Can you land your private helicopter on Viking Line cruise ships?
Helicopter taxi services are everywhere near the baltic coasts. Can you take a helicopter taxi to a Viking Line cruise ship en route? Or is that not allowed? Are only ambulance helicopters allowed to land on the ships?
I recently asked a Viking Line customer service agent who gave me a quick "no" as an answer but I guess they're not trained to answer this type of question so I wonder what the real answer is if it's something else?
Best Answer
The answer is yes you can and no you may not. Like another answer states, it is about permission and capabilities. They probably have the capabilities for the sake of emergencies. They don’t allow it for the sake of practicality.
Cruise ships contain a lot of guest. A lot of paying guests. A lot of paying guests who don’t own helicopters. Helicopters are extremely noisy. The engines alone can be ear piercing even from a distance. The rotor blade noise adds to that. That is not conducive to a relaxing cruise. Allowing a non-emergency landing for the sake of one guest would not be tolerated. If you have the bird, book your own private boat. They can at least take you to shore where there will probably be a heliport.
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Can you land a helicopter on a cruise ship?
Landing a helicopter is one of the most dangerous things one can do on a cruise ship. A cruise ship captain will only allow it to happen in the most dire of medical emergencies.Where does a helicopter land on a cruise ship?
Many cruise ships have helipads built on them but does that mean a helicopter can land on them for tourist flights as well as medical evacuation? Helicopters mostly hover over the helipad on ships to embark and de-embark passengers in emergency medical situations only.Can a helicopter land on a moving ship?
Abstract. A vision-based control law has been developed and applied to a helicopter landing on a moving ship at sea. A compensation of the ship platform motion due to the waves has been provided as well, obtained through an estimation of the platform velocity.Where is helipad on cruise ship?
The helipad on Freedom of the Seas is located on the bow (front) of the ship and during sailaway, Royal Caribbean permits guests access to the helipad.The 10 Most Dangerous Cruise Ports For Cruise Ship Passengers
More answers regarding can you land your private helicopter on Viking Line cruise ships?
Answer 2
Technically helicopters can land (well, almost), but Viking Line says that
In more serious cases we can use helicopter transport or evacuation boat.
Answer 3
It's no big deal to have a chopper on a cruise ship, example:
http://travelweekly.com/Blogs/Dispatch/Riding-the-helicopter-on-the-Scenic-Eclipse
($400 a flight)
It's unlikely that the specific cruise brand asked about would have this service, or, it would be widely advertised. Like the other answerers, I have no factual information on whether the specific cruise brand asked about would have this service.
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Images: Antonio Prado, Allen Beilschmidt sr., Athena, Milada Vigerova