bringing a GPS on a Norwegian Cruise Line

[+Justin Of Terrytown]

I am going on a 7 day cruise out of New Orleans on the Norwegian Breakaway (Norwegian Cruise Line and I leave on March 31, 2019).  

 

I am planning on bringing my GPS (etrek 20x) with me so I can do some Geocaching while in port.  Have anybody have any problems bringing a GPS with them on a cruise ship with Norwegian Cruise Line?  I did not see it on the Prohibited Items List but I would feel more comfortable double checking with other Geocachers. 

[+TeamRabbitRun]

Why check with us? Anything we say will be conjecture, at best.

 

Check with the Cruise Line.

 

If WE say it's OK and they DON'T, telling them that WE said it was OK won't stop them from pitching it over the rail!

[+schmittfamily]

We took an Alaskan cruise with Norwegian in 2017 and didn't have any issues.   

I openly chatted about geocaching with a number of ship/cruise line personnel so we were pretty blatant about it.

Our room was two floors beneath the bridge and we did a couple caches from our balcony so the captain could see us using a GPS while he was at the helm.

 

I don't know why a cruise line would care.

[+The Jester]

Last year we carried ours on NCL thru the Southern Carribean, and cached on the ABC Islands, Jamacia and Grand Caman without problem.  I think the only problem would be if you stop in Cuba, I understand they are banned there.

[+colleda]

Never had a problem taking our Etrex20s with us. Cuba though, is a no-no.

[+PeoriaBill]

Since it is a receiver and not a transmitter,  should not be a problem.  I used mine on Carnival last year and enjoyed seeing where I was in the vast blue ocean.  Try checking ship speed at various times.  They crank it up at night vs times when people are up and about.  Also, interesting on some of the excursions when you have no idea where you are in relation to the port.  Bon Voyage! PeoriaBill :>)

[+colleda]

I had my GPS on Sea Princess a few years ago when a passenger went overboard on the final night. I was able to see the ships' track back to the search area, it was very precise. I could also see the search pattern made by the ship before it was released by the authorities in Canberra (I can't remember the official title).

As mentioned above, they can be handy for finding your way around a strange city or if a taxi is taking the long way to bump up the fare.

[+Calypso62]

I've been on 5 cruises with my GPS. Never any problems.

[+DerDiedler]

They a way stronger GPS on board anyway

And what would be a reason for not to bring one on board? Tracking the route? Nope, the route is open to public @ marinetraffic.com

They have a list of prohibited items. GPS devices are not on this list. So why to worry?

[+on4bam]

There should absolutely be no reason not to bring a GPS on a ship. Since 1999 I've used my GPS on all travels be it land, water or air. Since GPS receivers are build-in in most phones/tablets there's even little chance someone would check if you have a GPS. It's always nice see the flightpath or boattour track on the map afterwards.

 

[+irisisleuk]

The only thing they really worry about is if you try to bring any alcohol on board.

Never had any questions on any cruise line (we were on a NCL cruise last month) about our gps.

[+2KatzHunt]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 3:17 PM, Justin Of Terrytown said:

I am going on a 7 day cruise out of New Orleans on the Norwegian Breakaway (Norwegian Cruise Line and I leave on March 31, 2019).  

 

I am planning on bringing my GPS (etrek 20x) with me so I can do some Geocaching while in port.  Have anybody have any problems bringing a GPS with them on a cruise ship with Norwegian Cruise Line?  I did not see it on the Prohibited Items List but I would feel more comfortable double checking with other Geocachers. 

We did two cruises in the last 3 months, a Carnival Cruise and an NCL cruise and my GPS was not a problem.  I just put it in my hand carry and sent it through the metal detector and everything was fine.  I find cruising a great way of adding countries to my profile.  Happy Caching!!!

 

[+ecanderson]

Definitely no problem.  My reply in the "You might a geocacher if..." was to say that I often plan shore excursions in new countries around best possibility of scoring a cache along the way.  Makes my wife crazy.

[+ecanderson]

On 1/16/2019 at 4:16 PM, colleda said:

Never had a problem taking our Etrex20s with us. Cuba though, is a no-no.

And while everyone in Cuba agrees that this rule us silly (except the Oficina Nacional de Hidrografia y Geodesia, it seems), the best solution to logging the few caches available in Cuba is a half decent smart phone, pre-loaded with the desired location information. 

 

While the State acknowledges that smart phone location is now as good as a handheld consumer GPS, that doesn't seem to fuss them in the least.  You'll definitely find a TomTom or Garmin in some taxis there, but the drivers usually stick them in the glove box for a traffic stop just to avoid the aggravation of being questioned or fined.

 

A few folks have fought and won with consumer grade GPS units, but only if they had a lot of time to work through the paperwork after having them confiscated at Customs.  Stick with the smart phone.