Lasers Prohibited Aboard Cruise Liners?

Hi everyone -

I'm going on a cruise with my fiancee in a few days, and I thought it would be really neat to bring some lasers aboard so I can take some beamshots over the ocean (my fiancee being an amateur photographer). I checked online, and it turns out that lasers are prohibited aboard most cruise liners!

Anyone have any idea as to why this is the case? Obviously, it's probably due to irresponsible parties using them incorrectly, but really, besides people aboard, who will get hurt? If the concern is people aboard, then lasers should not be allowed anywhere, because people aboard can get hurt just as easily as anywhere else. Any ideas?

It may be due to the company being held responsible if a passengers uses it to target aircrafts, boats or people on land.

Enjoy your trip!

-Alex

Prohibited or Illegal?

Trendkilla254 said:

Prohibited or Illegal?

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Doesnt make much difference, if they see you shining a laser off the back of the boat it will all most certainly be confiscated and you may be reprimanded or worse. On the ships they have people on watch 24 hrs a day keeping an eye out for eg dangers or other vessels (esp smaller craft with out AIS) that might not be spotted too easily on the radar.

Aside from the risk of flash blinding, passengers, other boats, people in ports and the associated liabilities etc, lasers are sometimes used by small craft to signal distress and this could also cause confusion.

BTW the movement of the boat, will probably mess up any longer exposure shots... Perhaps wait until you are on some deserted island one evening and take some nice startrail and laser pics! :beer:

The reason I ask is if it is prohibited you might be able to request special permission for photography purposes or something along those lines. Maybe write a letter requesting an "appointment" or time and date so you could setup a "photo shoot" type event or something.

grainde said:

Doesnt make much difference, if they see you shining a laser off the back of the boat it will all most certainly be confiscated and you may be reprimanded or worse. On the ships they have people on watch 24 hrs a day keeping an eye out for eg dangers or other vessels (esp smaller craft with out AIS) that might not be spotted too easily on the radar.

Aside from the risk of flash blinding, passengers, other boats, people in ports and the associated liabilities etc, lasers are sometimes used by small craft to signal distress and this could also cause confusion.

BTW the movement of the boat, will probably mess up any longer exposure shots... Perhaps wait until you are on some deserted island one evening and take some nice startrail and laser pics! :beer:

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On the water from another ship or boat, it could easily cause confusion about the ships navigation lights if the other vessel couldn't tell it was a laser, and that would be very dangerous.

By the navigation lights you can tell what direction a vessel is moving, or if they are anchored.

Distress signals are: a strobe light, flares, orange smoke, and dye markers.

Alan

Buy your own boat to take the photographs

Constandinos97 said:

Buy your own boat to take the photographs

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Good advice, he could have for the price of two people going on a cruise, but he lives in Arizona, not a place where you would normally own a boat. :crackup:

Alan

I totally understand this. Theres a lot less pollution in the air over the water, making it much, much clearer and your laser will go a lot further than expected. Theres a very high possibility that you could accidentally hit a ship very far off that is following a similar path.

Also cruise lines are extremely concerned about safety. A laser is technically a weapon. Its a fire hazard in your room, which they take very seriously. I watched one of the people a few rooms down the hall from me get detained for smoking in his room.

That and if youre taking beam shots off the deck, which would probably be the top stern deck, theres a extremely high possibility that there WILL be a fair amount of people standing out there unless you go out way late, and even still, theres kids running around. Thats just based off of my experiences. Kids and couples still walk the decks well after midnight.

I highly doubt that youd get any sort of special permission unless your fiancee is some sort of registered or some sort of certified photographer.

That being said, im sure that they just dont want to have to deal with the risks, because in this risk vs reward situation, its all risk and ZERO reward. I agree with their decision wholeheartedly. I wouldnt want someone pointing a high powered laser around when i was unaware of it, even though i know youd be more responsible than that.

I wouldnt bring them, too much people and u never know whos watching, like said a ship has many people that works there u cant really shine lasers there and expect nobody to see it..

Perhaps if you brought a small <5mw one it might not be a problem. I have done that with Norwegian before and they approved it after I showed them the extremely weak output.