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Royal Caribbean's new drone policy for all ships

PatrickCruises123
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PatrickCruises123

PatrickCruises123

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Hello everyone.

 

My wife and I are booked on our next cruise for Alaska in August 2019. During our September 2017 cruise on the Oasis of the Seas, I experienced quite a bit of hassle while bringing my Mavic Pro drone back on to the ship after our port of call at Costa Maya Mexico. The security officers that operate the metal detectors tried to confiscate my drone.

 

I posted a youtube video (

) from that excursion showing the drone footage and a recent comment asking about approval for the drone caused me to reach out for the official answer.

 

Last Friday, June 1 2018, I called Royal Caribbean's corporate headquarters in Miami (305-539-6000) and asked for someone in the security department for all ships. I was transferred to someone's voicemail and left a message asking about the official drone policy.

 

This morning (June 4), someone named Nikki called me on the behalf of the Global Security Department for Royal Caribbean.

 

She told me a new drone policy was very recently created and sent out to all of the ships in the fleet.

------------------------------------------------------

You are allowed to bring a drone with you on your cruise, keep it with you in your statement, and take it off the ship for ports of call.

 

The restrictions:

  • You can't fly the drone on the ship at any time
  • You can't fly the drone near the ship at any port of call
  • Know the drone laws for the cities/countries you want to fly it in

I asked her specifically about the security department on the ship and sending the drone through the metal detector as you're coming back on from the port because this is where my problems from last September started. She assured me that would not happen again because of this new policy.

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setsail

setsail

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Did Nickki give you an email on phone #. If so I would ask her to send the new policy to you so you can print it out to have for your cruise. your cruise is over a year away so I would call right before the cruise.

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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But DO PAY ATTENTION to the last sentence in the RCCL email:

 

Know the drone laws for the cities/countries you want to fly it in

 

Many countries and ports have restrictions on where private drones are allowed, if at all. And do respect the privacy of others when flying these.

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whitsmom

whitsmom

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We took our palm sized drone on the Oasis last July and did not have any issues. We did not use it on board. We used it in ports and did not have any problem bringing it back on board from the ports. It really looks like a 6+ iPhone size so that may have been the reason.

 

We asked permission from TSA and Delta; however, we did not ask RCI as we knew we wouldn't use it on the ship anyway.

We are planning on taking it on our Alaskan cruise next month too.

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whitsmom

whitsmom

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Can the drone not go through the detector? Will it hurt the drone?

It will not hurt it. You have to put it in your carry on for the airlines. TSA has rules on the battery sizes. We checked with both TSA and Delta Air Lines for our information.

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PatrickCruises123

PatrickCruises123

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Always an idea to get confirmation by email and then carry a copy of the email with you IMO. If security on ship have different ideas, you can at least show them the email.

 

I went to the guest services desk the day before and had it logged in their system that guest services was telling me "no problem" and I still had an issue coming back on to the ship on deck 2.

 

Back to the main point of the thread; according to Global Security Department, those issues should be a thing of the past.

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PatrickCruises123

PatrickCruises123

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So glad to read this as we really wanted to bring our drone for Coz and Belize.

 

But, if the Master says no, it's law! So we'll wait and see. Going to take it but prepared for confiscation.

 

I started with guest services at the 1800 number for RCCL and they told me the same thing I heard a few days later when this lady called after my voicemail.

 

Maybe RCCL has finally gotten a clue...maybe...

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DaytonCruiser

DaytonCruiser

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I’m glad there are restrictions. It’s creepy that those things can fly around and tape you without you knowing. I wish they were banned everywhere.

 

 

 

Most people buy drones to film aerial footage,where you usually can’t even see individuals.

 

DSLRs with a zoom lens is much more invasive, do you want those banned as well.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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BaumD

BaumD

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From their website:

 

Can guests bring drones onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

 

A

Yes. Guests are welcome to bring drones on their cruise for use on land only and outside of the port area. However, drones are not to be operated onboard the ship at any time, nor on Royal Caribbean’s private destinations: CocoCay, Bahamas or Labadee, Haiti.

While onboard, drones must be stored safely in the stateroom. Drones used on the ship will be confiscated until the end of the cruise. A Guest Conduct Policy warning will be issued and guests may be subject to disembarkation at their own expense for onboard drone usage.

Guests assume full responsibility for understanding all local authority rules related to drone usage and for obtaining any required permissions for drone operations. Different countries may have different rules. Any liability, including environmental damage from drone usage is the guest's responsibility. Royal Caribbean assumes no liability for guest drones that may be confiscated by local authorities for violating local laws or for any accident or injury resulting from a guest drone flight.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/can-guests-bring-drones-onboard

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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

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I’m glad there are restrictions. It’s creepy that those things can fly around and tape you without you knowing. I wish they were banned everywhere.

Some user's don't care. My teenage Daughter had issues as someone kept flying over her while she lays out by her pool... Sad, no more Skeet Shooting off Royal Fantails, miss those days...

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PatrickCruises123

PatrickCruises123

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Some user's don't care. My teenage Daughter had issues as someone kept flying over her while she lays out by her pool... Sad, no more Skeet Shooting off Royal Fantails, miss those days...

 

That kind of stuff should be reported to the police. A real drone operator would never do that.

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rukkian

rukkian

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Some user's don't care. My teenage Daughter had issues as someone kept flying over her while she lays out by her pool... Sad, no more Skeet Shooting off Royal Fantails, miss those days...

 

At least you can see the drone, most places a person with a telephoto lens would get at least as good of shots, if not better. If it is close enough, get out a hose.

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