Flying from a cruise ship

BrAinZ · Mar 15, 2018

We are off on a cruise next week and was wondering what the verdict was on taking off/landing from the deck of the ship.

I can imagine that the compass could get confused by such a large lump of metal, but does anyone have any experience or guidance?

Thanks.

Simmo · Mar 15, 2018

I would bet my bottom dollar that the Cruise ship operators would not even allow you to take it on board!

BrAinZ · Mar 15, 2018

Ahh... I never even considered they would ban them, but I fear you may be right

Simmo · Mar 15, 2018

Mate by all means, contact the ship owners, I have heard that at times they confiscate them, lock them away, and give them back at certain locations that allow usage.

TrayBoz · Mar 15, 2018

4000+ people on a big ship + one drone flying around = disaster.
Most cruise lines won't even let you bring a drone on board, or they'll confiscate it upon boarding. If you tried launching a drone ON the ship, you'd probably be kicked off the cruise altogether. If you plan to travel with your drone on a cruise ship, get full permission from the cruise line IN WRITING and carry this document with you on your trip. Also, research permission, regulations at the ports where you plan to fly. Results vary greatly for each port.

And yes, launching from a huge metal object will mess up your compass.

macbrush · Mar 15, 2018

A cruise is moving at like 20 - 30 knots, as soon as you take off, the drone would fly off at 30 knots to the aft and goodbye drone!

Lake_Flyer · Mar 15, 2018

That ship is one big cloud of electromagnetic interference. If they have the radars on (and they usually have on open sea as well as close to ports), no way you can get back to the ship. It acts as a bubble around the ship that you can't penetrate.

I have posted the link to this video where a guy loses his Phantom 4 due to the cruise ships radar in a similar thread, you can search that thread for more opinions.
Here is the link again: The thumbnail is the very last image his P4 was transmitting before it sank into the ocean with a low battery after countless attempts to get through the radar bubble.

beachcombing · Mar 15, 2018

Several users have reported that the drone will confiscated upon boarding and you can get it back at port calls. Definitely check with the cruise operator in advance.

FrankIII · Mar 15, 2018

Lake_Flyer said:
That ship is one big cloud of electromagnetic interference. If they have the radars on (and they usually have on open sea as well as close to ports), no way you can get back to the ship. It acts as a bubble around the ship that you can't penetrate.

I have posted the link to this video where a guy loses his Phantom 4 due to the cruise ships radar in a similar thread, you can search that thread for more opinions.
Here is the link again:

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The thumbnail is the very last image his P4 was transmitting before it sank into the ocean with a low battery after countless attempts to get through the radar bubble.

I almost cried.. That was hard to watch. I would guess that he probably is the only one who lost an AC this way.
SUPER BUMMER!!!!!!!

MavicMikeMinh · Mar 15, 2018

Lake_Flyer said:
That ship is one big cloud of electromagnetic interference. If they have the radars on (and they usually have on open sea as well as close to ports), no way you can get back to the ship. It acts as a bubble around the ship that you can't penetrate.

I have posted the link to this video where a guy loses his Phantom 4 due to the cruise ships radar in a similar thread, you can search that thread for more opinions.
Here is the link again:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

The thumbnail is the very last image his P4 was transmitting before it sank into the ocean with a low battery after countless attempts to get through the radar bubble.

The notion of a "radar bubble" is nonsense. Too much Star Trek watching about force fields. (For starters he pointed to an aerial dome which was most likely housing a Sat TV aerial) He did not loose control, even had a video up to the last seconds. Therefore he didn't even suffer from interference which you would expect from the massive lump of steel. I reckon he totally underestimated wind, turbulences caused by the ship and the ship's own speed.

Simmo · Mar 15, 2018

YES! That vid was total crap! No idea!

Lake_Flyer · Mar 15, 2018

Switch on a radar near your Mavic and see what happens. The fact that he had video was because the video wasn't interfered. The RC was simply overblown by the radar wave.
I had it while filming a bridge with my Inspire1. I was about 75feet from the canal. As soon as a large vessel with radar on approached I lost most of my control and couldn't do anything else but up and down. I went up which was the safest thing to do. When I got to about 60 feet it all went back to normal. Video feed at that time was still ok. The app was giving all sorts of warnings. It all took just about 10 seconds. I will never fly close to a ship anymore unless I'm 100% sure it doesn't have a working radar.

I should have known what radars do. I have one on my sail yacht (although I never switch it on).

Lake_Flyer · Mar 15, 2018

MavicMikeMinh said:
I reckon he totally underestimated wind, turbulences caused by the ship and the ship's own speed.

No doubt this will have been part of the problem.

Palliz · Mar 15, 2018

Geez seriously - this vid annoys me more than anything. How he got on board with it is one thing but flying off a cruise ship really does endanger the folks on board but **** (since he got away with it & could care less about the other passengers) he gave up waaaaaay too early AND he had control enough to decide to dunk it in the ocean ON PURPOSE! What an IDJIT!!!!!

Maineiac · Mar 15, 2018

I’d never take off from the deck of a moving ship because of the interference from radar and all that metal, plus it isn’t safe with all the people on deck.

Your best bet is to bring it on board in checked luggage and only take it out in port when you’re off the ship. Depending on where you tie up you could still get some good video of the ship flying from shore without endangering people or your drone.

KiterTodd · Mar 15, 2018

I am thankful that people post videos of themselves doing stupid things for our entertainment. And sometimes we learn something without having to trash our own craft.

Who knows what the issue was, but I agree, he certainly gave up way too easily. Seems it was only posted a year ago. I'm surprised that, this recently, security from the ship wasn't all over him once they saw that thing flying around the ship.

Akoztha · Mar 15, 2018

I too mine.
They gave me a locker number so that everytime we get off, I could use it on land.
Then back to the locker.
DON'T FLY IT ON THE SHIP, you usually get sporadic/unpredictable strong winds... you might think it's safe and then.... bye bye drone.

Flycaster · Mar 15, 2018

3 words.......
Don't do it......

Hayabusa · Mar 15, 2018

I chase cruse ships all the time. I’ve never gotten with in 50-100’ but now you got me worried.
If for some reason I did get interference etc... I could just stop hover/ go up and wait for ship to move away?
Tomorrow’s Friday and have about 4-5 ships that sail out.

Sharpy05 · Mar 15, 2018

I brought my mavic pro on a cruise back in january and i had to check it in with security when getting on the boat, but was allowed to take it off in every port i went to. Also you cannot fly on the docks near the boat or in the port security/shops. It was kind of a hassle to deal with security each time but nonetheless i got it. They only took the drone itself i was allowed to keep my batteries and remote so i could charge them. Also you dont get the drone back until you clear security after getting off the cruiseship which i did not like at all. Hope this info helps.

here is the end result after all the hassle.