Awful and embarrassing experience being escorted to customs because of clothing choices or past troubles years back

Item: Carnival Ecstasy
Rating: 2
Author: tiffanyalyea

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

tiffanyalyea

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 4

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Bahamas (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 22, 2017

Ship: Carnival Ecstasy

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: R71

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Sucked and was embarrassed that my family was singled out for assumption that we were smuggling drugs in my teens backpack. The dog was noticibly forced to hit on my son's bag.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Awful

Ship tip

Stop judging ppl

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Charleston, South Carolina

4 out of 5

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

1 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

2 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

I was emotionally disturbed that we were singled out of the whole ship to be escorted to customs and sniffed by a dog. Questioned about my fiance past and my teenager bag was alerted by force of the officer to dig thru it. Finding nothing they assumed we had. I wish I could sue for mental distress and character assassination. Will never do that again.

17 Comments

Palmtrees4nana 6 years ago

Dogs can be trained to hit on absolutely nothing with just a single command ..just like they are trained to sit lay down sit up ..so yes it is possible !!

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ctav 7 years ago

Okay, you should sue but it's going to be the Federal government since Carnival doesn't have anything to do with customs.

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Davidgis 7 years ago

May be a wake up call, yeah someone could have brushed up against you son's bag but you may want to be cognitive of the fact that this could be an OH NO moment. Dont put your head in the sand. I was law enforcement for 20 years, dogs are not forced to hit on a person. 2600 ppl and your son was singled out, hmm. BS

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AZTX 7 years ago

Agree with olldbob's comment. It's not really the ship's policy, but more of the port's policy.

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olldbob 7 years ago

fresh fruit can carry bacteria , diesese and some times grubs that are not indigenous to the country and could infect crops and fruit trees most countrys do not allow fresh fruit from unknown source

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blh0926 7 years ago

Any idea why fruit is such a big deal to take off the ship if all food is included? I don't care and wouldn't do it even if it was allowed. Just seems like an odd rule and curious if anyone knows the reasoning?

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beenabeena 7 years ago

oh i did not know that... geesh... good info

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grandmarnnurse 7 years ago

Because you are not allowed to bring any on or off the ship.

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beenabeena 7 years ago

may i ask why the dogs sniffs out fruits and veggies and not just drugs... i love snacks but afraid of dogs i cruise out on aug 10

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Castiel 7 years ago

The dogs are there for fruits and vegetables or other plant matter as well, not just drugs.

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grandmarnnurse 7 years ago

But as for the cruise, you only gave it 2 stars, and never gave a review of the cruise---only mentioned the drug sniffing dog.

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grandmarnnurse 7 years ago

How can the agents "force" the dog to hit on your son's bag? Obviously, the dog smelled something, whether drugs or fruits and vegetables. Your son's bag--if found all negative--must have been in contact with the contraband at some point, even without him knowing it. Dog and agents were just doing their job.

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GIL155 7 years ago

So you and others were being protected. Just like the court system, not every arrest results in a conviction. But something initiated the event - even if it was an agent 'targeting' your family.

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olldbob 7 years ago

the dogs are never wrong maybe residue from his stash

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Brenni 7 years ago

Yeah, my sister got to experience a moment with that dog when she took the apple off the ship (AFTER I told her not to). It was kinda funny, actually, seeing that dog have her backed up against the wall. I guarantee she'll never do that again. Sorry yours was bad!

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davidnlisa 7 years ago

Not all are drug sniffing dogs, they also have one's that smell for fruits & veggies. I wouldn't take it personally, I had my carry on pulled to the side in Miami port for the first time, I just laughed at it pointed to my husband's military haircut, flashed my phone screen pic of my son who is Corp in Marines & said my family has a lot higher security clearance than you, but be my guest! They search for different reasons, they have the right to search cabins on the ship in ports, in fact Bermuda police do it quite often, you won't even know unless you got something illegal then you will see them when you re-board. :p

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Palmtrees4nana 7 years ago

Wow!! So sorry you had to go through that

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