Following Royal Caribbean adding multiplug outlets to its banned-items list, Carnival — which still allows those — has expanded its own prohibited-items list.
Popular cruise influencer Tony Barnette shared the point on his La Lido Loca YouTube page.
"I stumbled across a YouTube video that was in my algorithm last night. No Pants Profits. And the host over there, Richard, has a pretty interesting internet tale. He did something that I hadn't heard anybody doing before. He took the new Starlink Mini internet onto the Carnival Miracle," Barnette said.
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The Starlink Mini is a portable version of the satellite internet devices sold by Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starlink. They're about the size of a record album and cost roughly $600.
"So the first video that I see from No Pants Profits, Richard has brought a Starlink Mini onto the Carnival Miracle, and he does a demo of it right there on the Lido deck. He pops out the receiver and he plops it down right next to the pool," according to Barnette.
Richard proceeded to demonstrate how the Starlink Mini works.
"He does a demo and he gets fast internet, faster than what the cruise ship internet is. And it's certainly cheaper than the cruise ship internet. There is a sunk cost into buying the Mini. I don't know if there's a monthly recurring fee, but 600 bucks for the device," he shared.
There is a monthly data fee for the Starlink Mini, which ranges between $50 and $165 based on the user's data needs.
Carnival bans the Starlink Mini
For a regular cruiser, it's possible that Starlink Mini would be cheaper than ship internet, but Carnival has taken steps so that can't happen.
"But yeah, so he works it out, he tries it out. And then in video number two, while things go sour, Richard and his friend at the beginning of the video...reenact when security came and grabbed Richard and took him to the office, (10:06) I think of the hotel director, to the naughty office," Barnette shared.
"And they told him, look, we've gotten word from on high, word from the corporate office that we're gonna have to confiscate your Starlink Mini."
At the time of the video, satellite dish-style devices were not specifically banned. That has changed.
"It now says satellite dish, routers, and other like internet infrastructure pieces," he added.
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Barnette speculated that the devices may be banned because they could interfere with the ship's communications. He also suggested the motive may be financial.
"If someone can bring a less expensive way to use the internet onboard the cruise ship as opposed to purchasing the expensive internet on a cruise ship, then I could see a business being against that. Same reason why you can't just bring a whole bar of alcohol with you. They would rather sell you the drink package," he added.
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