ice machine

[cardboardcharlie]

where is the ice machine located on the eurdom in the front or the rear

[496and706]

Tell your room stewards that you need ice. They will get it and bring it to your room in the ice bucket that is on the desk.

[jaspersmycat]

The room stewards have access to the ice machines. They will refill the ice bucket in your room daily. IF you need it refilled more often, you should let them know.

 

There are no ice machines available for passengers to get their own ice from.

[maxxboy]

I've never had access to an ice machine on any cruise ship or cruise line.

[cruz chic]

I wish hal had ice cubes like princess instead of the ice chips. They melt way too quickly.

[nana51]

Now all you have to do is track down your steward. We rarely use ice and don't need it filled daily.

[RuthC]

Typically, ice is changed twice a day---at morning cleaning, and evening turn-down. If you regularly need it at other times, give your steward a standing order. If you only need it at other times once in a while, you can call room service.

 

In a pinch, you could also take your ice bucket to the Lido or any lounge, and have it filled.

[Stratheden]

We must have missed something when we travelled on the Zuiderdam last year. We had an ice bucket and there were instructions to ask the steward if we needed ice. But we didn't have anything to put ice in.

 

We ate in the MDR or the Lido, went to the Ocean Bar each evening for a couple of drinks before dinner. What do you use the ice for?

[Shmoo here]

We must have missed something when we travelled on the Zuiderdam last year. We had an ice bucket and there were instructions to ask the steward if we needed ice. But we didn't have anything to put ice in.

 

We ate in the MDR or the Lido, went to the Ocean Bar each evening for a couple of drinks before dinner. What do you use the ice for?

 

You had no glasses in your room? We've always had glasses in the bathroom, as well as on the desk.

 

 

[Stratheden]

Sorry, yes we did have glasses but nothing to put in them.

 

I thought we might have missed some champagne bottles to put in the ice buckets.

 

We are tap water drinkers between meals so we obviously didn't miss anything. Pretty boring when you think about it really.

[Hlitner]

The lack of passenger access to ice machines has long been a minor issue for us. We have cruised on 14 different cruise lines and do not recall any line have ice machines in passenger areas. While it is true that cabin stewards generally replenish cabin ice twice a day, it is usually in the morning when they make up the cabin and again in the evening when they turn down the bed and clean the bathrooms. For us, the problem is that we usually want ice late in the afternoon or early evening when we are in our cabin (getting ready for dinner) and might want to enjoy a cold beverage. At that time, the morning ice is often melted. In such cases one must call room service for more ice and this can take 20-30 min and then we feel obligated to tip the room service steward (I hate to pay for ice).

 

Hank

[CruiseMissives]

What we have learned to do in the morning or early afternoon that makes things a bit easier about the ice situation, is to just fire the whole ice bucket thing into the little cooler ( we have already had on embark the mini-bar removed) as soon as we see that the stewards have already refreshed the cabin. Then we don't have to call anyone for service, or hit the bars with our bucket and the ice chips stay whole and solid for much longer than if they were left on the desk. This makes it nice for our later afternoon pre-dinner cocktails on the balcony (with HAL gin, of course! And our tonic still stays cold in the fridge....)

[POA1]

We've had luck placing a standing order for ice. We travel with Ice Bag wine chillers and ask for them to be filled each afternoon. The ship has wine buckets, but the bags are taller and chill the neck of the bottle better. Very important for Champagne.

Edited March 17, 2014 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

We've had luck placing a standing order for ice. We travel with Ice Bag wine chillers and ask for them to be filled each afternoon. The ship has wine buckets, but the bags are taller and chill the neck of the bottle better. Very important for Champagne.

 

 

Cool!! I like that idea.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We must have missed something when we travelled on the Zuiderdam last year. We had an ice bucket and there were instructions to ask the steward if we needed ice. But we didn't have anything to put ice in.

 

We ate in the MDR or the Lido, went to the Ocean Bar each evening for a couple of drinks before dinner. What do you use the ice for?

 

Sorry, yes we did have glasses but nothing to put in them.

 

I thought we might have missed some champagne bottles to put in the ice buckets.

 

We are tap water drinkers between meals so we obviously didn't miss anything. Pretty boring when you think about it really.

 

 

We do use a lot of ice -- at home, hotels and ships.

On the ships we order alcohol from HAL and have cocktails on our verandah from time to time.

Also when I drink water (lots of it) -- I like it iced.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I've never had access to an ice machine on any cruise ship or cruise line.

 

 

NCL had a ship that they had bought and sold after one year -- Norwegian Crown.

We were on her in 1997 doing a MED cruise and there were various ice machine built into the walls in the hallways. Very handy to get your own ice.

She was originally the Crown Odyssey. Now she is the Balmoral.

[chengkp75]

The lack of passenger access to ice machines has long been a minor issue for us. We have cruised on 14 different cruise lines and do not recall any line have ice machines in passenger areas. While it is true that cabin stewards generally replenish cabin ice twice a day, it is usually in the morning when they make up the cabin and again in the evening when they turn down the bed and clean the bathrooms. For us, the problem is that we usually want ice late in the afternoon or early evening when we are in our cabin (getting ready for dinner) and might want to enjoy a cold beverage. At that time, the morning ice is often melted. In such cases one must call room service for more ice and this can take 20-30 min and then we feel obligated to tip the room service steward (I hate to pay for ice).

 

Hank

 

The lack of passenger access to ice machines is a requirement of the USPH. There are regulations concerning ice machines and sanitation that could not be controlled if passengers were allowed to access the machines. Glass of any kind is not allowed to be used to scoop ice (broken glass is almost indistinguishable from ice), only a dedicated ice scoop may be used, the scoop may not be left in the machine, people getting ice must use gloves, etc, etc. Believe it or not, there is training for the housekeeping staff, wait staff, and bar staff in ice sanitation.

[cruz chic]

We must have missed something when we travelled on the Zuiderdam last year. We had an ice bucket and there were instructions to ask the steward if we needed ice. But we didn't have anything to put ice in.

 

We ate in the MDR or the Lido, went to the Ocean Bar each evening for a couple of drinks before dinner. What do you use the ice for?

 

I use ice for water. It's pretty warm coming from the tap.

[cruz chic]

The lack of passenger access to ice machines is a requirement of the USPH. There are regulations concerning ice machines and sanitation that could not be controlled if passengers were allowed to access the machines. Glass of any kind is not allowed to be used to scoop ice (broken glass is almost indistinguishable from ice), only a dedicated ice scoop may be used, the scoop may not be left in the machine, people getting ice must use gloves, etc, etc. Believe it or not, there is training for the housekeeping staff, wait staff, and bar staff in ice sanitation.

 

There has been many conversations on here about passengers going into the room and getting ice. The thought of that makes me sick because of contamination. Some posters even suggested that the stewards may not be that clean because they probably don't wash their hands before they get ice. Happy to hear there are regulations and hopefully they are followed. Thx for the info.

[Hlitner]

The lack of passenger access to ice machines is a requirement of the USPH. There are regulations concerning ice machines and sanitation that could not be controlled if passengers were allowed to access the machines. Glass of any kind is not allowed to be used to scoop ice (broken glass is almost indistinguishable from ice), only a dedicated ice scoop may be used, the scoop may not be left in the machine, people getting ice must use gloves, etc, etc. Believe it or not, there is training for the housekeeping staff, wait staff, and bar staff in ice sanitation.

 

Thanks for that info. Not surprised that our government has specific rules for cruise ship ice machines (we assume those rules fill thousands of pages of undecipherable gibberish) that does not seem to apply to ice machines anywhere else :). Of course the use of more modern ice machines (now used in many hotels) that have an automatic dispenser (you do not use your hands to touch anything on the machine including the ice) is obviously not the way to go. There is probably another regulation that makes these unworkable :)

 

But alas, there is another option for the cruise lines which are called "Ice Vending machines." These are hygienic, comply with all health requirements, and they can set up these machines to require cash to dispense ice. So the cruise lines could charge $10 for a bucket of ice and increase their bottom line :) They could probably even program these things so that you could just swipe your cruise card and charge the ice to your onboard account

 

Hank

Edited March 17, 2014 by Hlitner

[boards]

When we have been in need for ice and cannot locate the steward, I have gone to the Lido bar and got ice. Not a problem needed the exercise.

[chengkp75]

Thanks for that info. Not surprised that our government has specific rules for cruise ship ice machines (we assume those rules fill thousands of pages of undecipherable gibberish) that does not seem to apply to ice machines anywhere else :). Of course the use of more modern ice machines (now used in many hotels) that have an automatic dispenser (you do not use your hands to touch anything on the machine including the ice) is obviously not the way to go. There is probably another regulation that makes these unworkable :)

 

But alas, there is another option for the cruise lines which are called "Ice Vending machines." These are hygienic, comply with all health requirements, and they can set up these machines to require cash to dispense ice. So the cruise lines could charge $10 for a bucket of ice and increase their bottom line :) They could probably even program these things so that you could just swipe your cruise card and charge the ice to your onboard account

 

Hank

 

The USPH inspectors themselves will tell you that the sanitation requirements that cruise ships are under, are orders of magnitude stricter than any local or state health regulations.

 

The automatic ice dispensers, while I have not seen anything specific in my USPH training against them, would have to use a pushbutton to initiate dispensing, not a pushbar, as this would present possible cross-contamination issues similar to re-using glasses at the drink dispensers. Definitely a possibility, but would have to research a little more to see if its feasible, and also cost effective.

 

I won't pass on your idea of charging for bags of ice, for fear of being accused of nickel and diming people to death.(Though I'm sure the idea has crossed some corporate minds):p

[YubaSutter]

The room stewards have access to the ice machines. They will refill the ice bucket in your room daily. IF you need it refilled more often, you should let them know.

 

There are no ice machines available for passengers to get their own ice from.

 

Maybe I'm the only one who has found a passenger ice dispenser. I take a new gallon sized ziplock bag and fill it from the ice machine in the Lido dining area.