Smart Glasses: Cruise company restricts use on board

The cruise line Royal Caribbean now lists smart glasses as items that cannot be freely used on board on its US website.

(Image: Royal Caribbean)

Feb 12, 2026 at 5:09 pm CET

2 min. read

By

Nico Jurran

The cruise line Royal Caribbean has expanded the list of items that are not allowed on board its ships without announcement by one point in the Q&A section of its US website. In addition to drugs, weapons, fireworks, and alcohol, smart glasses are now also listed. While the company does not completely prohibit their use at this point, it does restrict their use. The relevant section states verbatim (translation by heise online):

“Smart” glasses from various manufacturers that can record video and audio may not be used in certain areas on board the ship, including (but not limited to) public restrooms, youth program areas, medical areas, and the casino.

This wording therefore includes the popular Ray-Ban Meta as well as, for example, Rokid Glasses, as both can record video and audio.

Also applies with prescription lenses

Royal Caribbean also explicitly points out on its website that it makes no difference whether the smart glasses are used as sunglasses or whether they contain prescription lenses. For the latter case, the company recommends bringing an additional “dumb” frame with suitable prescription lenses.

On its US website, Royal Caribbean now lists smart glasses as items that may only be used with restrictions on board its ships. Those who need prescription lenses should bring a "dumb" second pair of glasses.

It will be interesting to see what happens when passengers with smart glasses come on board that only allow audio recording but no video recording and therefore may not be immediately identifiable as smart models. The glasses are easiest to recognize by their built-in cameras.

According to a Reddit user, this is a screenshot of the Royal Caribbean app, which is said to indicate that smart glasses are completely prohibited on board.

(Image: Reddit / catlovingcryptofella)

Some smaller manufacturers also want to offer smart glasses where the integrated camera is only used for object recognition without saving recordings. Such models are likely to cause further discussions.

A user has also posted a screenshot on Reddit of the Royal Caribbean app, indicating that smart glasses are generally not allowed on board.

On Royal Caribbean's Q&A page, which is aimed at customers from Germany, smart glasses are not yet listed among the prohibited items. An answer to an inquiry from heise online whether Royal Caribbean will extend the information accordingly or exempt cruises in Europe from the regulation is still pending.

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