Carnival apologizes, says passengers can dress in drag on drag cruise

When Al and Chuck Travel announced the cruise “Drag Stars At Sea: Caribbean Adventure – Revenge of the Wench,“ the response was so overwhelming that a Carnival cruise line had to be booked in order to accommodate all the travelers. The cruise is set to feature many performers from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on LOGO TV.

But then Carnival threw a wet boa over the event by disseminating an email asserting that passengers could dress in drag only in the main theater and not while offstage wandering within the cruise line’s “family friendly atmosphere.”

“Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere,” the email said. “It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise. Although we realize this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognize that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas … Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.”

But responding to an outcry from LGBT consumers and activists, Carnival has apologized and reversed its police, according to thinkprogress.org/lgbt/issue.

In a follow-up email, Carnival said, “Anyone who wishes to dress in drag may do so.”

The company now says it was prompted to ban drag off stage only as a security issues.

“Please keep in mind that our safety and security procedures require guests to present government-issued ID, and to be recognizably that person,” said a follow-up email.

“At Carnival, we are proud to carry more than 4.5 million guests every year and we welcome them all aboard,” the email continued. “We do not practice any form of discrimination against the LGBT or any other community.  We sincerely apologize for the miscommunication and for any unintended offense we have caused.”