Many cruise ship passengers aren’t even aware that getting banned forever from their favorite line is possible. I’m here to tell you that cruise lines are more willing than ever to blacklist troublesome customers — permanently.
At any one time, millions of cruise ship passengers are successfully sailing around the world peacefully and without incident. But there is a subset of those travelers who, for various reasons, the cruise line will banish forever after the trip.
Some of those passengers will even be ejected from the ship prematurely, of course, without any compensation from the cruise line.
A significant number of cruisers who end up on the Do Not Sail list express shock, disbelief, and confusion. However, most of the banned passengers who contact our team for help know exactly what they did wrong. They hope we can deliver their heartfelt apology to the cruise line and get them unbanned.
Unfortunately, the news isn’t good for nearly all of these people. Once a cruise line formally decides that a passenger is an undesirable guest, there isn’t much of an appeal process. In fact, most of these cases are simply sent to the legal department to maintain a permanent record of the former customers’ misdeeds.
So passengers beware: If you get banned from a cruise line, you likely won’t ever board another of its ships. That’s true whether you are confused about what you did to earn your spot on the DNS list or not.
Here are the top ways the cruise ship passengers in our case files got banned forever.
1. Filing a credit card dispute post-cruise
It’s surprising just how many consumers misunderstand the credit card dispute process. That confusion often leads to big trouble for cruise ship passengers. These credit card holders believe that a simple way to solve problems pertaining to shore excursions, services, onboard gratuities and cabin complaints is by filing a chargeback after the cruise.
Charging back legitimate payments made to a cruise line is one of the quickest ways to get banned permanently from future trips.
Former Norwegian Cruise Line passenger Christie Cook found this out the hard way. While sailing on NCL’s Bliss, she repeatedly complained about her non-connecting cabins, which she believed she had been promised. Her contract did not reflect that promise, but to smooth things over, the cruise line issued the family $3,000 in goodwill vouchers.
Cook wasn’t satisfied with the future cruise credits and preferred a cash discount on the current voyage instead. So, she devised an idea to convert that goodwill gesture into a refund: a credit card chargeback.
As soon as the family returned from their cruise, Cook contacted American Express and disputed $3,000 of the trip’s cost. That credit card chargeback quickly landed her on NCL’s Do Not Sail list.
What to know about cruise lines and credit card disputes
Travelers should know that most cruise lines don’t typically fight credit card disputes filed by their customers. However, they will swiftly respond in the most drastic way if the passenger wins the chargeback by default.
Despite what many consumers believe, winning a credit card chargeback doesn’t guarantee the dispute is over. If the merchant is intent on pursuing the debt elsewhere, they can — and cruise lines do. The conclusion of a credit card dispute only guarantees that the bank’s involvement is over.
Cruise lines handle credit card disputes in their own special way: by canceling any future trips the customer has and placing the former customer on the banned list. And that is what happened to Cook. She and her family were no longer welcome to cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line or any of its sister brands.
Ultimately, after contacting my advocacy team for guidance, Cook paid back the debt she owed NCL. Months later, she told me the cruise line had lifted the ban and that her family was scheduled on an upcoming voyage. NCL had no comment when I asked to confirm that last bit, which I found quite unusual.
The bottom line: Don’t dispute valid charges incurred during your cruise. Remember this critical point: Credit card chargebacks are only meant to remedy billing errors and outright fraud by a merchant. You don’t qualify for a credit card dispute if your complaint doesn’t fall into one of those categories. Disputing legitimate charges is considered friendly fraud and can lead to more significant problems than landing on a Do Not Sail list.
2. Damaging property on the cruise ship
Last spring, a distraught cruise ship passenger asked our team for help after her 9-year-old son broke an expensive arcade machine aboard Carnival’s Celebration. Mom said that for the duration of the trip, the cruise line forced the boy into what amounted to house arrest inside their cabin.
At the end of the cruise, the captain himself handed the boy his banishment papers as the family was leaving the ship. According to that document, the child would never be allowed on another Carnival cruise for the rest of his life.
All of what Mom was telling me sounded quite harsh… until I dug a little deeper. The boy, who has known psychiatric issues and was unmedicated, had been allowed to roam the cruise ship alone. Not only had he been caught on a security camera breaking the machine, but he also assaulted another child.
His mom rightfully blamed herself for her son getting banned by the cruise line. She offered to pay for the machine and to provide proof that he was taking his prescribed medication before their next cruise.
But there would be no next Carnival cruise for this little boy. The cruise line’s decision was final.
The bottom line: All cruise ship passengers — even young children — should know that intentionally damaging items on the ship will almost always land you on the blacklist. Parents should keep that in mind before giving their child the freedom to explore unsupervised. If your offspring causes damage on the ship, they too could get banned forever. Unless you’re willing to cruise without them in the future, you’ll essentially be banned as well.
The truth is that young children should never be allowed to roam on a cruise ship alone. That’s especially true for a kid with known psychiatric conditions whose mom left his medication at home. It just isn’t safe — for many reasons. Those cruise ships are much like floating cities — with thousands and thousands of strangers with unknown backgrounds mingling about. Not all of them are good people. If you wouldn’t allow your child to roam unsupervised in a heavily populated city late into the evening, as I suspect you wouldn’t, don’t do it on a cruise ship, either.
3. Fighting with other guests or crew members
Fighting among guests onboard cruise ships seems to be an increasingly common event. Nearly every day, there are reports of a new melee on one cruise line or another. It seems that people are becoming a bit desensitized to the outrageous nature of these brawls.
But passengers should know that all cruise lines have a strict behavior policy. There is a one-strike-and-you’re-out rule in terms of having onboard altercations with others.
Another mom, whom I’ll call Mary to protect her family’s identity, contacted me recently to ask for help.
Her 18-year-old son, Martin, fresh out of high school, recently received a lifetime ban from Carnival during a family cruise. This was a problem because a giant family reunion aboard Carnival’s Celebration was quickly approaching.
“My husband and I love to cruise with our six children,” Mary told me. “We exclusively travel with Carnival Cruise Line.”
Mary says she made an error in judgment on the last night of their most recent cruise aboard Carnival’s Mardi Gras. That night, she allowed her two oldest children, who are 18 and 20, to spend the evening exploring the ship alone.
I usually require all six of my children to stick together. They love spending time together during our family cruises, and they always have a great time. But on the last night of this cruise, the two oldest went out on their own. I really regret that now.
A middle-aged man and his son started sexually harassing my daughter. My boy was defending his sister and told the man to stop and to leave them alone. He is sure that the man hit him first. [Martin] admits that he responded by fighting back. Security came and put my son in his cabin with a guard outside the door for the rest of the night. I don’t know if they did the same to the guy who assaulted my son.
The next morning, as the family was leaving the cruise, Martin swiped his card one last time. Suddenly, more security appeared. He was taken to a side room where he received his “banned for life from Carnival Cruise Line” notification.
In an apology letter he sent to Carnival after the cruise, which his mom shared with me, Martin begged the cruise line for another chance. That letter was accompanied by a shining letter of recommendation by one of his former teachers. Martin hoped the letter might prove to the cruise line that this was not his typical behavior.
He was heading to university in the fall, and he was embarrassed by his lapse in good behavior.
I am devastated [about getting banned from Carnival]. My family has had so many good times cruising together. I’m very sorry, but I was defending my sister. I know now I handled this situation incorrectly.
But Carnival was unmoved by Martin’s apology and reiterated the banishment. This response aligns with Carnival’s “Zero tolerance policy” toward disruptive behavior on its ships.
The bottom line: Never take matters into your own hands while on board a cruise ship. If someone is harassing you or if you are feeling threatened or endangered, report the situation to security. If you become involved in a physical altercation with another person during your cruise — fellow passenger or crew member — you can be certain that you won’t be invited back, ever. You might even get kicked off the ship mid-cruise as this Holland America passenger did.
4. Unstable behavior before or during the cruise
Recently, David contacted me after his wife had a psychiatric break at the pier in Dover, England, as they attempted to board a nine-night cruise aboard Carnival’s Pride.
“My wife hadn’t taken her medication and she was very disturbed by our daughter’s impending divorce,” he told me. “She was confused and started screaming and imagining things and the Carnival pier staff called the police.”
The police arrived and they soon asked David to take his wife to the nearest hospital for treatment. Or they could do it for him, but David and his wife weren’t going on the cruise.
As police looked on, David coaxed his panicked wife back into their car and headed to the emergency room. Over the next week, she was stabilized in the psychiatric unit as her medications were adjusted. When they returned home they found an official letter from Carnival explaining that because of David’s wife’s mental breakdown on the pier, she was banned from booking any future cruises.
David hoped I might be able to convince Carnival to give his wife another chance now that her mental state had been stabilized. He provided a medical note from her doctor and a promise that she would take all her prescribed medications in the future.
With a bit of hesitation, I sent David’s plea to Carnival, but I was not really fully convinced of what the outcome should be. And I soon got Carnival’s answer.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for reaching out.
I’m glad to hear that **** is doing well.
I’ve looked into this once before, and unfortunately, the situation that happened in the terminal was very serious, and the decision will not be changed.
Thank you again.
Best,
(Carnival spokesperson)
Carnival’s decision to uphold the ban is one I can’t say I disagree with and I explained that to David. It’s probably the safest choice for this couple to stick with land-based vacations where emergency treatment is never too far away.
The bottom line: Cruising is not for everyone. As a former psychotherapist and psychiatric clinician, I have great compassion for those who suffer from mental illness. But people who are prone to anxiety attacks with delusions and distortions in perception should not board a cruise bound for the deep ocean. It’s too dangerous — a temporary psychiatric break can have permanent consequences on a ship where there is a multitude of opportunities to make devastating decisions.
5. Becoming too friendly with crew or other guests
Some of the cruise ship passengers who have contacted us after being banned for life say they really have no idea why – and the cruise lines won’t say.
But one thing they all have in common is a robust and enthusiastic friendliness aimed at either crew members or other passengers.
Joyce contacted our team after Norwegian Cruise Line suddenly canceled all of her future trips. When she pressed NCL for additional clarification, she received confirmation that the cruise line had put her on the Do Not Sail list. She was devastated.
I am a professional who does humanitarian work from my own funds. A few days ago, I attempted to book with NCL through online booking, but after several attempts, it would not go through. So, I called the NCL phone line to book with a live agent. The booking agent put me on hold and then informed me, to my shock and unbelief, that I was on the Do Not Sail list and would receive additional information today.
It turns out that Joyce had been on multiple NCL cruises in the past year. She had gotten to know many crew members along the way — and she was impressed. During her last cruise on Norwegian’s Gem sailing across the Atlantic from Italy, she had been so enamored with the crew that she’d written 30 personalized, enthusiastic recommendations for various NCL staff. She also gathered personal email addresses of those crew members and sent thank you notes directly to those individuals.
This seems to have set off an alert with NCL — this passenger was a bit too invested in their crew.
Because Norwegian Cruise Line would not pinpoint exactly what triggered Joyce’s Do Not Sail status, she was convinced this was a case of mistaken identity. I wasn’t so sure, but I sent a request to NCL to find out.
Confirmed: NCL has banned this cruise ship passenger forever
I soon got clarification: Joyce was banned from Norwegian Cruise Line forever. There was no mistake.
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond. After a review with security, we can confirm that this is not an incident of mistaken identity, and Ms. ****’s cruise status with us will not be reversed.
Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson
At the same time Joyce was sending her request for help to Consumer Rescue, I received another unusual complaint.
A young man named John had also recently been banned from NCL. Like Joyce, he said he didn’t know why. John said he’d been having a great time “hanging with” the crew on all of his recent cruises. He only wanted to travel with NCL in the future, so finding out that the cruise line didn’t return his feelings of admiration was particularly disturbing.
He told me that he had struck up a “relationship” with a fellow guest during his last voyage. John acknowledged that lots of alcohol was involved in their blossoming onboard romance, which culminated with a sleepover in his cabin.
The young lady’s father was not happy about this situation. He appears to have complained to NCL about John’s “predatory” behavior onboard the ship.
“The father sent me an email and told me to stay away from his adult daughter,” John told me. “He told me that I had taken advantage of his daughter while she was drunk. A few days later, NCL banned me — permanently.”
I explained to John why this was not a case which Consumer Rescue could mediate. The father was insinuating he intended to involve the police. Our team can only mediate cases that involve consumer complaints against businesses. I believed John had bigger problems heading his way.
The bottom line: Be polite with the crew onboard your cruise. But don’t pry, ask personal questions, or “hang out” with them. Keep in mind that the cruise line requires the crew to always respond cordially to passengers. Do not misinterpret friendliness with a desire to be friends or more.
In terms of other guests, be careful about intimate situations. Use your common sense, and be vigilant about drinking too much. Alcohol does flow freely on those cruise ships, but this may cause you to misread situations, which could result in you doing things that could get you kicked off the ship… permanently.
6. Smuggling forbidden items onboard the ship
I belong to multiple Facebook groups dedicated to cruise ship passengers. I’m always amazed by the advice that spins out of some of these groups. People ask how they can sneak all sorts of contraband onto the ship, and other members with their full names on display will provide ways to do it.
What these cruise ship passengers fail to understand is that most cruise lines have representatives monitoring various groups on Facebook. There are also plenty of fellow passengers who are happy to report bad intentions to the cruise line. If your name is displayed on a post where you’re wondering how to board the ship with forbidden items, you will likely be targeted at the pier.
Read your cruise line’s terms and conditions and learn what you can and can’t safely bring on board the ship. That way, you won’t risk getting banned forever from your favorite cruise line because of a misunderstanding.
The bottom line: If you bring something onboard your cruise — or attempt to bring a prohibited item, you risk getting banned permanently. That’s true whether you understood the item was not allowed or not. Remember, cruise ships must follow the laws of all of the countries you’ll be visiting. Just because something is legal in the United States doesn’t mean it is legal elsewhere. In fact, there can be heavy penalties in foreign lands for carrying prohibited items that are legal here.
Don’t risk losing your dream vacation, getting banned, or even jail time in some cases. Always read your cruise line’s terms and conditions so you don’t run afoul of the rules and do something that could absolutely ruin your vacation. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer Rescue)
*Before you go: Here’s what can happen if you neglect to put your phone in Airplane Mode during your cruise
Absolutely FASCINATING article, Michelle! I really enjoy cruising, often solo, and I'm glad to know that cruiselines make an effort to keep the 'oddballs' off their ships. Cruising is very enjoyable, but there is that aspect of being among all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds that might be a little unsettling at times. I feel badly for the kid defending his sister, it's a very tough way to learn to control yourself in public, no matter what the provocation. Thanks for the article … educational AND interesting!