JohnMI

It might be recommended by cruisers but surge protectors are frowned upon by ships because of potential electrical problems with ship's electrical system because, according to one ship's engineer, surge protectors can interfere with the ship's electrical monitoring system.

In my opinion, this is mostly folklore. There simply isn't anything that should be an issue with a small, self-contained surge-protecting device like this that would "interfere" with any of the ship's electrical.

Plus, if it ever DID have to actually work and protect from a surge, it would mean that something VERY WRONG happened with the ship's electrical in the first place!

In other words, they would already have to have a serious problem before an in-room surge protector had any affect on their equipment.

Many, many people have used and are using this very model on hundreds of cruises (per year, probably). There simply isn't an issue.

- John...

This Belkin unit is what many of us use. It's worked on every ship we've been on for years -- haven't been on the Valor -- worked fine on the Conquest. The power prongs can rotate to fit just about anything

 

Hey! For anyone interested, this specific Belkin 3-outlet plus 2-USB surge protector that is often recommended here is Amazon's Deal of the Day (April 6, 2015)! It is the one that provides 2.1amps for the USB ports (instead of the standard 1amp) so that you can charge things like iPhones, iPad, Galaxy phones, and so on that require the higher amperage. And the single plug swivels and locks at ANY position -- which is what makes it so nice for so many cruise ships! You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ATZJ5YS/gtzso-20

Normally it is $21.99 on Amazon -- today it is only $14.99 (shipped for free if you have Prime) -- and that makes it even cheaper than the 1amp version!

I had just bought one for our last cruise about a month ago after it was recommended here and really liked it. So I thought I'd pass around the info on the sale.

It ends just over 13 hours from the time of this posting. Just FYI.

- John...

For those interested, this Belkin 3-outlet plus 2-USB surge protector is often recommended here (especially over in the Carnival section) for cruising -- and it is Amazon's Deal of the Day. It provides 2.1amps for the USB ports (instead of the standard 1amp) so that you can charge things like iPhones, iPad, Galaxy phones, and so on that require the higher amperage. And the single plug swivels and locks at ANY position -- which is what makes it so nice for so many cruise ships! You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ATZJ5YS/gtzso-20

Normally it is $21.99 on Amazon -- today it is only $14.99 -- and that makes it even cheaper than the 1amp version!

I had just bought one for our last cruise about a month ago after it was recommended here and really liked it. So I thought I'd pass around the info on the sale.

It ends just over 13 hours from the time of this posting. Just FYI.

- John...

I just got off the Sensation a week ago. I hadn't been on it before, so I'm not sure what it was like before. Not to be a downer, but I can tell you this, at least:

- They did not replace the carpeting in the rooms. My parents were in a balcony suite and the carpet was clearly stained across half of the room (it looked like it had flooded at some point so half the carpet was permanently stained a darker color than the rest).

- They did not clean the windows. People have complained before about this ship having pretty dirty oceanview windows. It still does. :)

- I did not see any newer looking furniture.

So, I'm not sure what was done in drydock outside of some things mentioned above (which seemed to be mainly things for the kids).

From what I've heard, this ship used to have a lot of neon -- I think some of that may have been removed or re-done, because it did not seem to have that much neon to us.

Don't get me wrong -- we enjoyed the cruise and it was fine. It just didn't seem like a ship that had just been renovated (or even cleaned, for that matter), so I'm not sure what happened to it when it was in drydock.

- John...

Indeed. And he seemed to be saying that it wasn't a temporary thing at all. He made it sound like they made certain changes to the crew area during the recent dry-dock that meant that they wouldn't be doing it any more at all!

Of course, there are often some "language barriers" with those working the desk. So, maybe he did just mean it was temporary -- but that was not the impression I got from him. He certainly implied that it was simply gone -- at this from the Sensation -- because of changes recently made.

- John...

Just to follow up on this... We just got off the Sensation and were NOT able to do this tour -- because Carnival says that it is no longer offered "for safety reasons" after recent changes to the crew area while it was in dry dock a few weeks ago.

I couldn't get any more information out of them.

I've posted a new thread asking if anyone else has heard this or has any more details.

- John...

We are just off the Carnival Sensation and tried to do the Behind The Fun Tour on this trip. We were told that after recent changes to the crew area(s) while in dry-dock, they can no longer offer the Behind The Fun Tour for safety reasons.

(Of course, it is still advertised on the in-room TV all day. :) )

Anyone else see/hear this on this or any other ships recently? Are they phasing out this Tour?

- John...

Id like to know how she looks or what was done as I sail her on the 12th

I'm on that one too! :)

- John...

Booked with Carnival's Groups department.

Apparently, the bride checked and they are now saying this is normal. So, I won't worry about it too much -- but I'll double-check a day or two beforehand to be sure.

- John...

I just want to make sure this is normal since this is my first time in a group. We're on the Sensation on the 12th of this month for a wedding. My room is shown as assigned if I look at my booking info -- has been for weeks now.

Today, I did online check-in and then went to print my documents. The Boarding Pass page says: "Not available at this time, your booking is on hold."

And my Booking Summary page says "Stateroom: TBA" (even though, again, it lists my room (M203) just fine on the web site summary.

We are boarding early (10:30AM) for the wedding before we leave. I assume this is all just because of that, yes?

Note that all of my family that is also going is seeing the same thing. So, I think it is normal -- but just wanted to check before we all try calling to ask Carnival about it. :)

Thanks!

- John...

12- 20 oz or less pp.

Just to confirm, if we have two people (i.e. my wife and I), we could put all 24 bottles of soda into one carry-on, right? I plan to just have one carry-on for the two of us and will check our main bag. So, I just want to make sure that I can put both of our soda limit into one carry-on.

Thanks!

- John...

We cruise on her on March 12th. So, should be a few trips after drydock, at least -- hopefully will be good by then. :)

- John...

Ok -- good to know that I wasn't crazy then. So, looks like the Sensation goes into drydock tomorrow for a couple weeks...

Thanks for the info!

- John...

A few weeks ago, I was sure I saw a post where someone said that the Sensation was going into drydock in February. Now I can't find it. Maybe I'm just remembering incorrectly?

So -- anyone have any info on that? Is Sensation going into drydock in 2015?

- John...

We are on the Sensation coming up in March and selected Any Time dining. I saw it listed that way several times on the Carnival web site.

Today I happened to log in and look and it now says "Late Dining 8:15 PM (Confirmed)".

Any ideas why that would happen? I'm going to call our PVP tomorrow and see what is up, but I thought that I'd ask here about it first in case I'm missing something obvious?

- John...

Cabin M203 high pitched oscilating noise and strong smell of sewage

Doh! We are in that room on the Sensation very soon. Hopefully, the problem was either temporary or specific to the Imagination! :)

- John...

I read recently somewhere else (but can't find it now) that the Sensation is going into drydock this month. Anyone confirm that and know the dates of in and out?

- John...

See above ;)

Thanks! We had a same-time post there and I had missed yours!

- John...

As a vegetarian, I am also curious if they still do this. Anyone done it more recently?

What about on the Fantasy-class ships like the Sensation? Is there an "alternative" Indian option in the MDR on such ships?

- John...

I don't think that will work, unfortunately.

Someone else will need to confirm for the Valor itself, but a lot of the ships have outlets something like this:

That's from a cabin on the Dream and I THINK they are similar for the Valor.

As you can see, there would not be a spot for what you have. That's why so many people do the single-plug (and rotatable) Belkin model shown above.

- John...

People have lots of electronic gadgets these days. Sure, phone use may be expensive on ship so some might not use theirs -- but people are probably MORE likely to use (for a long time) things like Kindles and other book-readers.

So, I see a few reasons to have something like one of these:

1. With just two outlets, you can only charge two things at a time and that is IF you can fit both chargers on at the same time. Sometimes, this is difficult depending on the layout of the two outlets and the design of your chargers. Having something with just USB ports makes the layout of the outlets and the shape of your chargers not an issue.

2. Less things to pack as far as USB chargers go. Bring one outlet to do pretty much everything and you don't have to worry about individual USB chargers.

3. With the outlets not taken up by USB chargers, you can now actually plug something in. I'm fairly particular about my alarm clock, for example, so I actually bring mine and plug it in all the time. Other have night lights or medical equipment or other such things. Nice to be able to charge stuff while still having outlets readily available.

4. Finally, the built-in surge suppressor is a nice added bonus. Ship generated power can fluctuate quite a bit. LOTS of people now have $500+ phones (iPhone 6, Galaxy S5, and so on) and laptops. Even if you don't need any extra plugs, having a surge suppressed plug is likely worth the $21 investment all by itself.

- John...

Yes, that Belkin one pictured above is highly recommend by people on there. Be sure to get the 2.1AMP one though -- so that you can fast-charge things like tablets, iPhones, Samsung S4/S5, and other higher-demand devices.

Here's a direct link to the one at Amazon for anyone interested for convenience: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ATZJ5YS/gtzso-20

It has 3 grounded plugs plus two USB ports for charging. (And it is a surge suppressor just in case.)

They also make a 6-outlet (plus 2 USB) model, but I'm not sure how well it would fit in all ships: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ATZJ606/gtzso-20

And, really, you shouldn't need 6 outlets plus two USB! You'd be pulling too much power anyhow probably.

So, I'd stick with the 3-outlet/2-USB version in the first link I posted. Runs around $21-$22.

- John...

Anyone recently done the Behind the Fun Tour on the Sensation (or another Fantasy-class ship)? Is it still $55 or is it more ($95)? The little I can find officially from Carnival seems to indicate that the tour on the bigger ships is 3.5 hours and is $95, but on the smaller ships it is 2 hours and $55. But, a few random posts here and there that I found when searching indicated that maybe the price had gone up on even the smaller ships to the $95 price?

Also, you can only book this on-board, correct?

Is it sometimes not offered on the smaller ships like the Sensation?

Any tips/recommendations appreciated. Thanks!

- John...

Great! Thanks very much!

- John

(I'm asking this here instead of the Wedding forum because it seems more Carnival-specific and I expect others here are more likely to have been just GUESTS of a wedding and not involved in the wedding party.)

We're going on a cruise in March where a cousin is getting married on the Sensation at Port Canaveral. We will be allowed to board around 10:30AM and have been told that we won't be allowed to go to our rooms until much later (which makes sense and is fine with me, of course).

My question is: what happens after the wedding activities as far as access on the ship goes? In other words, let's say that the wedding is over by noon or so -- and then there is a small reception after.

Will we be able to move about the ship (but not go to our rooms) at that time? For example, could I go to the counter and book an excursion?

Also, anyone have an idea of what time we would be allowed to go to our rooms?

Thanks for any info!

- John...