Gun-shaped house key nearly spoils family's cruise vacation

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A man and his wife were almost prevented from boarding a cruise ship in Florida due to a novelty house key.

Henry Echevarria said he and his wife Lisa were stopped at security while attempting to board a Carnival cruise ship at Port Canaveral because of his gun-shaped house key, WTSP reported.

"He pulls out my key and says 'Oh, here's the problem,'" Echevarria said. "It's my house key and he said 'Well, you can't take it on.'"

He and his wife, who both work in law enforcement, were told they would be unable to bring the key on board due to a Carnival policy which prohibits "all firearms including replicas, imitations and their components."

Echevarria argued the key was too small to be used as an actual firearm, but was told he would not be able to board the ship unless he left it behind.

"First of all, you can't even get your finger in the hole If it was a gun and you can barely get a finger around the grip," he said. "They say I can't have it. I can't get on the boat. I either need to get rid of it take it back or not cruise.

Echevarria was ultimately forced to place the key in a safe, which made him feel uneasy for his own security.

"They have my address, they have my key, all they need to do is make a replica and next thing you know they could be at my house," he said.

Once he returned from his cruise Echevarria attempted to contact Carnival for a further explanation of the situation.

"So far the one time I called to speak with customer service, 'John' kept trying to blame the security company and would not get that the supervisor from Carnival was the one who ultimately took my house key and placed it in a safe at Port Canaveral," he told Fox News.

He added that he's traveled with Carnival before and never had a problem with his key and Carnival's vice president of corporate communications Jennifer De La Cruz agreed the key does not fit the company's definition of a "replica" weapon.

"While our Prohibited Items Policy does prohibit 'all firearms including replicas, imitations and their components,' a house key shaped like a firearm is not what is meant by the term 'replica' and the key should not have been retained," she said. "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."