Carnival: dress code, drinks, and what you can bring aboard

Carnival's alcohol rule is short enough to memorize and precise enough to trip on. Guests aged 21 or older may bring one 750 ml bottle of sealed, unopened wine or champagne per person, and only during embarkation. Not at a port stop, not on the second day, embarkation. Beer is prohibited. Hard liquor is prohibited. Any additional wine beyond that single bottle is prohibited, so a couple carries two bottles between them and not a case with two people's names on it. The clause that catches wine drinkers specifically is the alcohol ceiling: fortified wines exceeding 15 percent alcohol by volume are prohibited entirely, which quietly excludes port, sherry, madeira and vermouth even though every one of them is wine and every one of them arrives in a 750 ml bottle. If you are bringing a bottle to mark an occasion, read the label before you read the policy. Two practical notes follow from how the rule is written. First, sealed and unopened means exactly that, so the bottle you opened at the hotel the night before is not traveling. Second, because the allowance is per person and tied to embarkation, back-to-back guests should not assume anything about how it renews without asking, since Carnival's page frames it around the embarkation event rather than around each sailing. Everything else on the beverage front is a purchase decision rather than a packing decision, and Carnival sells packages accordingly. The one thing worth doing before you leave home is checking the current wording yourself, because the alcohol allowance is the single most revised policy on any cruise line's site, and the version that was true two cruises ago is not evidence about this one.

• One 750 ml bottle of sealed, unopened wine or champagne per guest aged 21 or older, at embarkation.
• Beer, hard liquor and any wine beyond that one bottle are prohibited.
• Fortified wines above 15 percent ABV are excluded, which rules out port, sherry and vermouth.
• Sealed and unopened is literal. An opened bottle does not qualify.
• The allowance is per person and tied to embarkation, not to each day of the cruise.

The bottle size, the age threshold, the embarkation-only wording and the 15 percent ABV ceiling are all quoted from Carnival's own prohibited and allowed items help page, read on the date in the sources below.

This is the rule that costs people a trip back to the car, and it fails on the container rather than on the count. Carnival permits a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans or cartons of 12 ounces, or 354 ml, each or less, per person. Three separate conditions live in that sentence and all three have to hold. The container must be a can or a carton. The individual container must be 12 ounces or smaller. And you get twelve of them, per person rather than per cabin, which is more generous than it first sounds for a family of four. What is not permitted is stated just as plainly: bottled water and sodas in glass or plastic bottles are prohibited. That single clause is why the standard pre-cruise errand, a flat of bottled water from the big-box store near the terminal, is the most common thing abandoned on the curb at a Carnival pier. A 24-pack of half-liter bottles breaks the container rule, the size rule and the count in one go. If you want water in the cabin, it has to arrive in cans or cartons, and the boxed-water cartons sold in most supermarkets are the format that satisfies the rule as written. Carnival also permits a small personal cooler, no larger than 12 by 12 by 12 inches, for beverages and medications, and prohibits large coolers. Treat the cooler as a carrying case for the allowance rather than as an extension of it, since the twelve-can limit does not change because you brought a bag to put them in. If your reason for carrying drinks is medical rather than budgetary, raise it at check-in with the documentation in hand rather than at the belt, where nobody has the authority or the time to make an exception in front of a queue.

• A maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans or cartons per person, each 12 ounces (354 ml) or smaller.
• Bottled water and sodas in glass or plastic bottles are prohibited outright, whatever the quantity.
• The limit is per person, so a family of four has a real allowance to work with.
• Cartons of water satisfy the rule where bottles do not, which is the practical workaround.
• A personal cooler no larger than 12 by 12 by 12 inches is allowed for drinks and medication. Large coolers are not.

The twelve-can limit, the 12-ounce container ceiling, the bottle prohibition and the cooler dimensions are quoted from Carnival's prohibited and allowed items help page.

Carnival splits the evening into two named codes, and the naming matters because the ship uses those words in the daily schedule. Cruise Casual covers most nights. Carnival's own description for men is longer dress shorts or pants, with the parenthetical that jeans are okay too, and a collared polo shirt. For women it lists sundresses, skirts and blouses, dress shorts and capri pants as acceptable. That is a genuinely relaxed standard by cruise industry measures, and the inclusion of dress shorts in the main dining room is the detail that surprises people arriving from other lines. Cruise Elegant is the dressy evening, described by Carnival as evening wear for one or two nights of dinner on your cruise, specifically for when you are eating in the main dining room. For men it suggests suits or dress slacks with a sport coat and a dress shirt, and notes that some guests wear tuxedos. For women it lists cocktail dresses, pantsuits, or elegant skirts and blouses, with some guests in ball gowns. Carnival's own packing guide puts the register more usefully than the category names do: cocktail attire, with the note that some people will wear tuxedos and evening gowns but it is not necessary. What will actually stop you at the dining room door is the shorter list. Carnival names sleeveless shirts for men, cut-off jeans, T-shirts and gym shorts as not permitted, and its packing guide adds baseball hats, bathing suit attire and cut-off jeans to the same list. Separately, and this applies at any hour, swimsuits must be covered and water shoes worn at any restaurant at any time of day, which is the rule that governs the walk from the pool to lunch. Carnival also notes that some of its restaurants enforce dress codes of their own, so the specialty venues are worth checking on the ship rather than assuming they follow the night's code. One gap worth stating plainly: the count of Cruise Elegant evenings by cruise length lives in Carnival's help center answer on what to wear, and that answer would not load for us on the day we checked. One or two nights, from the guide we did read in full, is the figure we can stand behind.

• Cruise Casual for men: longer dress shorts or pants, jeans included, with a collared polo shirt.
• Cruise Casual for women: sundresses, skirts and blouses, dress shorts and capri pants.
• Cruise Elegant is one or two nights, for the main dining room: suits or dress slacks with a sport coat, cocktail dresses, pantsuits or elegant skirts and blouses.
• Not permitted: sleeveless shirts for men, cut-off jeans, T-shirts and gym shorts, with baseball hats and bathing suit attire named in Carnival's packing guide.
• Swimsuits must be covered and water shoes worn at any restaurant at any time of day.
• Some Carnival restaurants enforce their own dress codes on top of the evening's.

Cruise Casual and Cruise Elegant descriptions and the not-permitted list come from Carnival's Away We Go guides on what to wear, first-timer tips and how to pack, which are Carnival's own editorial pages rather than its help center. Carnival's help center what-to-wear answer, which carries the count by cruise length, did not load on the day we checked.

Carnival's prohibited list is long, and the interesting half is what it permits. Start with the bans. Irons and clothes steamers are prohibited, along with coffee makers, toasters and heating blankets, which is the heating-element category every line polices and the reason to pack wrinkle release spray instead. Candles and incense are prohibited. Speakers, boom boxes and Bluetooth devices are named by name, which surprises people every sailing, because the small waterproof speaker for the balcony is a normal thing to own and is not coming aboard. Knives and scissors are prohibited, with dive knives held by security and released for excursions only. Hoverboards and wheeled footwear, meaning Heelys, are out, which is worth telling a child before they pack their favorite shoes rather than after. Hardhats and safety gear are prohibited. Firearms, explosives and weapons are banned outright. On controlled substances the wording closes the loophole people reach for: any illegal narcotics or drugs including synthetic and designer drugs, marijuana, cannabis and cannabis derivatives such as cannabidiol, meaning CBD, are prohibited even with medical documentation. A gummy bought lawfully at home is a prohibited item at a Carnival gangway. Now the permissions, because this is where Carnival is more generous than its reputation. Hair dryers, flat irons and shavers are permitted with proper caution. Power strips and extension cords are permitted provided they have no surge protector, which is a meaningful allowance in a cabin with too few outlets and is not something every line offers. Fans under 12 inches in diameter are permitted. Drones are allowed aboard, but must be held in the custody of the Chief Security Officer rather than kept in your cabin. And the consequence, stated by Carnival in the same place: any item deemed dangerous will be removed and disposed of, and no compensation will be provided. Disposed of, not stored. That sentence is the reason to leave the questionable item in the car, where it stays yours.

• Prohibited: irons and clothes steamers, coffee makers, toasters, heating blankets, candles and incense.
• Prohibited: speakers, boom boxes and Bluetooth devices of any kind.
• Prohibited: knives and scissors, with dive knives held by security for excursions; hoverboards and wheeled footwear.
• Prohibited: marijuana, cannabis and derivatives including CBD, even with medical documentation.
• Allowed with caution: hair dryers, flat irons, shavers, and fans under 12 inches in diameter.
• Allowed: power strips and extension cords, provided they have no surge protector.
• Drones may be brought aboard but are held in the custody of the Chief Security Officer.
• Anything deemed dangerous is removed and disposed of, with no compensation provided.

Every prohibition, permission and the disposal wording is quoted from Carnival's prohibited items and allowed items help page, read on the date in the sources below.

Carnival is one of the few lines that publishes a hard number here, and the number depends on how long you are sailing. On cruises of 3 to 5 days the allowance is a maximum of one bag per person. On cruises of 6 days or longer it rises to no more than two bags per person. Both checked and carry-on suitcases are capped at 50 pounds each, and there is a dimensional limit alongside the weight: lying flat, a bag must not exceed 16 inches high by 24 inches wide. That combination rules out the oversized hard case more effectively than a weight limit alone would. Tags come from the check-in process rather than from the terminal. Once you complete online check-in, personalised luggage tags are included in your electronic documents, and Carnival asks that you affix them before you arrive at the terminal, with additional tags available from the curbside porters if you need them. The deadline is the part to plan around. Checked baggage service is only available until 2 hours before the ship's published departure time, and guests arriving after that window are responsible for taking their own bags aboard, which means dragging a 50-pound case through the terminal and up the gangway yourself. Carry certain things personally regardless: Carnival asks that you personally carry boarding documentation including passports, visas and identification, valuables, medications and anything requiring special handling. On when checked bags reach the cabin, Carnival does not publish a delivery time on the pages we read. What it does say is telling in a different way: guests scheduled to arrive before 1:30 PM usually check their bags with a porter so they are free to enjoy lunch on Lido Deck before access to their stateroom is granted. Read that as the line's own picture of embarkation day. Bags go to a porter, the cabin opens later, lunch happens in between, and the swimsuit or the dinner outfit you want before then has to be on your shoulder.

• One bag per person on cruises of 3 to 5 days; no more than two per person on cruises of 6 days or longer.
• 50 pounds maximum per checked or carry-on suitcase, and no more than 16 inches high by 24 inches wide lying flat.
• Personalised luggage tags come with your electronic documents after online check-in; porters have spares.
• Checked baggage service closes 2 hours before the published departure time, after which you carry your own bags aboard.
• Carry personally: passports, visas, identification, valuables, medications and anything needing special handling.
• No cabin delivery time is published, and Carnival's own framing has guests at lunch on Lido before staterooms open.

Bag counts, weight and dimension limits, tag issue, the baggage cutoff and the carry-on list are quoted from Carnival's luggage policy help page, with the Lido lunch and stateroom access wording from the same source.

Carnival runs embarkation day on two clocks, and only one of them can end your cruise. The first is the arrival appointment. During online check-in you are asked to select one, and Carnival describes it as the time that everyone in your stateroom should be at the cruise port terminal. Online check-in itself has a deadline: it must be completed no later than midnight Eastern time on the day before your sailing date. The appointment is a queue management tool rather than a legal threshold, and Carnival frames it that way, asking guests to arrive promptly within their arrival appointment to reduce their wait time in line. Arriving outside it is a delay rather than a disaster. The second clock is not negotiable. All guests must be on board by the Final Boarding time printed on the boarding pass, or, in Carnival's own words, you will not be permitted to sail. That time is on your pass because it varies by port and by sailing, and it is the one number on this page worth setting an alarm for. Then there is the muster station, which is a shorter obligation than it used to be but is still a real one. Every guest is required to visit their assigned muster station for a quick safety presentation before sailing. The Carnival HUB app is the tool for it, described by the line as the way to learn about onboard safety and navigate to your assigned muster station to check in with a team member upon boarding. So the sequence on a Carnival embarkation day is: arrive within your appointment, hand your tagged bags to a porter, board, and Carnival notes that lunch is served on Lido Deck from boarding until the commencement of the safety briefing. That last clause is the most useful timing signal on the whole page, because it tells you the briefing is what closes the open-ended part of the afternoon. Do the muster walk when you first board rather than after a second plate, and the rest of the day belongs to you. Carnival's dedicated help center answer on the safety briefing would not load on the day we checked, so if the detail of the drill matters to you, look for that answer on carnival.com closer to your sailing.

• Select an arrival appointment during online check-in; it is the time everyone in your stateroom should be at the terminal.
• Online check-in must be completed no later than midnight Eastern the day before you sail.
• Arrive promptly within your appointment to reduce your wait in line. It manages the queue rather than your entitlement to board.
• All guests must be on board by the Final Boarding time printed on the boarding pass, or they will not be permitted to sail.
• Every guest visits their assigned muster station for a short safety presentation before sailing, checking in with a crew member.
• The HUB app navigates you to your station, and Lido lunch runs from boarding until the safety briefing begins.

Arrival appointment, online check-in deadline, Final Boarding and the Lido lunch and HUB app wording come from Carnival's help pages; the requirement to visit the muster station before sailing is from Carnival's own first-timer guide. Carnival's help center answer on the safety briefing did not load on the day we checked.