all cruise lines extensively search everything and you are required to be away from your bags for extended periods of time during boarding. most cruise lines also explicitly ban things like all cybersecurity equipment (flippers were particularly looked for, they seemingly consider this anything not obviously personal use electronic) power strips etc.
Royal caribbean got my friend pulled into security and questioned for hours for a RPI, and they permitted it but held it locked away separately until you deboard at the end of trip (theres ''you cannot board at all with this item, figure it out or throw it away'' and theres ''we hold it until end of voyage'')
you usually spend 4+ hours away until you see your bag again at boarding time - you might board in morning and don't get access to your room/bag until 1-4pm
I honestly don't understand people accept this kind of treatment and even pay for it. I've also heard stories of room searches where everything is torn apart because they suspect you might have a bottle of alcohol somewhere.
It's like going to a prison and paying for it. A pretty gilded one sure but still.
If there were real safety concerns I could understand but usually it's just because they want you to buy their overpriced drinks and internet service. After already paying a fortune for the trip.
I guess you might also find when people start getting ill the ship mysteriously has an outage of internet. I bet much like on an airplane, the Captain gets to decide if it's on or off for the passengers. Having a Starlink is a bypass. When you don't want people seeing CNN reporting the latest about which countries and ports turned you away, you want to turn off the internet to prevent the potential for mass hysteria?
Right as if that happens a lot. I'm sure it's just about their bottom line.
And you can't keep information secret anyway. In case of a quarantine people would be locked in their cabins. Better to have them have the information.
Besides, I'm extremely anti-authoritiarian, I would be the first to start a mutiny. It's another reason I wouldn't want to go on a boat, I don't take orders.
The bans on "all cyber security equipment" just show how little they understand. A regular laptop with cheap dongles is just as capable as a Flipper, if not more. And you don't even need dongles if you're just messing with WiFi/Bluetooth. The NFC part can partially be done via phone apps.
The lists are rather intriguing. I am assuming total router/switch bans are to prevent people from sharing a single paid connection since they charge per day per device
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Royal: Electrical items and electronic equipment not designed for personal grooming—including baby monitors, clothing irons, garment steamers, extension cords, power strips, multi‑plug outlets, HAM radios, cybersecurity devices, and electronic‑crime equipment—are prohibited.
Cunard: Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), amateur (ham) radios, communication scanners, wide-band receivers, satellite phones, satellite receivers and transmitters, transformers, lasers and laser pointers, network devices (wired and wireless) including routers, switches, and scanners.
Virgins: Satellite phones, networking gear such as Starlink or routers, EPIRBs, HAM radios and any device that can be used for deliberate electronic or cybersecurity interference or criminal activity.
Disney: (This sentence is listed under weapons) Satellite receivers, emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRB), communication scanners, wideband receivers and walkie-talkies
(The following is listed under electronics) Extension cords, power strips, multi-plugs and surge protectors Ham radios Streaming devices (Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, etc.)
Norwegian: Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), ham radios, satellite phones, transformers, lasers and laser pointers, Any form of radio/ telephone signal jamming equipment, Portable Modems, Walkie-talkies, Any multi-functional device developed for interaction with access control systems onboard the ship
Seabourn: Communication Devices including Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) ham radios, communication scanners, wide-band receivers, satellite phones, personal satellite dish/receivers, routers, and transformers.
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