Cruise Ship & Gulf of Mexico Monitoring

[Jon_in_Metairie]

Hi I am going on a cruise on Carnival Fantasy boat out of New Orleans next week to Cozumel. All I have ever scanned is local EMS, fire, etc.

Can someone direct me to any good frequencies to listen in on Cruise Ship operations or other marine traffic stuff that may be in the Gulf of Mexico?

Special thanks to all of you.

 

[bpckty1]

Here're some places to start:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ecps92/cruise_ships.htm
http://www.panix.com/~clay/scanning/index.cgi?maritime
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scanner/index.htm
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scanner/cruise.htm
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scanner/hawaii.htm
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=11277
http://www.fordyce.org/scanning/frequencies/travel/cruise.html
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/miamiscanner/CruiseShips.html

 

[ffemtbland]

http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.html
print out this page for your crusie - should be able to give you a good idea of why you're hearing what, where ... if that makes sense ...
your scanner will probably have a "Marine" feature ... in the search banks. Which model do you have?
this page gives you the vhf marine freqs (if not already in your scanner/radio)
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/vhf.htm
try and listen a lot while you're in port and getting close to port or whatever - an antenna better than your handheld scanner would be awesome ... even the telescoping ones from RS seem to do better than most stock vhf antennas. i brought a small NMO mag-mount with last time i had my scanner on the boat ... stuck it on the fridge in our cabin. worked better that way, although people looked at me funny ... worth it, i'd say.
also, GMRS and FRS along with BRS freqs should be pretty active ... may offer some laughs - those freqs available on Wiki here.
Lars

 

[ecps92]

Cruise Ship Frequencies

Information on the Fantasy has been limited, so what ever you find there will be more out there.

Carnivals Typical [Not all Ships] channel plan is
457.5250 Ch.01
457.5500 Ch.02
457.5750 Ch.03
468.3250 Ch.04
469.9500 Ch.05
464.2750 Ch.06
464.3000 Ch.07
464.3250 Ch.08

Hi I am going on a cruise on Carnival Fantasy boat out of New Orleans next week to Cozumel. All I have ever scanned is local EMS, fire, etc.

Can someone direct me to any good frequencies to listen in on Cruise Ship operations or other marine traffic stuff that may be in the Gulf of Mexico?

Special thanks to all of you.

 

[Jon_in_Metairie]

Thanks for all the tips. I do have a PRO-97 and i think it has a Marine search, but I don't have it here with me now. What kind of stuff would I hear?

Also, does anyone have any tips on taking alcohol on board? Thanks.

 

[ecps92]

Ship Tips

Nix the Alcohol Idea. They tend to confiscate it, as part of your luggage search.

As for Radio Traffic.
Day to Day Hotel Activities. Drills [Fire, Security], Engineering and Docking.
Medicals [Aero Evac, if needed] and other related items.

The Ships will definately be in the UHF, where the talk to the pilot while docking and the Coast Guard will be in the Marine VHF.

Thanks for all the tips. I do have a PRO-97 and i think it has a Marine search, but I don't have it here with me now. What kind of stuff would I hear?

Also, does anyone have any tips on taking alcohol on board? Thanks.

 

[sflmonitor]

I had the chance to read one of the Carnival ship's radios a few years ago. Each Carnival ship had a different channel plan on the radios, but this list includes all of the frequencies used by the ships at the time.

457.525 467.750
457.550 467.775
457.575 467.575
457.600 467.825
457.625 467.800
464.275 Sx
464.275 Sx
464.300 Sx
464.325 Sx
464.350 Sx
467.175 Sx
468.325 Sx
469.275 Sx
469.950 Sx


Note: I received information that the following ships MAY be using an onboard trunking system, but I have not personally verified:

Holiday
Fascination
Jubilee
Sensation
Ecstasy
Celebration
Fantasy

 

[ecps92]

Carnival Ships

Thanks for the List.

I've heard the LTR [Trunk] rumors for sometime, however have not encountered a Carnival Ship with Trunking yet. all Conventional.

Jubilee [2004] Conventional
Sensation [2004] Conventional

Will be on a Cruise in January and will be in port when the
Elation, Fascination, Legend and Sensation are in.

Got a report, back in Sept from a Scannist who sailed on the Sensation who
advised Conventional, not LTR.

All we can do is report what we hear.

I had the chance to read one of the Carnival ship's radios a few years ago. Each Carnival ship had a different channel plan on the radios, but this list includes all of the frequencies used by the ships at the time.


Note: I received information that the following ships MAY be using an onboard trunking system, but I have not personally verified:

Holiday
Fascination
Jubilee
Sensation
Ecstasy
Celebration
Fantasy

 

[sflmonitor]

Yes, please keep us posted. It'll be interesting to see who has what. Thanks.

 

[w0fg]

Also, does anyone have any tips on taking alcohol on board? Thanks.

Why would you want to take anything with you? Just wait till you get out past the 3 mile limit and they open the duty-free shops and then stock up on the good stuff!

 

[dintimid8or]

Just finished up with a cruise on MS Celebration. I programmed the frequencies listed for Carnival Cruise lines on a conventional scanner and received no results. I also scanned the marine frequencies and did not receive any audio.

 

[bpckty1]

Were you able to identify any the radios used, make/model, etc.?

Wonder if the shipboard radios were digital?

 

[dintimid8or]

The only portable radio I was able to get a glimpse of was a Motorola HT-1250 with keypad.

 

[N4JNW]

I will be taking a cruise for my honeymoon this Novemeber. What would be some good frequencies to plug in?

 

[R7000]

I was on a cruise in the gulf last year. You should monitor the marine channels and also look for a ship's repeater in the UHF range. My ship had several UHF freqs going for operations.

In Cozumel the pilot boat was using a freq in the 160s, our govt band.
Tom

 

[ecps92]

Cruise Ship Frequencies

What Cruise line, Ship and Port?

I will be taking a cruise for my honeymoon this Novemeber. What would be some good frequencies to plug in?

 

[N4JNW]

Carnival, Ship is The Celebration, Port of Jacksonville, FL.

Stops in Key West, and Nassau, Bahamas.

 

[ecps92]

Carnival Celebration

At this time, I have had No Reports from Scannists on the Celebration.

However, your best bet is to look thru the list, using many of the other ships.
The Larger Cruise Lines, typically set up the entire fleet of radios in a similar channel plan.

Carnival, Ship is The Celebration, Port of Jacksonville, FL.

Stops in Key West, and Nassau, Bahamas.

 

[N4JNW]

Thank you for digging for me atleast.

Guess I'll just have to utilize the search feature. LOL

 

[gcgrotz]

Why would you want to take anything with you? Just wait till you get out past the 3 mile limit and they open the duty-free shops and then stock up on the good stuff!

Most of the cruises I've been on when you buy duty free they give it to you at the end of the cruise. They make a lot of money on bar tabs and want you to drink in public. I have bought booze in ports and never had a problem bringing it on, just send it through x-ray with your bags and don't say anything.

Most of the best comms are on the marine channels when docking/undocking. Ships repeaters are mostly boring business stuff like "Ok send the next group down to the tenders". Unless you have an emergency of course...

FRS channels are also good sometimes, now that people carry them all over the world - even where they may not be legal to use in port.