Mini 2 on an MSC Cruise Ship

[Jonathan Atkin]

Zbip: Agreed. But that also applies to nearly everywhere at this point. I always ask. People expect to enjoy out of the way places with peace and tranquility. A drone certainly can ruin that. Gotta pick your spots. A friend just wrote from Moorea, where he has his Mavic3...was on a hill high above and 3 tourists (french) were enjoying the view. He asked if they minded his drone and they said in French they were happy with him to fly the drone. Last winter I wanted to photograph an Orthodox Russian church in the State of NY. Knocked on the chancery door, introduced myself and asked the Father, if I could fly my drone over his "onion rooftops." He grinned and introduced me to another church colleague, saying, Father Gregory flies his drone all the time.. Be our guest. I sent them a nice print of the photo

 

[Aerophile]

Nice shot, Jonathan, and I like your approach: respectful, polite, friendly, reasonable. Wish more people took that road.

Question for you about ops near cruise ships...personally, I have no interest in ever getting on one of those as a passenger (/understatement), but live near an active port that receives plenty of cruise ships. I've thought of flying my drone around (not directly over) one of those boats as it was moored, docked, or on approach/departure to its dock/mooring. I'm familiar with the airspace restrictions in those locations and nearby, and I know about the requirements to keep clear of vessels, and not to fly over crowds on shore or on the ship (I'll of course follow those regs). My questions are...

1. Are you aware of any additional prohibitions/restrictions specifically on drone operations near cruise ships (not directly overhead, and not within 500' of them)? This would be in domestic US waters while in or near a port.

2. From an operational standpoint, I'd welcome your insights about the air around these ships, based on your helo experience. Specifically, I'm guessing that remaining at least 500' away (laterally) one should avoid most of the air turbulence these boats create, certainly if docked, maybe even if moving slowly (of course, also being aware of the hot exhaust coming from the funnels/stacks, which I'm sure would create crazy turbulence if you hit it). I can easily imagine the bow-wave and other turbulence, but I'm thinking that's probably not going to extend out 500'...no?

I've flown out from shore and around (not directly over) other, smaller vessels, always keeping my distance. Just wondering if there was any additional "special" restrictions around cruise ships. Thanks.

 

[Jonathan Atkin]

Thank you aerophile. I try to be a good ambassador to the drone community. I was out at a public park on Long Island, about a 100 acre "dog park" near Montauk, flying Inspire2. No one around me...but some folks were walking their dogs without leashes. Out of no where a pit bull came roaring towards my In2 with no owner in sight. I had battery left for a few minutes...dog was wildly jumping. I was gonna land on a picnic table but dog was vicious and athletic. I picked up my heavy rubber landing pad to smack him away...not very effective...It was frightening. Eventually friends came and got the dog away...His owner came up and was nasty saying "I HATE DRONES.' Now I carry a maritime very loud airhorn on my belt if I'm anywhere a dog might accost me. Standard drone gear now. Ok, now back to your question. I can't speak in generalities. Every port is different. In Miami Beach at "South Point" where the ships go by within yards of the park, people regulary fly drones over and close to the ships. Seems to be acceptable. Common sense is the rule. 500 feet is a USCG rule for boats to stay away from cruise ships, and from a turbulence view you're good. There are indeed "hazards to navigation" rules and if your drone is deemed a hazard to the pilots, if it is a distraction, then yeah...u may have a problem. I know tug boat captains who swear they will shoot the next drone that flies near their tugboat. And yes, a drone is a distraction. That said, if you live near an active port, you might have a personal discussion with a.) the port harbor pilots who are in command of every ship to take it out to sea or bring it in...b.) an informal discussion with the local USCG Sector Waterways management. Officially they are not likely to be in favor of your drone..but introducing yourself can't hurt and you might be surprised, as I don't know your port. There is a very active drone pilot at Ft Lauderdale port, and he clearly has gotten clearance from the director of the port as well as the FAA, as the airport is close by. It is all possible if one is transparent. What most do NOT want to see is FAA violations and cowboys who disregard the rules. In some ports there is infrastructure concerns....that are off limits to drones or bridges where auto traffic can be bothered, or certain fueling berths or cargo areas that would not appreciate the distraction. From my helo experience the ship already knows I'm coming. Nothing whatsoever is ad hoc. My helicopter flights are commissioned by the ship lines, whether cargo or cruise and I submit a flight plan to about a dozen agencies for each flight around every ship. The marshalling areas for cargo can be very proprietary about aerial photography...no matter who my client may be. If u can tell me which port you're speaking about, I probably know it.

 

[DPL]

Hi everyone
I'm in the UK and travelling to miami this week to board an MSC Cruise ship for 2 weeks, I want to take my mini 2 to use on the islands, I've spoken to and emailed MSC, they told me it will be confiscated on check in, stored and returned to me at the end of the cruise, I applied for special permission but they basically said no. I told them I only want to use on the island and not the ship, also offered to leave it with security and collect when we get off the ship then hand it back when we re board, but they not having it, and there's notes on my booking showing this.....any advice ?
Hi,This is a remarkable coincidence but today I returned from a cruise on MSC Virtuosa.On my boarding documents it stated that drones were not allowed on board at all, however the section that this was kinda regarding dangerous goods .So you can guess how surprised I was to see a Mini being flown from one of the upper deck walkways. I didn’t stick around long enough to see exactly which bird it was because there was an element of resentment about the guy flying it so blatantly in full view without any attempt whatsoever to hide what he was doing. Perhaps he was ignorant of the restriction or just didn’t care.My advice……. Having left my (Mavic Pro) drone at home I was a bit miffed that this guy got away with it so next time I will take a chance that it will get through the baggage checks. TBH I believe MSC are more concerned with loosing revenue by passengers taking their own booze on board.

If you take yours and they find it and confiscate till the end of the cruise you won’t be any worse off.

 

[Fleek]

Hi everyone
I'm in the UK and travelling to miami this week to board an MSC Cruise ship for 2 weeks, I want to take my mini 2 to use on the islands, I've spoken to and emailed MSC, they told me it will be confiscated on check in, stored and returned to me at the end of the cruise, I applied for special permission but they basically said no. I told them I only want to use on the island and not the ship, also offered to leave it with security and collect when we get off the ship then hand it back when we re board, but they not having it, and there's notes on my booking showing this.....any advice ?

Royal Caribbean allows passengers to take drone in luggage. I just did it on a trip to Bahamas.

 

[Mid-AtlanticDroneServices]

It should be stressed, my Kotor drone flight was done way back in 2013, when flying cameras were still just a novelty. Even back then I always took care to find a relatively isolated location to fly from and tried hard not to harass any of the "natives".

Cruise lines compete and pay for port access. You can imagine that some locations welcome, or even depend on, the economic beneift of a sudden influx of 3-5000 tourists landing on their shores, whereas others bitterly resent the daily flood of ignorant tourists tramping through their streets. Imagine if even only a small percentage of those thousands of daily tourists insist on flying their drones at all the popular viewpoints.

The days when drones were just a curiosity are long gone. Nowadays you're much more likely to be met with paranoia and outright hostility. That hostility can be expected to cascade back onto whichever cruise line unloads these unwelcome visitors.

It is perfectly reasonable that cruise lines forbid flying drones from their ships, and it is understandable that some find it easier to forbid bringing them aboard at all.

Enjoy your cruise as a means to discover new locations. Then plan your own transport to return someday to places where you wish to legally fly your drone.

I agree. I get at least as much paranoia and fake Rules Tough Guys (who don't know anything) as I do people that are interested,

re: drones and cruise ships. First, I am an avid drone pilot. I am also a well known maritime aerial photographer. While passengers are not permitted to use drones (and I'll get to that) many of the cruise lines have brought professional drone companies aboard their ships for marketing videos. However, consider the mega ships carrying 3-5000 passengers. It is easier to simply say no. If Princess has varying rules, kudos to them. Your mileage may vary as one might gather..and rules can change on a dime. And yes, most cruise ships scan and send all luggage through xray machines for every time anyone re-boards. Liquor is not a lipo battery. LOL

Obviously, LIPO batteries are a major concern. cruise ship staff has neither the time or expertise to determine if your batteries have been discharged to 30% or ensure you are bringing batteries in LIPO safe bags. While airlines publish Lipo battery limitations, cruise ships view batteries no matter what the technology as flammable. To permit drone batteries to be brought aboard and kept separately would require creating steel safety housings in the cargo area to store them. It is too much of a headache. I have suggested to several cruise lines developing a "Shore excursion" offering a drone permitted cruise for a small group, where the cruise line handles the drones with batteries removed on embark, and provide at shoreside, with all the permitting at various ports already cleared in the "tour group." A money maker as a "private tour." However, most drone pilots want to be on their own, so I don't think it would really work...but perhaps an introductory class for novices could work. Or the ship could supply 6 or 10 Phantom 4 drones and make it a real money maker. As for launching drones from a ship, it is not the vessel's speed as much as the massive turbulence that a ship sets up as she plows through the air. I regularly fly robust helicopters over my client's ships. There is an aerodynamic bow wave, turbulence admidships and more disturbance towards the stern. Good chance the drone would land, crash, go into the water or hit someone on the Lido deck or in the pool. In ports, without the local country's permitting, it's not gonna work. As for many ports in the Mid-east, they are military controlled and a drone in the port would face severe penalties. One drone team, contracted by a cruise line to fly the drone off the ship, attempted to do so in the SUEZ canal. Someone was really dumb. they were fined heavily and drones were confiscated by the Egyptian authorities..or at least temporarily. In the Port of NY much of the same issues abound including that NYC is officially a "no drone city." The passenger ship terminals in the Port are owned by the Port Authority of NY/NJ and have massively strict protocols for any drone usage within their jurisdiction. Not to mention concerns of NYPD, NYPD Aviation, NYPD Marine Intelligence and Sector NY USCG.
Caribbean nations also have changing and variable rules and it behooves to be aware of their rules way ahead of any travel by any means.

Just my two cents.

Well...I will say that airlines don't seem to care much about battery limitations. I've taken my Air 2s with 4 OEM batteries and 4, third-party LIPOS (all in a hard case) as a carryon. Only one screener even asked what the case was. They obviously scan all the carry ons. Most recently, I had a body wash container that was over the 3.4oz limit...buy they didn't even bat an eye at the CPAP machine, chargers, or my drone case. Sometimes I think they'd let a bowling ball with a candle through on X-ray!

I agree we are unlikely to see cruise lines allowing drones. It's just too risky. I know I wouldn't fly one from the ship. My point was I think you'd probably be OK (e.g. not have it caught) packing one for use at a destination...depending on the local regulations (I am NOT encouraging this). True, they aren't alcohol, but I've seen them go to much greater lengths to stop that, and people still easily get it though in their luggage.

You're spot-on when it comes to "no fly" areas. They are proliferating. I do laugh when venues like county parks try to prohibit flight over their facility in an otherwise clear zone from FAA's perspective.

 

[TruckeeSnowblower]

We cruise a lot on Princess Cruises.

I unfortunately booked on a cruise line that explicitly said they do not allow drones on board.
However, checking with Princess Cruise Line they do allow drones to be brought on board, but prohibit their use on the ship of in the port. They are more expensive that what I booked so I'm still weighing my options.

I don't know where you received your information from but would definitely check again with Princess Cruises before you take your drone. I have talked with a couple of their officers who were head's of security on a couple of different ships and all have said no drones period. If they see it in your checked luggage or carry-on they will confiscate it until the end of the cruise. They will not give it back to you when you arrive in any port either if you are still a passenger on that particular cruise. I also have given it some thought about still taking my drone with me because it's it's port authority security that usually checks the carry-on when you board, not typically the cruise line and those screeners could care less. The problem arises when the ship stops in each port and it now cruise line security checking the carry-on when you re-board. If they see it when you come back on ship using the luggage scanner it will be taken away and not given back until the final day of the cruise. I would love to take my drone with me but have resolved to the fact that if the trip is a cruise, sadly the drone is left at home.

 

[Will_UK]

Don't put money in to the hands of companies that have ridiculous rules. Cancel and book with someone else and tell them why you've cancelled.

 

[shawgod]

Does anyone know the rules with Viking Cruise Lines and drones? I plan to do a river cruise up the Mississippi River next year and was thinking of brining my drone. I live on the Mississippi River and know that I can fly the drone on the river in a lot of spots so there is not restricted airspace. But would they confiscate the drone from me?

 

[Daytona500]

Why not just ask them. They can give you better info then anyone here