How a TikTok dance led to a controversial Carnival ban of an everyday item

• Carnival’s ban of handheld fans on dance floors appears to be have been inspired by their use during a TikTok dance.
• A viral trend to a song called “Boots on the Ground” involves ‘clacking’ fans as part of the dance.
• The popular dance on Carnival cruise ships has led to the ban of handheld fans on dance floors.

Cruise lines are constantly tweaking their rules, such as banning new items or or putting new policies into place to try and make cruising an overall more pleasant experience. 

Many recent decisions such as banning of bluetooth speakers or ‘chair hogging’ by the pool are popular, with the majority of cruisers seemingly in agreement.

However, one seemingly random recent decision left cruisers scratching their heads. 

A letter to cruisers onboard a Carnival ship was published online, which confirmed that Carnival was banning the use of handheld fans of dancefloors, an extremely specific stance to take. 

One of the many Carnival cruisers confused by this real asked popular Carnival brand ambassador John Heald why, and he confirmed that the rule applied only to “the handheld fans, not the electric mini ones”. 

Many cruisers were amused by this, with one writing “Now I need to know the fan incident that caused this”.

However, while the decision might seem completely random, a bit of investigating appears to reveal the reason for Carnival making this decision.

A recent TikTok trend involves a dance to a new song called “Boots on the Ground”, and this dance involves the use of these “clack” fans as part of the choreography of the dance. 

The video below shows Carnival passengers using these fans as part of the line dance to the song, with the video taking just recently at the start of June.

The trend has been strong for a few months now. This video from April of the line dance being performed on a Carnival ship has more than two million views.

https://www.tiktok.com/@neenee__/video/7495773509520526635

However, the wind will be taken out of the sails of this popular cruise ship dance, as these handheld fans will no longer be able to used. 

So, why is this controversial?

A popular cruise content creator ‘CruisinwithJenn’ posted about how cruisers experienced extremely confusing communication from Carnival following the ban.

John Heald first confirmed that the ban was for battery operated fans, only to soon rescind this. Many other cruisers posed the question to Heald as well and received vague or confusing answers, leading commentators to say he was “gaslighting” in his response.

Eventually, Heald clarified that it was the handheld, non-electric fans, that the ban was referring to, and that the ban was put into place for safety reasons.

@cruisinwithjenn

Here we go 😬. I knew what they meant from the moment it was posted. I’m just waiting for them to actually say it. #carnivalcruiseline #carnivalcruise #carnival

♬ original sound – Jenn | Cruise Confessions

This lack of communication appears to have resonated poorly with some Carnival customers.

Another popular cruise content creator ‘mandythecruiseplanner’ gave more context to the ban, saying that she heard a rumour that someone was hit by a fan onboard and required stitches.

However, she also notes that many other commenters have been asking for the song to be banned in its entirety, and notes that this, along with the ordeal of banning the fans, has led to some Carnival passengers feeling target.

The dance arose from line dancing culture in the Black community, and it has been primarily Black passengers onboard that have been doing the dance.

Due to the specificity of the ban, many passengers have been left feeling upset.

One commenter wrote: “It screams of micro aggression” and another wrote “They hate to see us together and having a great time”.

Amongst the other top-rated comments were “I love making racists upset lol, it brings me joy knowing they are miserable” and “We should clap our hands and see if they ban hand clapping”.

Other cruise content creators have also commented on the issue, such as “thejonnybrown”, who feels that while the ban makes sense for safety reasons, more clear communication could have avoided some passengers feeling deliberately targeted.

@thejonnybrown

#jonnytsunami #carnival #carnivalcruise #cruises #cruisetok

♬ original sound – CJ is just testing stuff – Aniaaa