No, Carnival Cruises is not banning rap music

Business Insider

08-07-2025

The cruise line has responded to claims circulating online that DJs aren't including hip-hop music in their sets or honoring song requests, with some social media users saying the alleged move is racially motivated. Matt Lupoli, the senior manager for public relations, denied the allegations.
"Unfortunately, certain media outlets have blown this matter out of proportion," Lupoli told BI in a statement. "We have always had a wide variety of entertainment options and for the last several years we have communicated our expectations about guest behavior."
It's not just the music claims — two notices about Carnival have also been making the rounds and fueling misinformation.
A snapshot of safety guidelines from Carnival was posted on social media in June and includes a curfew for minors, a ban on handheld drinks and fans on dance floors, and a prohibition on radios. Some online criticized the supposedly new rules — but Lupolisaid that though the snapshot is authentic, those rules rules have been in place for more than two years.
A video from Carnival posted in February 2023 outlines some of the rules. Lupolitold BI that the only recent addition is a prohibition on "clack fans," which are handheld fans that make a loud sound.
To make matters more complicated, another graphic circulating on TikTok is entirely fake, Lupoli told BI. It reads "Effective June 2025" across the top and lists some of the same rules. Versions of the fake graphic include typos— minors must follow curfew unless they're with an "ault" and "solo cruslers must be 21+ or sall with someone 25+" — but nonetheless got significant pickup online.
Some TikTok users also said that Carnival implemented a 15-drink daily limit on its Cheers! drink package, and ramped up enforcement. Lupoli told BI that the limit has existed for years.
A Pew survey last year found that American adults are less concerned about disinformation on TikTok compared to other social media platforms. Of those surveyed, 71% reported seeing inaccurate news on TikTok "sometimes" or "extremely or fairly often," compared to 76% on Instagram, 84% on Facebook, and 86% on X.
In April, TikTok announced that it's piloting a new feature called "footnotes," which are similar to the community notes on other social media platforms. The feature lets users add context to videos and is first being trialed in the US. Unlike Meta and X, TikTok is not getting rid of professional fact-checkers.
Earlier this year, TikTok made changes to its US Content Advisory Council, adding three new members with libertarian or conservative backgrounds. One of them co-authored a blog post for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, that argued, "The First Amendment does protect misinformation and hate speech."