Why do we need to take a cell phone charger?

[winowino]

We're packing to go on our very first cruise! Ocean Princess, Alaska. We are also new smartphone users, iPhone 5s. We can't figure out why everyone takes phone chargers. We just plug ours into our wall charger at home every night. Will e not be able to do that on the plane and cruise ship?

[AdoraBelle]

Slightly confused by question. What do you mean by "phone charger" exactly?

 

If you mean an extra battery pack, I bring a lipstick-sized one in case of emergency (it's also a flashlight).

 

If you mean a USB power hub, outlets on cruise ships can be quite limited, so a hub can provide the ability to charge more small devices at once.

[josher_m]

For us we will use them for camera as well, which will drain the battery. Cell phones mostly don't last a full day, even with minimal use, ime, no matter what they advertise.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[AdoraBelle]

Also, since you say you're new Smartphone users, you know about putting your phones in Airplane mode, right? Otherwise you may incur VERY high roaming and data charges, as your phone will link up with cell towers right on the ship (and elsewhere). This is a slightly complicated topic, but if you're not sure you want to dig into it, airplane mode is your safest bet. (Some are going to follow up now and tell you just to turn the phone off, but they can be nice for other things, including as cameras.)

[fishywood]

I too am mystified as to what other "phone charger" aside from the AC cord the OP is referring to.

 

As well as by the OPs choosing to charge a phone with a brand new battery every night. My Android is nearly two years old, I have never plugged it into the charger until seeing the low battery indicator and it still goes 3 to 4 days between charges unless I use a lot of public wi-fi. Normal data usage should never require daily recharging unless the battery or charger is defective.

Edited April 21, 2016 by fishywood

[AdoraBelle]

It's possible you mis-understand how modern lithium battery charge cycles work.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/no-charging-your-iphone-overnight-does-not-destroy-the-battery-10509096.html

[zqvol]

We're packing to go on our very first cruise! Ocean Princess, Alaska. We are also new smartphone users, iPhone 5s. We can't figure out why everyone takes phone chargers. We just plug ours into our wall charger at home every night. Will e not be able to do that on the plane and cruise ship?

 

 

The simple answer is don't expect to find any built in USB ports to charge your devices. You will likely need a charger to plug into a traditional socket. My experience is that the USB chargers on planes do not put out enough power to effectively charge an iPhone. A brick is not that big, and it is better to be safe than sorry.

[cb at sea]

If you have a charger, and want to use your phone, bring it. It's a cord that plugs into a wall outlet and your phone. Much easier than trying to charge from a laptop....and there is NO other way to do it on the ship.

[CruiserBruce]

Our phone charger is the same one we would use to charge a tablet. So we obviously bring two for that purpose- as DW and I both have tablets and phones.

[GUT2407]

No idea what you mean.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I have to agree with others that this is confusing. If you're plugging it in every night, isn't it the charger you're plugging in? I have an iPhone 6 and the only way I can plug it in is with the charger...

[Essiesmom]

I also hope the OP is able to find his ship, as the Ocean Princess is no more, having been sold to Oceania and will soon be sailing as Sirena. EM

[nikkiw60]

We don't turn phone to airplane mode (unless on a plane) we just turn data roaming off and then you can still phone or text.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Keith1010]

Think of it as the same. You bring your cord and you are charging your phone.

 

Keith

[donaldsc]

The only thing that makes sense is the the OP has some wall sockets with USB ports built into the socket. The ship obviously does not have that although it would not be bad if they added these on a drydock renovation.

 

DON

[lisiamc]

Because there are so few electrical outlets in the average cruise ship cabin, I bring a USB hub on board so that we can charge two iPhones, an iPad, a Kindle and two cameras.

 

OP, you'll probably be just fine with a regular one-at-a-time wall charger, but when you want to plug in both phones and the hair dryer at the same time, you might see why a hub is a good idea!

[SadieN]

Do not take anything with surge protection. That's for land and a fire hazard onboard.. Ships are grounded differently.

Edited April 21, 2016 by SadieN

[thinfool]

I also hope the OP is able to find his ship, as the Ocean Princess is no more, having been sold to Oceania and will soon be sailing as Sirena. EM

 

Thank you....I was about to say the same thing.

[mferranti]

We're packing to go on our very first cruise! Ocean Princess, Alaska. We are also new smartphone users, iPhone 5s. We can't figure out why everyone takes phone chargers. We just plug ours into our wall charger at home every night. Will e not be able to do that on the plane and cruise ship?

You'll need a very long cord if you want to plug your phone into your wall charger at home while you're on a cruise ship.

[cruiseonthebrain]

I also hope the OP is able to find his ship, as the Ocean Princess is no more, having been sold to Oceania and will soon be sailing as Sirena. EM

 

Funny :-)

[Treven]

I too am mystified as to what other "phone charger" aside from the AC cord the OP is referring to.

 

As well as by the OPs choosing to charge a phone with a brand new battery every night. My Android is nearly two years old, I have never plugged it into the charger until seeing the low battery indicator and it still goes 3 to 4 days between charges unless I use a lot of public wi-fi. Normal data usage should never require daily recharging unless the battery or charger is defective.

Mine, as well, goes several days without needing to be recharged; but not until the phone battery indicator shows it needs recharging, or when the phone goes into low-power mode. Actually tho, I don't recall my iPhone 6Plus having a phone charger, just the "lightening to USB" connection cord; I simply plug it into the USB port on a small power strip I use at home.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Treven

[Extra Kim]

If you have a charger, and want to use your phone, bring it. It's a cord that plugs into a wall outlet and your phone. Much easier than trying to charge from a laptop....and there is NO other way to do it on the ship.

 

Well are you sure about that? If the cabin has a flatscreen tv you might be able to use that to charge anything that can be charged by an USB outlet.

[zqvol]

Well are you sure about that? If the cabin has a flatscreen tv you might be able to use that to charge anything that can be charged by an USB outlet.

 

There are no available ports on any of the TVs.

[CapeCodCruiser]

I keep waiting for the OP to come back and 'splain!

 

I do not know how some of you get days on a charge. Mine even new (S6 Edge Plus) needs charge after hours not days. I do have MANY things running all the time and frequently am in a low signal area which also uses up battery.

[4x4bob]

To Answer OP's question using our unfortunate experience as an example.

 

We only took the wife's Cell phone with us which we planned to leave in the ship safe. We figured we would have it Just In Case.

 

Just in case occurred and we found out that we had forgotten to pack the charge cord.

 

We missed the ship and need to make several phone calls. First to notify Princess, which was after Hq closed down for the day, so we had to contact the call center in India. On/Off the phone for over an hour.

 

Called back home to have family do a computer search for us to find us a Hotel that we could wait in to catch up to the ship.

 

Had to contact the Hotel in different country, Mexico, to make Hotel reservations.

 

Had to contact Princess again the next day to straighten out the mix up on our new flight reservations. By that time the phone charge was almost done and phone was about to shut down.

 

What saved us was the fact that the Hotel we stayed in the first night loaned us a charge cord.

 

Our next cruise both of us verified that the phone charge cord was in our luggage.

 

Bob