‘Disgusting’ bikini habit on cruises sparks debate as people defend ‘boob sweat’

A cruise passenger’s viral post has sparked a surprising debate online, after they called out fellow holidaymakers for keeping their cabin keys tucked inside their bras.

The drama unfolded on board Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, where one traveller took to Reddit to vent frustration at what they considered an unsanitary habit. The post, titled “Ladies — Get a lanyard,” described watching women retrieve their SeaPass cards from their bikinis and bras when accessing their cabins or paying for drinks.

The user wrote: “I’m currently on Independence of the Seas and twice I’ve seen ladies reaching into their blouses to locate their SeaPass, which was stashed in their bras.”

The comment continued with a sharp rebuke: “This is frankly disgusting for the crew members and for everyone who has them touch their drink glasses afterwards. Please just buy a lanyard.”

Middle age woman standing on the sandy beach by the ocean (Fiordaliso/Getty Images))

But, as you might expect, not everyone agreed with the outrage. Replies soon flooded in defending the practice as relatively harmless, and even practical in the absence of pockets.

One person responded: “It’s not classy, but you need to calm down. It’s just skin, just like the skin on your hands.”

Another added their own experience: “Sweat. I have held my phone there. It gets sweaty even though I am not sweating otherwise.”

Others were quick to put things into perspective, pointing out that passengers failing to wash their hands was a far bigger issue for hygiene on ships. As one commenter noted: “People do not wash their hands with soap and water after leaving the restrooms.

“People do not wash their hands so often that cruise ships have to almost beg them to before visiting the buffet. Boob sweat is the very least of your worries, my guy.”

Some users chose to tackle the issue with more practical solutions, taking aim at the lack of functional women’s clothing.

Women in bikinis sat by the pool on a cruise ship (Richard Baker/In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)

One suggestion read: “Dear clothing designers, why don’t you make pockets in clothing for women so they don’t need to use their bra? There. Fixed it for you”.

Another simply declared: “Bras need pockets. I said what I said.”

Tech-savvy travellers also pointed out that the problem could easily be solved by cruise lines offering alternatives to the traditional card system.

One cruiser explained: “From the perspective of customer-centricity, it would be better for cruise lines to offer NFC wrist bands (in addition to cards). Give customers a choice. I’d personally find a lanyard incredibly annoying.”

Others said they would prefer to store their passes digitally, like one user who said: “Let me put it in my Apple Wallet.”

Whether it is tucking room keys into swimwear or hogging poolside loungers with towels, cruise holidays continue to inspire heated debates about etiquette. For now, it seems the real waves are not in the ocean, but in the arguments passengers have about boob sweat.