4 surprising items banned on Royal Caribbean cruise ships
Some travel essentials, and even one type of cell phone, are not allowed on board.
Just like airlines have restrictions on what items can be taken aboard an airplane, cruise ships prohibit certain items for safety and security reasons.
Of course, firearms, weapons and illegal drugs top cruise lines’ prohibited items lists, but further down the lists you’ll find some things that you might not expect to be forbidden on a cruise ship.
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Without fail, passengers have common travel items confiscated at boarding every time a cruise ship sets sail. Although items that are confiscated in the cruise terminal are returned to passengers at the end their cruise, passengers can save themselves some trouble (and space in their luggage) by checking their cruise line’s website for its list of prohibited items before they pack.
Most cruise line’s prohibited items lists are similar and include many flammable and dangerous items, but there are a few things banned by one or two cruise lines that other lines still allow.
If you’re planning to take a Royal Caribbean cruise, you should be aware of these unexpected items that are banned on Royal Caribbean ships.
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1. Royal Caribbean bans power strips
Royal Caribbean does not allow passengers to bring any type of electrical extension cords on its ships. This includes power strips, surge-protected strips and multi-plug outlets.
If you need to charge multiple devices during your cruise, you can do so by packing an adapter with multiple USB ports, however.
On its website, the cruise line states:
“We do allow consumer type power conversion device USB charger (multi-plug blocks on which the outputs are for USB cables).”
But if you bring one of these, you need to make sure it’s “stamped with US/Europe recognized Conformance Marking to demonstrate compliance with electrical safety standards.”
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2. Royal Caribbean bans baby monitors
Many parents who are cruising with babies and toddlers wouldn’t think twice before packing a baby monitor for their cruise, especially when sailing on a cruise line as family-focused as Royal Caribbean. But this is another surprising item you can’t bring on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Baby monitors are not allowed to be used aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships because their radio signal could interfere with the ship’s communication and navigation systems. HAM radios or other transmitting devices are also prohibited because they can interfere with the ship's onboard communication systems.
Passengers are permitted to use two-way radios (walkie-talkies) for personal communications aboard the ship, however, they often don't work that well and many cruisers get annoyed when people use them.
3. Royal Caribbean bans travel steamers
Most cruise lines ban this item, but it’s worth noting because it tends to be the most commonly confiscated item in any cruise terminal.
Naturally, many people want to be able to remove the wrinkles from their clothes when they unpack their luggage in their cruise ship stateroom. But like irons and any other items with open flames or heating elements, travel steamers are a fire hazard and, therefore, are strictly prohibited on a cruise ship.
The only exceptions to the flammable items ban are hair curling irons, straightening irons (flat irons) and hair dryers, which are permitted on Royal Caribbean cruise ships.
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4. Royal Caribbean bans Samsung Galaxy Note 7 cell phones
If you own this type of cell phone, travel by air or by Royal Caribbean cruise is going to be a bit more complicated for you. Royal Caribbean followed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in banning this phone from its ships, just like it's banned from all airplanes because of fire incidents and safety concerns raised by Samsung about this particular device.
On its website Royal Caribbean notes that “In keeping with the FAA guidelines, any guest who is known to be in possession of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 device prior to boarding and refuses to divest him/herself of the device, must be denied boarding.”
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