Royal Caribbean Scanning

[Spankymedic7]

Hi to all,

I tried to find any old threads regarding both the legality of scanning on board a (Royal Caribbean) cruise ship, and any interesting frequencies used. I couldn't find any info for either. If I missed it, can someone point me in the right direction? If I didn't miss it, can someone point me in the right direction?

Ship sails out of Tampa this Saturday.


Many thanks.

 

[KE0SKN]

Same rules aply to ham radio. Ask the caption..... If he said yes your good to go. also look up scanner laws in the places your going to visit too.

 

[ecps92]

Enjoy the Cruise, my experience on RCCL has been, if it transmits they will confiscate and return at the end of the cruise, if it is receive only then there is no problem.

My BC898T they thought was a two-way and asked to see it, showed security and no problem

If you go to my page [see signature line] you will find 98% of the RCCL frequencies

PM me, with what ship and destination, as I can tell you what other ships you will encounter

Hi to all,

I tried to find any old threads regarding both the legality of scanning on board a (Royal Caribbean) cruise ship, and any interesting frequencies used. I couldn't find any info for either. If I missed it, can someone point me in the right direction? If I didn't miss it, can someone point me in the right direction?

Ship sails out of Tampa this Saturday.


Many thanks.

 

[ecps92]

Leave the radios on the ship.

The Laws of each country vary and in some a Permit is needed for even a Scanner

The Cruise line and Captain are only concerned about Transmitters, Receivers are generally fine. And watch out for all those FRS/GMRS users too :roll:

Same rules aply to ham radio. Ask the caption..... If he said yes your good to go. also look up scanner laws in the places your going to visit too.

 

[Spankymedic7]

Thanks for the info. I did remember reading one comment stating that the writer (I think it was you now that I think about it) didn't have any problems on Royal Caribbean. As for GMRS/FRS radios, don't hundreds of passengers use those on board anyway? I thought that the ship even rents them out... I'm bringing 3 Wouxuns with me for shipboard communications between my wife, our friend, and myself. I'm not taking them off the ship.

Thanks again for your info.

 

[fourthhorseman]

curious about HF on a ship(reception that is),line of sight is long and from an upper deck you may be 100ft above sea level..

 

[ecps92]

Never tried HF, but I know some folks who have as well as TV reception from local broadcasting to intercepting the Cameras on the Panama Canal

Some Good Reception, being that high even from a Cabin. 8+ yrs ago, I worked a Boston GMRS Repeater from my Balcony while still a couple of hundred miles south of Nantucket, from a Handheld

curious about HF on a ship(reception that is),line of sight is long and from an upper deck you may be 100ft above sea level..

 

[Radiobern]

I took my Yaesu VR-120D with me on the Rhapsody of the Seas back in July 2009 for an Alaskan cruise. No one bothered me about it and I also had a pair of TriSquare 900 MHz radios in my carry on.

In November 2009, I took another cruise on the Sapphire Princess to Mexico out of Los Angeles. I decided to take my PSR-500 with me since I wanted to listen to LAPD and the Port of LA, which are both digital. The dockside security flagged me for it, then I got an escort to the ship. Ship board security took a look, called up a "sea-co" on the phone, then cleared me to board. I got to cut in front of everyone else and I had the scanner with me the whole time. I also had my Radio Shack DX-398 shortwave receiver with me since I had a balcony cabin. I only got to listen late at night, but reception with the telescopic was quite good.

From my listening, it seems RCCL doesn't use their radios as much as Princess does. It was also fun to know why we left port late, how many passengers/crew were still outstanding or when the pilot boarded or off-boarded. With Princess, you can also hear about passengers not having passports, sea pass problems and other hotel related issues.

 

[ecps92]

Not as much as years ago, since they rely on the internal Wireless phones more.

Two Part Article on Cruise/Maritime Monitoring
http://www.scannerdigest.com/sd60-newsletter.pdf

Part Two came out last month [need to find the link]

I took my Yaesu VR-120D with me on the Rhapsody of the Seas back in July 2009 for an Alaskan cruise. No one bothered me about it and I also had a pair of TriSquare 900 MHz radios in my carry on.

In November 2009, I took another cruise on the Sapphire Princess to Mexico out of Los Angeles. I decided to take my PSR-500 with me since I wanted to listen to LAPD and the Port of LA, which are both digital. The dockside security flagged me for it, then I got an escort to the ship. Ship board security took a look, called up a "sea-co" on the phone, then cleared me to board. I got to cut in front of everyone else and I had the scanner with me the whole time. I also had my Radio Shack DX-398 shortwave receiver with me since I had a balcony cabin. I only got to listen late at night, but reception with the telescopic was quite good.

From my listening, it seems RCCL doesn't use their radios as much as Princess does. It was also fun to know why we left port late, how many passengers/crew were still outstanding or when the pilot boarded or off-boarded. With Princess, you can also hear about passengers not having passports, sea pass problems and other hotel related issues.

 

[DaveNF2G]

One need only be concerned about "rules" for receivers when off the ship in countries that don't allow the public to receive non-broadcast signals.

The "rules" for shipboard use might be set by the cruise line and should be public if so. If not, then the best rule to follow is common courtesy. Most people don't want to listen to your radios, so leave them in your cabin and/or use earphones. Expect questions from crew and fellow passengers about your activities if you monitor in public view.

 

[MtnBiker2005]

^ plus receiving antennas for AIS and Mode-S taped to the cabin room balcony railing
Cabin next door might ask few days later :lol:

 

[shadcall]

One need only be concerned about "rules" for receivers when off the ship in countries that don't allow the public to receive non-broadcast signals.

The "rules" for shipboard use might be set by the cruise line and should be public if so. If not, then the best rule to follow is common courtesy. Most people don't want to listen to your radios, so leave them in your cabin and/or use earphones. Expect questions from crew and fellow passengers about your activities if you monitor in public view.

While on a cruise this past January, I was waiting in one of the dining rooms for disembarkation and was listening to my Pro 106. At one point the crew member running the disembarkation for our location walked over and asked "are you listening to us?" I replied "no, police and fire." He then asked where you get a scanner like mine and I told him Radio Shack. I was telling the "truth" because at the time nothing was coming over their comms and there was activity on the local police. I did have headphones on so no one could hear. No one else asked about what I was doing.

While on the cruise I did keep my scanner put away when I was not in the room so it would not raise a red flag with the cabin attendant.

 

[Dispatrick]

scanner

I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in August. I just didn't bring it outside my cabin/balcony and used headphones or kept the volume really low, I also did the same and just placed it out of sight when our cabin was attended to.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Keeping your gear out of sight can also prevent its theft.