Cruisers heading to Royal Caribbean's award-winning private island will have to leave their private speakers behind.
As part of the "Special Tips" section in the Cruise Compass delivered to passengers sailing aboard Icon of the Seas' March 15 cruise, Royal Caribbean quietly introduced a new policy banning personal speakers on Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Though personal speakers aren't yet included on Royal Caribbean's prohibited items list as of Friday, Mar. 21, the notice reads, "Glass bottles and personal speakers are not permitted on the island."
Presumably, this new change is part of the cruise line's effort to maintain a relaxing, family-friendly atmosphere on CocoCay, as personal speakers can cause a lot of noise disruptions.
Other bullet points within Cruise Compass' tips section aren't a surprise. For example, young cruisers must wear swim diapers in the pools and Splashaway Bay.
Fishing and taking marine life as souvenirs are also prohibited, and Royal Caribbean reminded guests not to feed the seagulls.
Read more: What can you not bring on a cruise
Why the ban?
Royal Caribbean isn't the only cruise line restricting personal speakers. Last year, Carnival banned Bluetooth speakers from its fleet of "FUN" ships, citing safety concerns.
Because all passengers must hear updates made over the PA system, Carnival decided to ban speakers because they could interfere with urgent safety announcements.
“All speakers (including Bluetooth, portable, and wireless types) and radios are prohibited and will be held and returned at the end of the cruise...Consequently, guests must use earphones when listening to music or watching shows/movies on personal devices in public spaces," reads Carnival's website.
Shortly after the ban, cruisers began to debate whether Royal Caribbean would follow in Carnival's footsteps.
"Will RC follow suit with speaker bans? Curious if this [is] even a problem on RCL ships," asked sheeplewatcher on a Royal Caribbean Reddit thread.
One of the top responses described a less-than-pleasant experience at Royal Caribbean's private destination in Haiti:
"[I] was at labadee at few weeks ago. My family was the first of a few to set up at Nellie’s beach in the front row. 20mins later a large family comes down and sets up in the front row. Loads up the speaker and sets it to top volume," wrote modestcouch.
"THEN they all head into the water as far as they could from their seats. The [lifeguard] came down. Looked around to see whose speaker it was. Finally he grabbed it. Turned it off."
Another user explained they also encountered disruptive personal speakers on CocoCay and onboard one of Royal Caribbean's ships:
Vivid-Syrup-3317 said, "Yeah we had this issue...It definitely wasn’t deafeningly loud, but we chose to sit at chill island as far away as we could get from the pool and south beach for a reason. We also encountered 2 or 3 people walking around the inside of the ship with their speakers. It was mildly annoying."
Additionally, many other users said they'd welcome such a ban.
"Please ban them everywhere," Thick_Asparagus3978 pleaded, "I have reached my limit with speakers being played constantly [wherever] I go. It wouldn't be bad if they had any common sense as to the [volume] but they [don't]."
However, while banning personal speakers on CocoCay may appease many, for the time being, this ban only applies to Royal Caribbean's private island.
It may also be a temporary ban during the busy spring break season, which tends to see rowdier-than-usual crowds.
Royal Caribbean also updated guidance on a popular travel item last year
It's not uncommon for cruise lines to update their list of prohibited items as part of their ongoing efforts to ensure passenger safety and comfort. Last year, for example, Royal Caribbean added "multi-plug outlets."
This shocked many, as multi-plug outlets were long considered a cruise must-have to combat the shortage of charging options in many cabins.
Shortly after updating their website, Royal Caribbean clarified the ban on multi-plug outlets didn't include "consumer type power conversion device USB charger[s]."
