A cruise can be a great way to celebrate all sorts of occasions, from graduations, weddings, and birthdays to a new job, a special anniversary, or a honeymoon. Cruise lines often help with celebrations through decorations or gifts, but not all celebrations can be accommodated.
This has been made very clear to one guest booked on Carnival Cruise Line who had a request that must absolutely be denied.
The request was sent to John Heald, the cruise line’s official brand ambassador. He frequently receives all sorts of requests and does his best to help whenever possible.
“I get so many requests for so many different things,” Heald explained. “I get wishes for birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and honeymoons, and different things. Yesterday, well, I got asked to do one of these gender reveal things.”
Gender reveals – when proud parents-to-be either first learn their baby’s gender or share it with others in a fun, surprising way – have become more and more popular in recent years.
From themed cakes to releasing balloons to confetti cannons, pinatas, silly string, or even scratch off tickets in shades of pink and blue, expectant parents enjoy all sorts of ways to spread the excitement of a baby girl or boy.
“This gender reveal request was absolutely brilliant,” Heald acknowledged. “They wanted me to arrange either blue or pink smoke to be blown out of – guess where – yes, the whale tail. They wanted to be standing on Lido with their group that they’re sailing with to do the gender reveal and everybody look up at the whale tail.”
While Heald did not disclose the date of the excited parents’ cruise, he did mention they were planning to sail aboard Carnival Horizon. The ship is homeported year-round from Miami, Florida, offering 6-night Western Caribbean and 8-night Southern Caribbean itineraries.
“Can you imagine me asking the Chief Engineer?” Heald noted with laughter. “Obviously, the answer is no, we can’t do it.”
He does say he will be sending something special to the happy couple to celebrate their bundle of joy, though he can’t assist with such an outrageous gender reveal request.
This is not the first time Carnival Cruise Line has declined gender reveal options. In December 2024, an expectant couple had their confetti cannons confiscated as they boarded Carnival Breeze. They had hoped to use them for a gender reveal onboard, but it was not permitted.
While Heald did not elaborate on why colored smoke couldn’t be managed for the couple’s exciting moment, undoubtedly it would present an engineering challenge and potential hazard for the ship’s exhaust systems.
Furthermore, the dyes to make colored smoke could be considered an environmental contaminant, a clear violation of the cruise line’s policies.
Gender Reveals Onboard a Cruise Ship
While Carnival Cruise Line is unable to honor some crazy requests for gender reveals onboard a ship, there are ways guests can make their own announcements.
Decorating their cabin door in appropriately themed colors can be fun, and they could even use a whiteboard for passersby to “vote” on their choice in the early days of a sailing.
Dressing in pink or blue attire for elegant evening could be another option, complete with photos to share the happy news with those back home.
Read Also: What Are the Best Cruise Lines for Families?
Carnival Cruise Line also offers toys for sale in the Fun Shops, and purchasing “baby’s first cruise souvenir” in an appropriate color could be a fun choice.
Of course, Carnival guests can always bring along signs, quirky t-shirts, or other ways to announce their baby’s gender (subject to the prohibited items list, of course) and arrange for photos, either at the regular backdrops each evening or through a Dreams Photo Studio private session.
But be careful – guests planning a gender reveal during a cruise should make sure they are within the sailing guidelines and won’t be denied boarding due to a pregnancy.
Carnival Cruise Line requires that guests be no further than 24 weeks along in the pregnancy or else they will not be permitted to sail.
Any way it may be done, an onboard gender reveal is sure to be a special moment the new parents will treasure as they wait for their special bundle to arrive.
