NEED TO KNOW
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A Disney Cruise Line passenger detailed her “walk of shame” after a common item got confiscated during a recent sailing on the new Disney Destiny ship
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While she found humor in the experience, she shared it on social media as a tip for passengers as the cruise line appears to have updated their guidelines, she says
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Disney Cruise Line currently has the item listed as the “exception” to electrical appliances allowed on board, but only if they meet certain requirements
A Disney Cruise Line passenger is documenting her “walk of shame” after a common travel item was confiscated during a recent sailing on the new Disney Destiny ship.
Taking to Instagram and Facebook on Nov. 18, Beci Mahnken, CEO of travel agency MEI-Travel, detailed the experience of getting her hair dryer taken away after boarding the cruise line’s highly-anticipated seventh vessel earlier in November.
“Cruise Tip You Didn’t Know You Needed,” she begins the post, followed by a red siren emoji. “Before you set sail… check your blow dryer and hair styling tools!”
Mahnken then recalls how after she made it onto the ship, she opened her bag to find a note from the Guest Services Team.
“My trusty blow dryer, the one I’ve used for years – it probably has Pearl status on its own – got itself confiscated on the Disney Destiny. Yup,” she continued. “When I opened my bag, I got a little note: ‘Welcome aboard — we took your blow dryer!’”
Alongside the caption, she included a photo of the actual note she discovered in her bag. Following a friendly greeting, the note explains, “one of your items could not make it onboard for safety & security reasons.”
It continued, “please retain this card as your receipt to retrieve your item at the Confiscated Item Desk at our Cruise Terminal in Port Everglades at the end of the cruise.” A paper receipt was included in the card that specified Mahnken’s name and stated her hair dryer as the item that was taken.
Later in her caption, Mahnken says she had to use the hair dryer that the ship provided, which ended up being a “slow process” for her hair type. Once the sailing was over, she was finally reunited with her beloved hair tool — but only after she had a “walk of shame” to the ship’s “hair jail,” she jokes.
“At the end of the cruise, cue the walk of shame to the confiscated items desk in the port, AKA Hair Jail, where my dryer was lounging with at least 30 Dysons — all sitting there like they were on a luxury spa retreat, probably swapping blow-dryer gossip and judging the multiple steamers hanging out too,” she writes.
She then highlights Disney Cruise Line’s guidelines for bringing hair dryers on board, which she alleges are “new rules” as a longtime cruiser.
Sandor Szmutko / Alamy Stock Photo
Dyson hair dryer
In the “Prohibited and Restricted Items” section of the cruise line’s website, the company says, “For the safety of all Guests on board, electrical appliances are restricted and therefore prohibited from being brought on board.”
However, hair dryers are listed as the “exception” if they meet the following requirements: “Hairdryers must be 220V/2000 watts max or 110V/1500 watts max,” the website states, adding, “all ships offer a hand-held hairdryer in each stateroom.”
“I have noticed issues on other newer ships where these items don’t work as well, so it’s likely the same issue,” Mahnken concludes her post. “Moral of the story: check your tools before you cruise. Avoid the embarrassment, the drama, and the awkward reunion with your overachieving hair gear.”
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Boy_Anupong/Getty
Woman using a hair dryer
In the comments section of her Facebook post, many users found Mahnken’s retelling comical, and shared their own experience with confiscated items.
“I lived the exact same life on the Destiny inaugural. I was like, ‘What?’ You took my Dyson. I’ve been on 50 bajillion cruises and never had it taken. I was mostly terrified I would forget to pick it up at the end,” one person wrote.
Another added, “Craziest things I’ve seen on the table of shame … a rice cooker and a waffle iron. Do they not know that food is included?? Who thinks ‘Hey, let’s go on a cruise. I’ll bring the waffle iron to cook breakfast in the room!’ Where are they mixing the batter? In the shower?”
On the cruise line’s website, rice cookers are clearly listed as a prohibited item. “Disney Cruise Line reserves the right to seize and secure any item deemed to be dangerous or pose a security or safety risk,” the company notes.
Read the original article on People