Carnival gives woman lifetime cruise ban for packing CBD gummies
by Heidi Pérez-Moreno
Carnival Cruise Line has issued a lifetime ban to a Texas woman because security found a pack of CBD gummies in her suitcase as she was going through security at the Port of Miami in August. The company’s guidelines say that certain CBD products are prohibited at sea because they are “not legal in all the ports we visit,” regardless of whether they are available for “medicinal purposes” across parts of the United States.
Melinda Van Veldhuizen, a 42-year-old nurse practitioner and chiropractor from Dallas, told The Washington Post she was stopped by security before a trip on the Carnival Horizon because an X-ray scan detected metal nail clippers in her suitcase. During a bag search, security workers found a pack of CBD gummies she had purchased from a drugstore in Texas. She said the gummies were sealed and were advertised to help with sleep troubles.
We asked: Can you bring weed on a cruise?
Van Veldhuizen said security and other crew personnel had her wait in a boarding terminal area away from her family for roughly three and a half hours. During this time, she said security weighed the gummies and asked if she had a license to possess them. She was eventually told she would not be allowed on the cruise.
Carnival Cruise Line sent Van Veldhuizen a letter in August informing her she would be banned from all of the carrier’s ships, and any attempts to book a future cruise would be canceled.
“This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were a violation of the ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival,” Carnival Horizon Captain Rocco Lubrano wrote in a letter reviewed by The Washington Post.
Van Veldhuizen’s ban was first reported by Miami ABC affiliate WPLG.
Van Veldhuizen said she was initially told she would be responsible for her cruise fare and the cost of the trip for her husband and two teenage sons, who would take the cruise without her. According to Daren Stabinski, her South Florida-based attorney, that totals roughly $5,586. There was also nearly $700 charged to her credit card after the cruise had sailed.
“I was … freaking out because I don’t even have a parking ticket, like, I follow the rules,” she said.
Carnival eventually sent a follow-up letter offering to reimburse her $1,665 cruise fare. But Stabinski said this isn’t enough. Van Veldhuizen hopes to be reimbursed for her entire family’s fare. She also hopes to see her ban lifted.
Stabinski said his office is pursuing an internal claim with Carnival, but Van Veldhuizen will seek a lawsuit if it isn’t addressed “appropriately.”
“This has been emotionally grueling and embarrassing for my client, and we just want Carnival to do the right thing,” Stabinski said.
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a compound found in marijuana and can be derived from “hemp or from non-hemp plants,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hemp would be considered any part of the cannabis sativa plant that has less than 0.3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient that produces a high.
The unpredictability of compounds found within CBD products makes it harder and more confusing to regulate. Although Congress legalized hemp products in the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD can derive from both hemp and cannabis. CBD-infused candies are still considered illegal under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, overseen through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“It is currently illegal to market CBD by adding it to a food or labeling it as a dietary supplement,” according to an FDA explainer.
Because the FDA does not regulate over-the-counter CBD products, those products may contain higher levels of THC than advertised.
Stabinski said in this case, the CBD gummies were hemp-derived and not advertised as having any THC.
“They should not be treating people like criminals for this,” Stabinski said of Carnival Cruise Line.
“We are not here to ascertain where our guests purchase CBD or what they intend to use it for once on board,” Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Matt Lupoli wrote in an email to The Post. “Our responsibility is to follow federal guidelines and stop prohibited items from being brought on board our ships.”
Cruise lines continue to follow federal law, which bans marijuana possession, regardless of states that have legalized recreational or medical usage, including Florida.
Disney Cruise Line, who also prohibits marijuana, cannabis and hemp products, as well as THC and CBD products, also stipulates in its guidelines that it complies with federal regulations and local laws throughout the destinations they visit.
Van Veldhuizen said she has taken more than a dozen Carnival cruises throughout the years with her husband and two sons. She usually plans an annual trip that includes airfare and other travel expenses.
For their August excursion, which stopped through Aruba, Curaçao and the Dominican Republic, Van Veldhuizen planned to celebrate her 21st wedding anniversary with her husband and her son’s last year in high school. Her birthday was also a few weeks away.
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