Traveling with marijuana: Can you bring cannabis on a cruise?
(NEXSTAR) — Whether it’s a Disney cruise, a Margaritaville cruise, a cruise hosted by a ‘90s post-grunge rock band, or one of the nude variety, there are a plethora of items you are not allowed to bring aboard before setting sail.
Commonly prohibited items include weapons, fireworks, hoverboards, and electrical appliances like heating pads, hair dryers, irons and toasters. For safety reasons, it makes sense why you can’t bring these items (why you’d need to travel with your own toaster is anyone's guess), but there may be other items that aren’t quite as obvious, like marijuana or CBD products. That may be especially true if you live in one of the dozen of states that have legalized the recreational and/or medical use of marijuana in recent years.
Federal authorities also seem poised to reschedule marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. Several other countries, including Canada and Mexico, have also legalized marijuana.
Does that mean you’re cleared to bring marijuana or CBD products aboard your next cruise?
Spoiler alert: no. If you do, you could face some serious consequences.
Major cruise lines — Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney and Virgin Voyages — all list marijuana (and all illegal drugs) under their lists of prohibited items. That includes CBD oils and products, hookahs, cannabis and marijuana in any form. Even marijuana products intended for medical use are barred from coming aboard.
The cruise lines note that marijuana is largely illegal in many of the ports they visit as well.
“While certain CBD products used for medicinal purposes may be legal in the U.S. based on state and local laws, they are not legal under U.S. federal law and in all the ports we visit and therefore are also considered prohibited items,” Carnival writes.
Trying to bring any marijuana product on your next cruise could prove detrimental.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival warn that anyone who tries bringing marijuana on board could be denied boarding or be immediately disembarked, and face being reported to law enforcement or customs — and possible risk being arrested and prosecuted. Carnival adds that if marijuana or other prohibited items are found during security scans of luggage, the cruise line “reserves the right to confiscate any item.” It will then “be removed and disposed of and no compensation will be provided.”
In addition to its cruise ships, Disney notes that marijuana, medically prescribed or otherwise, is prohibited at its island destinations, Castaway Cay, and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point.
“Guests found in possession of any prohibited items on their person or in their baggage may be denied boarding and are subject to severe legal penalties,” Disney Cruises explains.
Travelers have faced consequences before. Earlier this year, two people were charged after allegedly bringing more than 100 bags of marijuana aboard a Norwegian Cruise ship that was sailing out of Miami.
Traveling with marijuana can be difficult, even between states that have legalized it. TSA, for example, allows certain cannabis products, but you may — or may not — be stopped by an agent at a security checkpoint.