Cruise ship hands out letter with strong warning to all passengers before drop off at popular tourist city
A cruise ship captain took the time to pen an urgent warning to passengers when the ship docked in Mexico.
Carnival Cruises tour several different locations across the globe including the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Alaska and Mexico (to name a few).
With the variety of places they go to in mind, it's understandable that the crew know about the locations they're visiting and will sometimes offer advice.
And the captain of one of the ships recently penned a letter to guests when the arrived in Ensenada.
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A photo of an undated letter was uploaded to Reddit yesterday (Thursday, May 2).
It read: "As you get ready for our visit to Ensenada, we have an important advisory.
"You may encounter restaurants/attractions (not associated with the ship's shore excursions program) in the port of Ensenada that allow you to touch or otherwise interact with tiger cubs. For public health, safety, and environmental reasons, Carnival recommends that you do not partake in such attractions, including, but not limited to, tiger cub attractions."
On the Carnival Cruises website advertising attractions in Ensenada, tiger cub petting is not one of them. Instead they offer excursions like deep sea fishing, kayak tours, and a trip to the El Cielo Vineyard & Winery.
People have since replied to the Reddit post explaining that sadly such tourist attractions like tiger cub petting isn't exclusive to Ensenada.
"It was the same in Cabo," one person replied on the thread. "We were told the cubs were drugged a bit to keep them docile. We never actually saw them but were warned several times. It’s really sad."
Another said of Ensenada: "All true. I was in Ensenada for a year and became friends with the barista next to the tiger club place, she gave me the whole rundown."
Meanwhile, others applauded Carnival for trying to deter people from visiting such trades.
One person penned: "This is a huge step in the right direction, I hope that they can also mention dolphins and whales in captivity considering Mexico can be pretty cruel with how they treat their animals. Seeing these beautiful creatures confined for the sake of convenience is heartbreaking."
"I really appreciate the sentiment of this, I just wish they also touched on animal welfare being a reason not to participate," added a second.
Echoing Carnival Cruises concerns, there are dozens of animal welfare groups across the globe who have spoken out against attractions like cub petting.
According to FOUR PAWS Australia, there are parts of South Africa that offer these kind of services and it comes will a series of risks.
As to what you can do to try stop these things, the charity encourages people to stay clear of any attractions, refuse to visit breeding or hunting farms, and to 'look for any sign of animal breeding, handling or animals who are put on show for visitors'.
Carnival Cruises has been approached for comment about the viral Reddit post.
Niamh Shackleton