One of the hardest things to do when cabling a Cruise ship is making sure the ship engineers understand that structured network cabling is a technology and not a service.
Back in the day you could push and pull any old computer cable with no bad effects, well those days have gone and now we treat every Cat5/6/7 like a new baby or as good as a fiber optic cable.
To name a few points.
- No more than 25 cables per bundle.
- Loose laying of cables on a cable in a tray.
- Velcro wraps. (Fire Proof)
- Very steady bends.
We understand about fire protection and all the data and fiber cables should be LS/ZH (more expensive).
Cruise Ship Cable Installation Cost
The network and cabling location will be determined by the installation technician while or during the site visit or on-site when the job is started.
Materials cost does not include labor and is a guide to help the project cost and budget for standard cables and UTP.
Cat5, $300 – $450 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat6, $325 – $550 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat7, $450 – $650 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat8, $550 – $1000 per 1000ft Materials only.
You may need to install cable shielding (STP) in some areas, depending on how much risk of electromagnetic interference is present.
Materials cost does not include labor and is a guide to help the project cost and budget for none standard cables and (STP).
Cat5, $350 – $500 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat6, $450 – $600 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat7, $650 – $800 per 1000ft Materials only.
Cat8, $650 – $1300 per 1000ft Materials only.

PoE For Cruise Ship cabling
So this is the place to explain why cabling is a technology, not something you just install over the last Five years POE (Power over Ethernet) has grown to provide up to around 98V across the network cables, so this is why the technology of running cables on a cruise ship is not so easy.

So this is why our work is important to make sure that no level 4 POE cables are in the wrong bundle or area,

Planning is most important and stops bad installations like the below.


Coupled with this we have worked with all the Network cables and had one of the lead roles in the UK in growing the Cat 4 cables into the standard Cat 5 we all worked with over the years, now moving on up to the Cat 7 type which has the own set of installation requirements.
Cruise ships all require the Low Smoke Zero Halogen in the main areas, but other areas can have standard cabling around the office.
We are not connected to anyone suppliers of these to make sure the specification is first then we can use the right cables.
Equally important we could hit you with a very big list of things we sell, use and recommend, but we know every installation is different and we have relationships with all suppliers across the world.
In addition to working around the world and on lots of BIG and small cruise ships, sailed across the pond more times than we can recall, and have a 99% record of getting the job done.
