Getting back aboard was a nightmare that only Stephen King or a cruise ship can dream up. Aside from the standard one lane/two way traffic with 2,500 people and assorted wheelchairs and walkers, the staff at the metal detectors just kind of tossed all the shopping bags through at once. They came out in no particular order and since there were only two places that everyone shopped, ALL the bags were identical. Also, most of them were in custody of husbands who had NO IDEA what their wives had bought. The resulting strange and truly desperate version of Secret Santa kept the line from moving at all efficiently, almost caused several frustration fistfights and must have led to some hellacious screaming back in the cabins when all the respective honeybuns got back. The military has an incredibly apt term for all this that starts with "cluster".
Now don’t think that all that alpha male roaring and tooth gnashing deterred security from it’s ongoing war with 4' 6" terrorists. No way! Our two youngest members attempted to sneak wooden guns and rubber band ammo aboard. They did this by handing them to the staff. Apparently taught by TSA, Carnival security believes that Mom’s old worry that “you can put somebody’s eye out” is now a sufficient threat for a 12 year old to commandeer the bridge of a cruise ship. Then again, they’ve met the captain and I haven’t, so I can’t say he doesn’t have a paralyzing rubber phobia or something. In any event, the confiscated weapons were returned to the junior felons back in New York, after the crew was done playing with them.