by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:05 AM ET, Wed January 25, 2017
A couple preparing to board a Carnival Cruise Line ship almost had their vacation ruined because they were carrying a key that was in the shape of a miniature gun.
According to FoxNews.com, Henry Echevarria is a deputy sheriff in Pasco County, Florida, and was boarding a cruise ship Jan. 15 at Port Canaveral with his wife when a security guard stopped them before they could enter the vessel.
As a sheriff, Echevarria understands routine security procedures, but he remained adamant that the two-inch key shaped like a gun could not do any harm. Instead of allowing him on the ship, security said he would not be allowed to board with the key and he elected to let cruise line officials place it inside a safe onboard the ship until the cruise was over.
Echevarria said he has sailed with Carnival in the past and never had a problem boarding with the same house key. Following the incident, the deputy sheriff raised privacy concerns now that the cruise line had his address and could have made a copy of his house key.
Florida Today shared an image on Twitter of the gun-shaped key:
After the completion of the cruise, Echevarria attempted to get an explanation from Carnival regarding the incident but was only able to speak to a customer service representative and not a manager from the cruise line.
While Carnival hasn't responded to Echevarria, Fox News was able to speak with Carnival's vice president of corporate communications Jennifer De La Cruz. In response to the incident, De La Cruz said the cruise line bans "all firearms including replicas, imitations and their components," but the gun-shaped key should not have been retained.
"We contacted the third-party company that provides security services at the port in question to discuss the matter and initiate corrective training so this doesn't occur in the future," De La Cruz said.
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