American Cruise Lines

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n4jri

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American has cruises underway again, so I thought I'd bring the subject back up. They appear to use UHF handhelds on board, but not on the normal UHF marine freqs. Here's where the info appears to stand:

American Star - 462.7625 [d131]
American Constellation - 451.800 [d131] not heard by me, but came up in a search of this forum
American Constitution - 467.875 [d131] likely, but not 100% confirmed.

So it maybe that the DPL 131 is going to be a common thread. Hard to know. I don't think the Constitution is due in Hampton Roads again until October, but I'll hopefully catch the Star. Also not sure whether UHF radios are used just for passenger services, or for the sailing crew as well. (have yet to catch an arrival or departure)

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 
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WB9YBM

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I've noticed something similar in other maritime services: the boat (and DUK) tours in Wisconsin Dells uses 460MHz frequencies, too. So maybe it's not that unusual after all?
 
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Linking to the older thread…

forums.radioreference.com

American Cruise Lines

Does anybody have experience on this line? Since they're pretty much inland and coastal cruises, I'm wondering if they have radio issues. Can't find much on their website. I can't positively confirm, but believe that they use normal US business band UHF freqs for onboard/admin. comms. I think...
forums.radioreference.com forums.radioreference.com
 
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n4jri

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WB9YBM said:
I've noticed something similar in other maritime services: the boat (and DUK) tours in Wisconsin Dells uses 460MHz frequencies, too. So maybe it's not that unusual after all?
Click to expand...

I think it makes a lot of sense. The 457/467 freqs are a worldwide allocation, and are pretty crowded in a busy port. In Hampton Roads, even Navy ships are QRM'ing each other on those freqs. For cruise boats in US waters, it makes sense to be on quieter frequencies with selective squelch. No point in having crew radios squawking all the time with other vessels' traffic...

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 
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WB9YBM

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n4jri said:
I think it makes a lot of sense. The 457/467 freqs are a worldwide allocation, and are pretty crowded in a busy port.
Click to expand...

Well, the last time I read the rules & regs--and I admit this was a while ago so things might've changed a bit since then--any commercial vessel carrying six or more passengers for hire is required to have a marine radio on board. I think this is for primary communications, though so for secondary stuff--like on-board security teams (for example) might be using non-maritime frequencies for their operations...
 
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n4jri

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Okay, I think we can confirm 467.875 [d131] for the American Constitution. Recordings from the TRX-1 found 'Mate' addressing 'Captain' about a visitor who wanted say hi, various mentions of logbook, gangway, lounge & cocktails. In one case a crew member was was recruiting another to pick up packages from 'the gift shop' (the cruise terminal is connected to a large nautical museum). So, it looks like sailing and hospitality comms are probably on the same channel. Hoping to catch the Independence and the American Star at some point when they come to Norfolk or Yorktown.

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 
ecps92

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Figures, was down that way [VAC] this past week and said to myself, maybe I should go over that way, but then with the CDC rules, decided to skip that part of my Scan-cation :)
n4jri said:
Okay, I think we can confirm 467.875 [d131] for the American Constitution. Recordings from the TRX-1 found 'Mate' addressing 'Captain' about a visitor who wanted say hi, various mentions of logbook, gangway, lounge & cocktails. In one case a crew member was was recruiting another to pick up packages from 'the gift shop' (the cruise terminal is connected to a large nautical museum). So, it looks like sailing and hospitality comms are probably on the same channel. Hoping to catch the Independence and the American Star at some point when they come to Norfolk or Yorktown.

73/Allen (N4JRI)
Click to expand...
 
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n4jri

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ecps92 said:
Figures, was down that way [VAC] this past week and said to myself, maybe I should go over that way, but then with the CDC rules, decided to skip that part of my Scan-cation :)
Click to expand...
Where'd you go on vacation?

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 
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n4jri

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Okay, one more American Cruise Lines vessel, the Independence. Using 467.7625 [d131] for sailing ops (deckhands). Unknown if also used for hospitality comms, because it was late at night. Will hopefully be encountering this vessel and the American Star again in the next month

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 
ecps92

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Nice Work !

Maybe Mike could add Americans fleet to his awesome tracker

CruiseShipsTrackingAIS

Cruise Ship Tracking Tracker AIS , Yachts , Carnival , Celebrity , Oceania , Princess , Royal Caribbean , Military Ship , Coast Guard AIS receivers
shiptrackingais.blogspot.com shiptrackingais.blogspot.com

n4jri said:
Okay, one more American Cruise Lines vessel, the Independence. Using 467.7625 [d131] for sailing ops (deckhands). Unknown if also used for hospitality comms, because it was late at night. Will hopefully be encountering this vessel and the American Star again in the next month

73/Allen (N4JRI)
Click to expand...
 
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Ships added to the fleet list and Links updated....

American Cruise Lines

Coastal cruise ships:
American Spirit (2005) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:434736
American Star (2007) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:439396
Independence (2010) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:445201
American Constellation (2017) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:4882418
American Constitution (2018) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5486445

Columbia Riverboats:
Queen of the West (1995) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:445794
American Pride (2012) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:448648

Mississippi Riverboats:
Queen of the Mississippi (2015) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:2578701
America (2016) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3938647

Modern Riverboats:
American Song (2018) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5684316
American Harmony (2019) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5950938
American Jazz (2020) - https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6350589
American Melody (2021) - no AIS yet...
Unnamed Riverboat #5 (2021) - no AIS yet...
 
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