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Any experience carrying drone onboard?


Meanee
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Hey all!

 

I am on December 1st sailing on Crown Princess to South Caribbean. I have a small drone that I would like to take with me. Aruba and Curacao allow it, Bonaire does not. Drone is small enough, when folded, to fit in a jacket pocket.

 

I know that drones are prohibited to be flown on a ship and I am not going to fly it there. Idea is to fly it at port of call, around some landmarks.

 

Was anyone successful bringing one without getting hassled by security? I'd rather not lose it.

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Princess says you may not BRING them onboard. Packaged correctly, you might swing it, but then again. They have no way to know that you won't "test fly" it in your stateroom.

 

Buy a cheap one in port, fly it, then give it away.

 

Or you might be able to convince the shop owner to "rent" it from them.

Edited by neverbeenhere
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Princess says you may not BRING them onboard. Packaged correctly, you might swing it, but then again. They have no way to know that you won't "test fly" it in your stateroom.

 

Buy a cheap one in port, fly it, then give it away.

 

Or you might be able to convince the shop owner to "rent" it from them.

Not quite an option. Drone in question is $1000 Mavic Pro. It's tiny when folded. I am looking to do it for proper 4k aerial footage. Not something that I can do with a small one I can buy and give away.

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Not quite an option. Drone in question is $1000 Mavic Pro. It's tiny when folded. I am looking to do it for proper 4k aerial footage. Not something that I can do with a small one I can buy and give away.

Then you have to decide if you will risk them not allowing it onboard and or finding it during their baggage screening process and losing it.

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Just called Princess. The statement is that it's now allowed without a lawful reason. Account rep said that worst case scenario, they will hold it on a ship until end of cruise. Best case, I will be able to sign it out in port.

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Just called Princess. The statement is that it's now allowed without a lawful reason. Account rep said that worst case scenario, they will hold it on a ship until end of cruise. Best case, I will be able to sign it out in port.

Then make sure you get it in writing before you go. What someone tells you over the phone may be very different when you get to the ship and having a letter from corporate will be your proof.

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Please don't bring it to fly around landmarks. We were on a cruise this summer at the historic fort on St. Kitts. A couple had a drone flying above the the whole time, which really distracted from the visit for as it was loud and flying all around between people. In addition, there was a very clear sign when we entered the fort area that drones were not permitted. Just my opinion.

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AS long as it folds up and does not look like a drone and be put in a bag with beach towels I'd say go for it. Don't take it out of the bag even in your room. The steward might be required to rat you out if he spots sitting out. IMHO its just like a camera until you fly it. Flying it on the ship could/would have you walking the gang plank. As an old photographer we do take the attitude to never ask permission but to beg for forgiveness or run like a bat out of HE-L...

 

Have fun.

 

framer

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AS long as it folds up and does not look like a drone and be put in a bag with beach towels I'd say go for it. Don't take it out of the bag even in your room. The steward might be required to rat you out if he spots sitting out. IMHO its just like a camera until you fly it. Flying it on the ship could/would have you walking the gang plank. As an old photographer we do take the attitude to never ask permission but to beg for forgiveness or run like a bat out of HE-L...

 

Have fun.

 

framer

 

Mavic Pro folds to the size of a DSLR, and it's bag looks like a camera bag. And yeah, I tend to think that I am much smarter than that, to fly it on a ship.

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Actually, Princess policy is " not allowed on board without a lawful reason". So, you might be able to get a letter from Princess to allow you to take the drone with certain conditions.

 

Actually the recent addition of the "without a lawful reason" fudge language gives Princess more latitude in refusing to return any item. Everyone called down to the Naughty Room has in their eyes a valid reason for bringing what the brought, but now the officer in charge can just arbitrarily retort "not a lawful reason" and chuck it back on the pile.

 

Just called Princess. The statement is that it's now allowed without a lawful reason. Account rep said that worst case scenario, they will hold it on a ship until end of cruise. Best case, I will be able to sign it out in port.

 

A worse scenario would be that if it was discovered before sailaway it would be held ashore at the embarkation port. Where the likelihood of it being lost or destroyed is pretty high.

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We were sailing last February on Princess and got chatting with the ship videographer. He was from the same country as us so we chatted often. The discussion of drones came up as my husband uses one in his work and the Princess staff videographer said he would love to bring his on the ship to use in ports but it is absolutely not allowed. Don’t think I would be taking my $1000.00 drone on the ship and risk it being discovered and taken by Princess!

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Just called Princess. The statement is that it's now allowed without a lawful reason. Account rep said that worst case scenario, they will hold it on a ship until end of cruise. Best case, I will be able to sign it out in port.

 

Princess is notorious for making rules/regulations in Santa Clarita and not enforcing them on the various ships. No matter what corporate says, the captain of the ship is the final word by maritime law. You well may encounter some low level officer who will make his own decision and confiscate it. I can visualize a lot of problems if they realize you have it.

 

Personally I like the target practice scenario. :D

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Do as you like within the rules, as long as you are prepared to live with your choices. And if the officer in the naughty room starts smashing at your folded-up drone, or at you, with a baseball bat, be sure to put it on YouTube.

 

And don't let anyone interpret the rules for you, unless you are paying them and they're licensed by the state bar.

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We were sailing last February on Princess and got chatting with the ship videographer. He was from the same country as us so we chatted often. The discussion of drones came up as my husband uses one in his work and the Princess staff videographer said he would love to bring his on the ship to use in ports but it is absolutely not allowed. Don’t think I would be taking my $1000.00 drone on the ship and risk it being discovered and taken by Princess!

 

Exactly. We were on the CB for 29 days last month and got very friendly with the photo/video staff since we have images on various Princess ships. As I have a GoPro Hero 5 and a drone I asked them if they ever used the GoPro drone to do video and they said they would love to but are not allowed to have one on the ship. If these guys can't have one it would seem difficult to see how a passenger could have one. I agree it would be great to shoot some video and images in the various ports, but at this time I don't see how it can be done unless you have a professional license and written permission under contract to do so.

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