WOONSOCKET, R.I. – There are a million ways to get rejected: apply to college, send a friend request to that cute co-worker, try to secure a mortgage. But the Certified Adult Home Party Association certainly never expected to get a rejection from a cruise line.
Earlier this year, CAHPA reserved space with Carnival Cruise Lines for its February board meeting. Planning days packed with sun, fun, and educational seminars, more than 20 cabins had already been booked by association members.
When Carnival stopped responding to CAHPA's calls, the group's leadership didn't know what to make of it—until the cruise line canceled the reservations and refunded their money.
In a letter sent to Bobbi Nolan, CAHPA's secretary, a cruise line representative wrote, "We are a family cruise line and all of our onboard activities are set in a family-friendly atmosphere... Based on information that was gathered from your booking, it is our understanding that your group is comprised of clients requesting ‘adult-themed' activities and functions. The premise of your group is to attend private functions revolving around their specific interests and affiliation... Carnival Cruise Lines does not tolerate public nudity, fighting, or general lewd, inappropriate, or reckless behavior, as set forth in Carnival's ticket contract."
The cancellation—and the accompanying letter—incensed CAHPA President Rina Valan. "This is out-and-out discrimination and it's slanderous," she says, disputing Carnival's insinuations of nudity and lewd conduct. "We're businesspeople. We help support hundreds of thousands of women in America."
The association had chosen Carnival based on members' past positive experiences with the line. Valan says the group had even awarded Carnival cruises as prizes, booking as many as 1,700 rooms in recent years, and that she personally has spent approximately $50,000 with the carrier.
According to Valan, Carnival knew from the beginning the nature of the group. "They had all the info up front," she says, explaining that the group was small enough that all business would take place in the conference rooms that CAHPA had been coordinating with Carnival to schedule. Nor was there to be any signage in public areas, she says, because all communication would occur internally. Furthermore, Carnival's concerns should have been assuaged by CAHPA's roster of successful meetings—past events have been held at Marriott and Sheraton venues.
So, if other passengers wouldn't even be aware of CAHPA's presence on the ship, and major hotel chains have hosted the group, what exactly was the problem? Though the rejection letter stated that group was not being singled out, Valan is baffled about Carnival's claim that CAHPA had requested "adult-themed services."
She says, "We represent 100,000 families, let alone customers. We all do a lot of business, and, especially in this economy to assume about a business group that they'll be lewd or there will be public nudity..."
In response, CAHPA directed a letter of complaint to Carnival's president, and a representative from the cruise line's group sales department phoned Valan this morning, more than a week after CAHPA sent its missive. "Someone finally called us," she says. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. [The Carnival rep] was just a robot going on about how they have been burned by groups in the past. ‘We looked on the website and we just got concerned.'"
During the call, the Carnival rep asked specifically what CAHPA planned to do in its meetings and what items it would be bringing on board for the event. Valan explained that the group is similar to a chamber of commerce—an argument that garnered no leeway from the cruise company. "This is legislative, this is networking, these are CEOs of large corporations, and you want to know what we're going to be bringing or discussing?" Valan says she asked. The rep maintained that Carnival asks similar questions of all groups, whatever their nature, a claim Valan doesn't buy.
Finally, Valan ended the call, explaining that CAHPA had rebooked after Carnival had rescinded the reservations. "You've cancelled our group. You've put us in an uproar," she told them. "We booked with another cruise line."
It was Norwegian Cruise Line that "welcomed us with open arms."
So the cruise and CAHPA's board meeting will go ahead, but the group is considering further action against Carnival. Valan says that, after the "terse" phone call, her attorney will be contacting the cruise line. What kind of restitution are they seeking? "An apology would have been nice," she says. "They wouldn't acknowledge that at all. They have no clue.
"We're not out to get anybody—we're trying to help women. It's always been our mission to help women, whether to help her get freedom or enhance her personal relationships or finances, especially in these times," Valan says. "We don't need another roadblock like this."
Carnival did not respond to ANB's request for comment.
