knife on a cruise ship

Wildcat

Wildcat

Joined
Apr 14, 2003
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this summer we are going on an alaska cruise. carnival legend. we will be sailing out of seattle to alaska and return to seattle. i think there is one stop in british columbia before returning to seattle.

i plan to put my case copperlock and leatherman wave in my checked bag for the plan ride.

can i take them on the ship?
 
No. They will store it for you while you are on the ship, and allow you to take it when you go on shore, then check it again each time you return. In fact, your boarding pass will be flagged so that every time you return to the ship they will ask you if you have the knife/knives with you, even if you didn't take them off the boat. At least that was the procedure with my Salt dive knife when I cruised. Some days I dove and took it with me, some days I didn't dive and left it in lock up.
 
Malpaso said:
No. They will store it for you while you are on the ship, and allow you to take it when you go on shore, then check it again each time you return. In fact, your boarding pass will be flagged so that every time you return to the ship they will ask you if you have the knife/knives with you, even if you didn't take them off the boat. At least that was the procedure with my Salt dive knife when I cruised. Some days I dove and took it with me, some days I didn't dive and left it in lock up.
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Fixed blade knives are a different animal than pocketknives. I had no issues carrying my leatherman and a small folder on Carnival cruises:).

~Chip
 
WValtakis said:
Fixed blade knives are a different animal than pocketknives. I had no issues carrying my leatherman and a small folder on Carnival cruises:).

~Chip
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It was an Atlantic Salt folder, and it was a Carnival ship.
 
Below is a cut and paste from the Carnival website.

The following knives are prohibited onboard:
  • "Knives with a blade longer than 4 inches / 10.16 cm, any blade length that is prohibited by local laws/regulation and all concealed bladed weapons such as belt buckle knives, cane and umbrella knives/swords, pen knives, credit card knives, etc."
This appears to mean that a knife with a blade length of less than 4 inches is good to go. I have taken three Carnival cruises so far, and I have carried both a standard pocket knife with a blade length of about three inches, as well as a SAK. Never had a problem. Of course I did not carry them on shore excursions in foreign countries. You have to go thru a metal detector on shore excursions, in my experience.

There are many other restrictions on items like throwing stars, open razors, scissors with a blade longer than 4 inches, etc. Search on "Carnival Cruise Lines Prohibited Items".
 
When I went on a Princess cruise out of Seattle up to Alaska in 2012, they never said a thing about my pocket knives when checking on board the ship or in ANY of the literature they sent me before the trip. On arrival at the pier, it was just - "Get you luggage and butt on board, we're in a hurry here." For the record, the knives were a Buck 484 w/ clip and a Kabar 1121 Rigger's knife (pre-1966 version).

I had left my fixed blades at home and had the folders in my checked luggage for the flight up. I stayed in a hotel the night before and transferred the pocket knives to my pockets the morning we got on the ship.

For the first day and a half cruising north, I carried them round in my pockets and nobody said a thing about the pocket clip on the Buck. No one said anything when I left the ship at the first port call. When I came back aboard after the first port visit, everyone had to go through metal detectors. Any one with a knife had it "confiscated" until we left the ship. When we departed the ship for the last time, you had to turn in your claim ticket(s) for your knife/knives to get them back.

Since I am the south-end of a north bound mule, I made it a point to buy a knife at each port to commemorate my cruise. Made them check "my knife" in every time I came back aboard. They were an Alaska ulu and a few cheap junkers that I have since given away.

The last day, I asked for my 8 knives (7 claim checks). The looks I got were amusing.

When they said

"Hope to see you again soon."

I just looked at them and said

"I'll never be back."

That got their attention. They asked why. I simply said

"I disagree with your policies."

They asked which ones. I said -

"The no knives allowed policy."

"Well, that's for every one's safety."

"Unless you inventory your steak knives after every meal and operate a metal detector at the doors of every dining room, you're full of shit."

The purser who had brought my knives from security and the security guard looked at me as if they didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about.

I said -

"My pocket knives have at most a 3 inch blade. Every steak knife in the dining room has at least a 5 inch blade. So using the "for every one's safety" excuse is nothing but bull shit."
 
I can't comment on the "rules", as to the law, it depends on which country the vessel is flagged under.
 
Many ships have the metal detectors and luggage X rays...I suppose you can always keister it!

Ironically, these rules are ostensibly for "safety" but the vast majority of crimes on cruise ships are committed by crew, be it sexual assaults, drug trafficking, immigration violations etc.
 
I went on a 7 day Carribean Cruise with Carnival last year and did not have an issue with my bringing my multitool on board. I wouldnt try to bring any other types of knives on board, not worth the hassle. On our return flight I did however make the mistake of packing it on my carry on, it now belongs to TSA.
 
Wildcat said:
this summer we are going on an alaska cruise. carnival legend. we will be sailing out of seattle to alaska and return to seattle. i think there is one stop in british columbia before returning to seattle.

i plan to put my case copperlock and leatherman wave in my checked bag for the plan ride.

can i take them on the ship?
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I think you'll be fine. I only took a tiny Wenger pocket knife and had no issues. I'd call ahead and maybe see what they say. We purchased a little opinel keychain knife that went through no problem as well. 20190114_093635-2241x3984.jpg 20190116_175937-2241x3984.jpg

We went Royal Caribbean though and the knives were tiny, maybe don't take my advice and double check with Carnival.
 
Had no problems with a tiny Kershaw Fraxion on a recent trip with Royal Caribbean. YMMV but they didn't view it as 'threatening' in any way and I must've gone through the metal detector at least 30 times (on/off for shore excursions).
 
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