Bringing Your Curling Iron or Hair Straightener on a Cruise – What To Know

Can you Bring a Curling Iron or Hair Straightener on a Cruise?

Packing for a cruise trip can be a daunting task. Each cruise line has an exhaustive list of prohibited items, including heating devices like hair straighteners, curling irons, and hair rollers.

On a recent cruise, while watching my best friend unpack her numerous suitcases… I noticed what seemed like endless “appliances”. So I asked my bestie why she brought her Hair Straightener and Curling Iron on a Cruise – among other things. (as a man, I really never understand some of the things my female friends bring with them!) 🙂

I was lectured, as if I was completely out of touch with beautification, on how women suffer from frizzy and dry hair on a cruise ship. It’s due to the higher humidity levels, salty air, strong winds, and generally crappy hair products included in the cruise cabins. Hence, carrying hair care equipment, including a flat or curling iron, is necessary. Who knew ?!

Apart from this, she went on (at great length) about all the reasons she never leaves home without these tools:

• Always wants to look best in photos and videos (who doesn’t want this, right?)
• Hairstyles for special events, parties, and dinners
• Salons onboard are expensive with limited appointments
• For her and other people, hair styling is part of a daily routine, making a flat or curling iron essential (I’ll stick with my short hair, thank you!)

Consider me schooled on this topic for sure.

The question of whether curling irons and hair flat irons/straighteners are even allowed on a cruise comes up all of the time on Facebook and Reddit – so we’re going to go over the policies on electrical hair devices per cruise line.

Which Cruise lines allow Hair Straighteners or Curling Irons?

Cruise lines prohibit passengers from carrying electronic items with heating elements like steam irons, water heaters, clothes steamers, hair dryers, etc. However, most cruise lines have exceptions for hair styling tools like flat and curling irons.

However, each cruise line may have unique rules (and these rules can change!).

Remember, improper use can result in the crew confiscating them for fire hazards or safety reasons. Here’s a list of the most popular cruise line policies for hair straighteners and curling irons.

Norwegian Cruise Line

You might be shocked to see plenty of electronic items with heating elements on Norwegian Cruise Line’s prohibited list. However, the cruise line allows carrying hair straighteners and curling irons onboard. You must use the curling iron with care and proper caution. If not, the security team has the right to confiscate and return it on the last day of the cruise. If you leave one of these plugged in, the cabin steward will likely unplug it (and may remove it)

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line prohibits all types of items that generate heat or produce an open flame, like candles, travel steamers, coffee makers, and more. However, the only exceptions to this rule are hair straighteners and curling irons. You can easily carry your flat and curling iron on a Royal Caribbean cruise without any second thoughts.

Carnival Cruise Line

Like NCL, Carnival Cruise also allows you to carry hair straighteners and curling irons. However, the crew can confiscate them if they pose a security hazard.

Can you Bring a Curling Iron or flat iron on an MSC Cruise?

MSC Cruise Line’s policy about curling irons and straighteners is so incredibly inconsistent across their various websites, that it’s really impossible to know what they allow. So they officially say in their FAQ that you cannot bring hair irons. (see here). The cruise line strictly prohibits carrying heat-generating devices onboard with hair straighteners and curlers being the only two exceptions on SOME of their websites. For instance, their European websites specifically state that it is ok to bring these items, whereas the USA site prohibits it.

You might see information out in the world about MSC prohibiting hair straighteners. So the official rule is stated on their USA website – but practically speaking, I’ve never heard of anyone having one of these items confiscated. Just know it’s POSSIBLE that they may disallow a hair iron or straightener and confiscate it until the end of the cruise.

Princess Cruises

The Princess Cruise official website, prohibited items list, and FAQ section; however, I found no concrete information. I’ll update this after contacting Princess directly.

So before embarking on a Princess cruise, I recommend contacting their customer support and checking beforehand. Some people report having hair straighteners confiscated at check-in.

Does Holland America allow carrying a Flat Iron onboard?

Similar to Oceania Cruises, Holland America cruise line doesn’t allow passengers to carry a flat iron onboard however a regular curling iron is ok. (not intuitive) An older forum post also states that a passenger’s hair straightener was confiscated during the security check and kept till the end of the cruise.

Flat Irons are prohibited on Oceana Cruises

One of the few cruise lines that specifically call out Flat Irons as being prohibited is Oceana. Expect to have it confiscated. However, they make no mention of a simple curling iron.

Viking Cruises?

The Viking Cruise prohibited items list clearly states that electronic items that produce heat aren’t allowed onboard, including heating pads. However, there is an exception for curling irons. So carrying a curling iron or flat iron isn’t a problem on Viking.

Disney Cruise Line

You can carry a hair straightener and curling iron onboard a Disney cruise. However, you must place your flat iron on the small heat-resistant mat provided in each stateroom. If the crew finds the use of such items in a hazardous way, it reserves the right to seize them.

Does Celebrity Cruises allow Curling Irons?

Celebrity Cruises prohibited items list explicitly states that items that generate heat or produce an open flame aren’t permitted on the ship. The only exceptions to this rule are curling irons and hair dryers.

Can you carry Flat Iron on a Cunard Cruise?

Like most cruise lines, Cunard also prohibits passengers from carrying electronic appliances with heating elements, including board irons and kettles. Only hair straighteners and curling irons are exceptions to this rule. Hence, you can easily carry a flat or curling iron on a Curnard Cruise ship.

Virgin Voyages

The FAQ section of Virgin Voyages states that a passenger can bring a flat iron onboard.