches and no one had anything. At the rates they are pulling people into these searches, it's an inefficient and ineffective process that puts hundreds of targets and their traveling companions in foul moods to kickoff the cruise.

*****************

 

Anyway, just wondering if this is something others have noticed or experienced recently...

 

Considering that you know it is a port authority thing, not a Carnival thing, why would you even complain to Carnival? They can't do anything about it. If you really wanted to complain, why not complain to the actual port where it occured instead of wasting time & energy complaining to Carnival?