I believe that lot of the respondents are missing some facts here. The captain of the vessel controls the entire vessel. It is HIS domain and his only. He his totally, completely and utterly responsible for the ship (worth million$ of dollars) the crew, and all the passengers. He also holds a licence that if revoked, places him on the unemployment list, and blacklist. If he decides that amateur radio should not take place on his ship, DONE. Not gonna happen. He may not understand it; how to educate him? He, or one of his peers, may have had a negative experience with amateur radio. Again, ain't gonna happen. These incidents may have filtered up to the senior management where they placed a blanket rule that there would be no amateur radio on any of their vessels. Then we have another thing taking place right now in the world, terrorism. If a passenger sees someone on the promenade deck talking on the radio and they freak out, what is the captain going to do? Ban radio. Coupled with that is Homeland Security. You may not be aware how much comms from all areas have come under scrutiny with the looney tunes blowing themselves, and innocents, up. Be glad they have not curtailed amateur radio activity as they had in the past. IMHO, the real thing here is to try to find out why amateur radio has been banned. Then to move on to educate the rule makers. Booking then canceling the trip will not matter to them. That is one mosquito among legions. And may cost you a cancellation fee. =!6^( Please, let us find and deal with facts and let the emotions lie. --- Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side. GEO
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.