NO Irons Rule ????

[madforcruising]

My asking why comment was to your statement that your iron never has been confiscated.

 

As I said earlier on topics like this I know that many of the people cruising won´t care for the safety of others or themselves.

 

Sorry but the argument of nobody can proove me about the fire hazard and show me statistics about how many fires an iron started is plain dumb to me.

 

There have been fires caused from irons maybe not on a ship, but why do we have to wait until it happens ???

 

It´s always the same someone asks this question and it turns out the same discussion all the time. The ..... people that never will stop to bring their irons and the intelligent ones that won´t bring them.

 

Only thing always amuses me is why people ask these questions and start these discussion although they already know nothing will stop them from doing it anyway the way they want. Stirring the pot would be the matching expression isn´t it?

 

Go ahead ironing onboard, I had my fun and am out of here again.

[Spelling Queen]

Huh? When was the last ship fire caused by alcohol or cigarettes?? Most I have seen were electrical... If either of these were an issue, ships would take more caution, but since the bedspreads won't burst into flames if a cigarette falls on them (the melting would smolder and put out the cigarette, just like in a hotel... they are not highly flammable)... the iron issue is that of an electrical issue. Why do people always bring "smoking" into this? Obviously there is a safety hazard or they would allow them... it's not as if they make money off you ironing in their laundry room...

 

Explorer had a fire caused by teens with smoking and matches less than 3 years ago. See my post above. And, yes, RCI does make money off laundry services. They do NOT have laundry rooms where passengers can do their own cleaning or pressing/ironing.

 

I have nothing against smoking and don't care if they are allowed on cruise ships as long as the smoker is considerate. My point is ONLY the silliness of saying that irons are not allowed because they are a fire hazard when smoking is a greater hazard. Statistically speaking.

[Spelling Queen]

My asking why comment was to your statement that your iron never has been confiscated.

 

As I said earlier on topics like this I know that many of the people cruising won´t care for the safety of others or themselves.

 

Sorry but the argument of nobody can proove me about the fire hazard and show me statistics about how many fires an iron started is plain dumb to me.

 

There have been fires caused from irons maybe not on a ship, but why do we have to wait until it happens ???

 

It´s always the same someone asks this question and it turns out the same discussion all the time. The ..... people that never will stop to bring their irons and the intelligent ones that won´t bring them.

 

Only thing always amuses me is why people ask these questions and start these discussion although they already know nothing will stop them from doing it anyway the way they want. Stirring the pot would be the matching expression isn´t it?

 

Go ahead ironing onboard, I had my fun and am out of here again.

 

 

And there will always be intelligent people who know that facts are what count. If there are no fires reported from irons, perhaps that is because they are not a real hazard.

 

If you want to look at every possible device that COULD cause a fire - I mean why wait til it happens - then we need to ban EVERYTHING electrical - forget those electric razors, what if one should short out? And ban EVERYTHING that could get hot - there go the hot curlers and curling irons. What if you left the curling iron on and the ship actually moved and the curling iron fell off the counter and rolled to the edge of the bedspread? And we must ban anything that could act as an accelerant - whoops there goes all the alcohol on the ship! :eek:

 

Or we could be reasonable and look at what actually causes fires onboard a ship and work on correcting those things first. But that would bring us back to those pesky smoking items and that would never do. :D

 

Why is it that you are so upset about irons but don't say a word about smoking? That would seem a more intelligent "cause" to me.

[Babs66]

Being a fireman's wife, I here all sorts of ways fires start, and believe it cigarettes fall behind from unattended cooking, Irons left on, grills left on, and clothes dryers.

 

Plus, People will still cruise without their irons but not without their smokes and I know the next thing will be then don't cruise, well to cruise lines, there goes half their market.

[GoinCruisin]

These are stories from Maritime records of recent ship fires... have not found one caused by cigarettes, alcohol, or matches... most of them, appear to be electrical in nature... which would make it understandable why the cruise lines don't want to stress the electrical system...

 

April 6, 1997 - A waiter died of smoke inhalation and 991 passengers and crew en route from Florida to Portugal were diverted to Freeport, Bahamas after a fire broke out on the Vistafjord. The fire on the Cunard Line Ldt.'s ship was caused by a short circuit in the laundry equipment. A similar fire broke out in the same area of the ship the previous February.

 

 

- July 27, 1996 - Five crewmen died of smoke and chemical fumes in a fire off the coast of Alaska aboard the Universe Explorer. About 70 of the 732 people aboard were injured. The blaze on the San Francisco-based World Explorer Cruises' ship was believed to have started in the laundry room.

 

- July 6, 1996 - The Golden Princess was towed 60 miles from the northwest coast of British Columbia to Victoria after fire broke out in the engine room during a cruise from San Francisco to Vancouver. About 1,200 passengers and crew were aboard the Princess Cruise Lines' vessel. None were injured.

 

- May 8, 1996 - About 800 passengers and 400 crew were evacuated from the Discovery Cruise Lines' Discovery I in Freeport, Bahamas after a fire broke out in the ship's engine room just offshore. No one was injured. The ship was coming from Florida.

 

- July 22, 1995 - A fire that began in the engine room disabled the Regent Star in Alaska's Prince William Sound, forcing the evacuation of 1,280 passengers and crew. Two people were injured, one with an anxiety attack and the other with a broken wrist. The ship, which was owned by Regency Cruises, was on a seven-day cruise.

 

- June 18, 1995 - The 2,560 passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines' Celebration drifted for two days with overflowing toilets and no running water after a fire in the control room knocked out power. No one was injured, and passengers were transferred to the sister ship Ecstasy and brought back to Miami.

 

- Nov. 30, 1994 - Two elderly passengers died during the evacuation of the the Achille Lauro, which was carrying nearly 1,000 people when it began burning in the Indian Ocean off Somalia. A third died aboard a rescue vessel and a fourth was never found. The fire had broken out in one of the engine rooms of the ship, which was owned by Italy's Starlauro.

 

- July 14, 1991 - The Starship Majestic was towed from the waters off Freeport, Bahamas to Florida after a blaze began in its engine room. About 1,120 passengers and crew were called to their lifeboats and were prepared to abandon the Walt Disney World-owned ship when the crew contained the fire.

 

- March 23, 1991 - The crew of the Finnish Eurosun cruise ship put out an SOS after a fire started off Spain's Canary Islands, but none of the 300 people aboard were injured. The ship, which later entered the port of Las Palmas on its own power, was owned by Europe Cruise Line. - April 7, 1990 - An arsonist's fire killed 159 people aboard the Scandinavian Star en route from Norway to Denmark. An international panel concluded in 1991 that the ship, which had just been sold by the Miami-based SeaEscape cruise line to VR DaNo Lines of Denmark for use in a ferry service, had rotted life boats and missing or insufficient fire alarms. The ship had been certified safe by the U.S. Coast Guard and the London-based Lloyd's Register of Shipping.

 

Sun Vista, May 1999- Engine Room fire

 

Diamond Princess, 2002- Welding work

Windsong, 2002- Engine room

Statenddam, generator room

[johnql]

Here's my take, which I'm sure not everyone will agree with.

 

Smoking and irons are two separate fire hazards. Each has to be considered independently. For purposes of this discussion, let's all agree that smoking is indeed more dangerous than using irons. So what? The two hazards still need to be treated separately. Banning one has nothing to do with the other. Each decision has to be based on: 1) the extent of the danger; 2) the ability to impose and enforce a ban; 3) available alternatives; 4) economic considerations; and 5) consumer resistance to a ban.

 

If a ban were based solely on "the extent of the danger", it would be a no-brainer. Smoking would then be banned. However, you have to take into consideration the other factors. It's probably far more difficult to search for and locate smuggled cigarettes since they contain no metal. Irons are far easier to identify. There is a real practical limitation on enforcing a smoking ban, especially in private, unsupervised areas (i.e., cabins).

 

Cigarette smokers, in general, have no alternatives since they're indulging in an addictive habit. I suppose they could all be forced to wear nicotine patches, but I don't see that happening any time soon. On the other hand, there are many alternatives to ironing (packing differently, Downey spray, steamers, using onboard pressing services, etc.).

 

As far as economic considerations, you need only look at Carnival's experiment with the Paradise, the only mainstream "no smoking" ship afloat until about 2 years ago. Part of the reason the "no smoking" ban was lifted was that there's a strong correlation between smoking and drinking, which generates a significant part of a ship's revenue. Simply put, a smokeless ship generates less income. There's no corresponding negative associated with banning irons. In fact, cynical people like to believe that some cruise lines ban irons in order to force cruisers to use the ship's pressing/laundering/dry cleaning services, leading to additional income.

 

What about consumer resistance? This is by no means definitive, but I believe there would be far more resistance to a smoking ban than an iron ban. Even if the smokers represent a minority on the ship, they would be pretty vocal about a ban.

 

I guess the bottom line is, the cruise line picks and chooses the battles it thinks are worth fighting - in this case, both smoking and irons are probably worth banning. But then, the cruise line has to decide whether such a fight is winnable and the extent of the casualties (e.g., lost customers, lost revenue).

[Babs66]

Well Said (er written) Johnql!!!!

[Merion_Mom]

johnql: Concise, substantive, on point, logical, intelligent, comprehensive. What WERE you thinking?!?!?!?!? :D :D :D

 

Maybe it will be contagious...........

[imsulin]

Amen, Merion Mom!

 

And...then there was the fire on the Carnival Ecstasy!

[Cruising89143]

AMEN! And that is the bottom line for me. When they ban cigarettes on cruise ships then I will leave my iron at home. Or when they give HARD FACTS that prove that irons cause more fires on ships than cigarettes.

 

Otherwise, the cruise lines are just being hypocritical. They won't ban smoking because that will cost them paying passengers and therefore hurt their profits. So they will ignore the very real fire hazard of a lighted cigarette.

 

But these very same cruise lines will discourage or not provide irons for passenger use in the name of "fire hazard" because then they can charge for cleaning/pressing services and increase their profits.

 

It is all about money and profits. Our safety has nothing to do with it. And BTW, I have taken an iron on at least 5 cruises. Left them out on the counters in full view the whole cruise and never had one confiscated. Not saying it doesn't happen but it never has to me.

 

So no matter that RCI has a policy against bringing irons on board you think that you're not included in that rule?

 

Here is your comment on another thread about rules.

 

Either you have rules - for a reason - or you don't. There will always be someone who thinks they should not apply or an exception should be made. Or they are close enough that it shouldn't matter. But you do have to make the cutoffs somewhere. And it is only right that everyone be subjected to those rules and cutoffs equally.

 

Take a look in the mirror and you will see the person that you are referring to in your quote.:rolleyes:

[TaylorgoCruz]

... these very same cruise lines will discourage or not provide irons for passenger use in the name of "fire hazard" because then they can charge for cleaning/pressing services and increase their profits.

 

It is all about money and profits.

 

Totally agree! It is very obvious when there is no self-service laundry facility available on the ship. Have coin-operated washers/dryers become fire hazardous as well? I don't think so.

 

 

 

Taylor

[Spelling Queen]

So no matter that RCI has a policy against bringing irons on board you think that you're not included in that rule?

 

Here is your comment on another thread about rules.

 

 

 

Take a look in the mirror and you will see the person that you are referring to in your quote.:rolleyes:

 

And I stand by both positions.

 

My point here is that the idea of a "fire hazard" is an economically convenient one by the cruise line rather than a real one. To ban smoking would decrease revenue. So they do NOT ban smoking. To supply irons to passengers would decrease revenue. So they do NOT provide irons.

 

It's all about $$$.

 

But the fact of the matter is there is NO rule against bringing your own iron on board. They do not say personal irons are not allowed anywhere in the cruise documents or company literature. If they do ever ban personal irons and state that cearly in their literature, then I will leave mine at home.

 

On the other hand, age cut off rules for AO are very clearly printed in RCI literature.

 

Apples and oranges.

[Cruising89143]

And I stand by both positions.

 

My point here is that the idea of a "fire hazard" is an economically convenient one by the cruise line rather than a real one. To ban smoking would decrease revenue. So they do NOT ban smoking. To supply irons to passengers would decrease revenue. So they do NOT provide irons.

 

It's all about $$$.

 

But the fact of the matter is there is NO rule against bringing your own iron on board. They do not say personal irons are not allowed anywhere in the cruise documents or company literature. If they do ever ban personal irons and state that cearly in their literature, then I will leave mine at home.

 

On the other hand, age cut off rules for AO are very clearly printed in RCI literature.

 

Apples and oranges.

 

Whatever, you seem to twist things to your advantage. Another one of the "me" generation.:rolleyes:

[Spelling Queen]

Whatever, you seem to twist things to your advantage. Another one of the "me" generation.:rolleyes:

 

I am confused as to where I twisted anything. Which facts in my above post do you dispute?

 

Does RCI state that personal irons are not allowed onboard?

 

Does RCI not state the specific age cut offs for AO?

 

As to being a member of the "me" generation, I think that is probably a bit generous of you. I am more of a Baby Boomer generation and worked for everything I have. Sorry to disappoint but there you have it. :)

[DogLover]

Just for some information,

 

I have found a wrinkle spray works as a nice alternative to a travel iron. It takes up less room and weight. Although the clothes certainly don't have that "just pressed" look unless you have the ship press them, the spray does help with minor wrinkles caused by suitcase travel. I purchased it at a store in Phoenix called Organized Living, which I think is a national chain.

 

Hope this helps ...

 

Sharon

[NormanW]

This incident was caused by maintenance personnel using a welder incorrectly to fix a pressing machine (mangle) in the aft laundry room. The fire spread quickly via a dirty ventilation shaft to the moorage deck igniting mooring lines which burned rapidly with great intensity. Of course other anomalies associated with the fire (loss of electrical power, Low Location Lighting (LED), steering and main propulsion) complicated the matters but this can be expected when a vessel catches fire!

 

After the conclusion of the NTSB investigation the welding equipment was updated, ventilation shafts modified and kept clean, etc. This information was disseminated to all cruise lines and corrective action(s) were taken where deemed necessary.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[kenandlaura06]

My take:

 

I hate to iron during my everyday life, so there is NO way I am ironing on my vacation...Downy Wrinkle Releaser and using shipboard services sounds great to me! :)

[mc'smom]

Take the long dresses put them on a hanger, take the bottom of the dresses and roll them upwards.the top part of the dress stays flat...

 

works like a charm maybe one or two tiny wrinkles..

 

If that fails, stand in line at the laundry centre and use the iron on low..

:)

[Babs66]

My take:

 

I hate to iron during my everyday life, so there is NO way I am ironing on my vacation...Downy Wrinkle Releaser and using shipboard services sounds great to me! :)

 

Im with you. And by the way, How does one iron without an ironing board? That alone I would think is a fire hazard.

[Andipanda1]

I am confused as to where I twisted anything. Which facts in my above post do you dispute?

 

Does RCI state that personal irons are not allowed onboard?

 

Does RCI not state the specific age cut offs for AO?

 

As to being a member of the "me" generation, I think that is probably a bit generous of you. I am more of a Baby Boomer generation and worked for everything I have. Sorry to disappoint but there you have it. :)

 

Why not spend 20 minutes packing carefully instead of looking for ways to ignore/bend/rationalize information that is put out there for your safety and comfort? You don't have to spend a cent on laundry services if you pack carefully.

 

There are no rules for candles in rooms, either, but that's clearly a fire hazard.

 

On the Celebrity board, there is news that they have moved the dress code guidelines from "suggested" to "required." I hope this is a trend, and it spreads to other lines--and to other gray areas. I'd hate to see people lose their lives over a pressed shirt, overloaded wiring, or aromatherapy. :mad:

 

Oh, but according to some people's thinking, it hasn't happened yet, so I guess it never will. :rolleyes:

[Andipanda1]

My take:

 

I hate to iron during my everyday life, so there is NO way I am ironing on my vacation...Downy Wrinkle Releaser and using shipboard services sounds great to me! :)

 

The Downy Wrinkle Releaser is great, but steaming stuff in the shower works just as well. We also pack mostly cotton knits, and rayons. The only thing that needs pressing is my husband's tuxedo shirt (we'll get it done at the dry cleaner, but it always needs a touch up (which we send to laundry services for a whopping charge of $3.00 for pressing). I don't take formal wear that wrinkles easily.

[pokyd]

Any iron found in your cabin will be confiscated - it's happened to people I know. And it makes sense. Invest in a steamer if you want to steam wrinkles out of something. Light (empty of water) , cheap to buy, and not a fire hazard.

 

Have some sense people. A fire on board a ship is THE disaster we all hope we never see.

[MM27]

just off the Splendour and I was reading through the book in the cabin that lists everything you would want to know and more about the ship. It stated under the safety reminders to make sure you unplug electrical appliances and specifically listed irons. I've always brought a travel iron with me and I will continue to. I don't spend hours ironing, but I like to do touch-ups. It was left out on the desk the whole week. If you iron and then unplug it when you're done, I don't think there's a fire hazard. I don't think it's going to just combust while I'm by the pool drinking my strawberry daiquiri :p . No Royal Caribbean does not provide them, perhaps they fear that some are not able to use them safely. They don't say anywhere that we can't provide our own.

[Guest OBAYbee]

The OP's question was where does it spell out no irons allowed. I have looked at my documents as merion mom suggested and I see NOTHING about irons not allowed. I do see where they do not provide them but not that they are banned.

Her question wasn't what you thought about bringing an iron but asking to be directed to some place where that rule is posted.

[negc]

 

Does RCI state that personal irons are not allowed onboard?

 

RCI does state in its literature that they do not provide irons because they are a fire hazard. It seems to be a logical extension of that thought that any irons brought onboard by passengers are also potential fire hazards. Must everything be spelled out explicitly and in excruciating detail before you are required to comply? Are you claiming some constitutional right to bring an iron onboard your cruise ship is in danger of being violated?

I don't know that your travel iron will be confiscated but I also wouldn't claim that it won't. There are alternatives available so why insist on skirting the regulations because they aren't worded exactly as you require?