It’s been a busy week for the web team at Royal Caribbean International.
Last week, they updated their website to ban multiple plug travel outlets, which was immediately followed by the latest prohibited item.
Royal Caribbean has now banned baby monitors on its ships. This decision came after a video by vloggers Matt and Abby Howard went viral. The video showed them using a baby monitor to watch their kids while they ate dinner on a cruise.
Royal Caribbean says baby monitors can mess up the ship’s communication systems, which are important for safety.
The cruise line suggests parents use other devices to keep in touch with their kids, but these might not be as easy to use as baby monitors.
What Royal Caribbean Says
| HAM Radios or other transmitting devices are strictly prohibited due to potential interference with the ship’s onboard communication systems. Baby monitors are not allowed to be used onboard our vessels as their radio signal could interfere with ship communication and/or navigation systems. Guests are allowed to have two-way radios, more commonly known as walkie-talkies, for onboard personal communications. Basic specifications are as follows: up to 10-mile coverage range, up to 5 watts power, Internal Voice, Operated Transmission, and no external mounting antenna. |
This ban has started a conversation across multiple message boards on Cruise Critic, Facebook, and Reddit about how cruise lines balance what passengers want with keeping everyone safe.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Latest Banned Item
Other changes this month from cruise lines included Carnival Cruise Line updating the language on its website following a guest bringing a Starlink dish onboard the cruise and showing viewers of his YouTube channel that the device can work on a cruise ship, showing a cheaper internet solution than paying Carnival’s WiFi rates.
Carnival confiscated the guest’s Starlink receiver and held it until the end of the Carnival Miracle Hawaii cruise.
These bans show how social media can influence cruise line rules and policies, even if unintentional.
