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Power strips

Erikamac

By Erikamac,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Tommy3putts

Tommy3putts

Posted
Posted (edited)

There are countless threads on this issue. A quick search will bring up a bunch of them. There is an interesting long one in the Royal Caribbean forum. The answer is it depends. Some power strips are allowed.

 

Here is a link to one in the X forum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2202472

Edited by Tommy3putts
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WrittenOnYourHeart Great Review Rare

WrittenOnYourHeart

Posted
Posted
From what I've read, the power strip is ok as long as there is no surge protection. There is a very good thread in the Carnival forum right now.

 

 

This. A simple multi-plug thing should be ok. But not if it has a surge protector.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Redtravel

Redtravel

Posted
Posted

On my most recent cruise, my plug adapter was confiscated at embarkation. The person who confiscated it said that no extension cords were allowed. It wasn't an extension cord. It was about 3" long. Never happened on previous cruises. It was my 5th cruise this year on Celebrity. Need it for my CPAP machine. I was outraged. After we sailed, I went to security. After much explanation, it was returned. I always preorder distilled water and an extension cord to be in my cabin to be used with the CPAP. I think that the staff on the dock did not know what they were doing. Absolutely outrageous.

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lobster129

lobster129

Posted
Posted
On my most recent cruise, my plug adapter was confiscated at embarkation. The person who confiscated it said that no extension cords were allowed. It wasn't an extension cord. It was about 3" long. Never happened on previous cruises. It was my 5th cruise this year on Celebrity. Need it for my CPAP machine. I was outraged. After we sailed, I went to security. After much explanation, it was returned. I always preorder distilled water and an extension cord to be in my cabin to be used with the CPAP. I think that the staff on the dock did not know what they were doing. Absolutely outrageous.

 

People who travel with a CPAP often need a power strip in hotel room...so it is perfectly logical that you travel with one.

 

Just a reminder for those with CPAPs. Complete Celebrity's "Special Needs" form prior to sailing and you needs will be met more smoothly. By the time we get to our cabin...the extension cord and distilled water are already in the room. The room steward will run the cords and get you set up.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/cruise-activities-special-needs

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sft429

sft429

Posted
Posted
I have the same charger....it's in my laptop bag (I travel a ton) never an issue bringing it on board

 

 

This would be banned on Carnival, evidently with good reason. Does Celebrity have a list of banned items and are surge protectors on it?

 

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/csncoe/docs/safety%20alerts/USCG%20Marine%20Safety%20Alert%2003-13%20Surge%20Protective%20Devices%20Onboard%20Vessels.pdf

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

Posted
Posted

We always carry a lightweight 4 outlet power strip on our trips/cruises and have never had an issue. We pack it in our checked luggage and our strip does not have any type of surge protection. As has been explained in some other CC threads, a surge protector can cause some major issues with the ship's power system (it is complicated, but can actually be a fire hazard). And some surge protectors can also cause RFI interference which can play havoc with the systems on some ships.

 

Hank

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neverbeenhere

neverbeenhere

Posted
Posted

from a Electrical Engineer in the Coast Guard:

 

"I don't know if it explains it well. Basically ships do not use a grounded systems to get 120V. In your house, you have three hole in the outlet. 1 is hot (usually the left), one is neutral (typically the right), and the other in the bottom middle is the ground. if you stuck your hand in all the holes, only one of the holes would shock you (assuming a proper system- who knows how jacked up your grounds and distribution system may be). This is important to understand, only ONE of the conductors can shock you.

Now, let's say that I'm an electrical component manufacturer, and I want to save money by installing an automatic breaker in the protector (like most have). Why would I ever want to install more than just the one on the hot lead? Why waste the money installing a pointless breaker for the neutral line, when I can electrically isolate the entire strip by breaking the one wire?

Now, here it comes! On a ship, there is no "neutral" line in the traditional sense. In a house, you have a grounded center tapped transformer. Now a ship is a big hunk of metal that rusts quickly. You can't have a ground to the hull of the ship (or the ocean), because the electrical potential in the hull would rust the entire ship. very fast. To mitigate this (along with other, more confusing benefits) ship use an UNGROUNDED system. The consequence of this is that instead of having one line that jumps up from -120V to 120V, you now have two lines that are both -60V to 60V. This is really hard to grasp for some people. The two lines are completely out of phase, and that means that when one line is at +60, the other is at -60 (creating a potential difference of 120V). This is how every outlet on a ship is. If you stuck your finger in a ship outlet, 2 of the holes would give you a shock (albeit a little less painful).

Now, let's take your single breaker power strip on a cruise, and plug your toaster into it. Now remember, that third bottom center prong still exists, solely for safety. Being plugged into a normal outlet (surge protector not in the system), if a hot wire inside your toaster comes loose touches the metal shell of the toaster and you touch the shell, bad day. If the shell is grounded to the hull (connections inside the toaster run to that middle bottom wire), the hull is a better conductor than you, and will dissipate the current, until some grumpy electrician onboard hunts your toaster down as the ground in his system (and the culprit who is rusting the ship).

Now take that same instance and plug your grounded toaster into the power strip into the ship system. Right off the bat, the breaker in the power strip trips (and your ground-wire is touching the tripped hot). There is still half of that 120V bumping around in your toaster. Since you have effectively made a new path (hot wire, to the shell of the toaster, through the ground wire, into the hull), that 60V's worth of current will be traveling through your toaster, and into the hull. This would heat up the toaster, and depending on the location of the ground, could melt things and cause fires. Hope you learned something!"

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fantasy51

fantasy51

Posted
Posted

This thread is VERY interesting. I have been taking a power strip on cruises for years. I did not realise there were any potential problems. I put it out on the desk in full view so the steward can see its use. It has never been confiscated.

 

On one cruise (on Cunard) I plugged in my cruise-only power strip and it shorted out the system. I had plugged it into a UK socket and none of the UK sockets worked, though the US ones did. I admit that I quickly hid the power strip and told my steward that there was a problem with the sockets. They were fixed by the time I returned from dinner. This was not a surge-protection strip. My hypothesis was that it had become damaged in transit. Perhaps I had it too close to the top of the suitcase and another case was thrown on top.

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gopro63

gopro63

Posted
Posted

I rather see a surge protector with the pop up, that will stop a issue than the 3 plug extensions that don't have anything at all. I know the devices we use puts a rating out and as long as you are well under the fuse circuit, you hve not a thing to worry, unless a faulty device, that does and can happen go wrong.

 

Ratings are noted on devices

Ratings are noted on extension strip

Ratings are noted on an outlet used

Ratings are noted on the fuse used,

 

and to be safe is best tan be sorry.

 

I always keep under the 10A rating all the time.

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Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises

Posted
Posted
Can we bring them to use in the cabin?

 

For safety purposes, power strips, extension cords, or similar items are prohibited from being brought on board.

 

An extension cord may be provided for medical reasons only. For further information, please contact our Access Department at 1-866-592-7225.

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OzKiwiJJ Great Review Rare

OzKiwiJJ

Posted
Posted
In February they were confiscating them on Solstice. I got mine on though.

 

 

In December, boarding at Auckland, they were letting them on. There was no sign of any checks for them.

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DancerOT

DancerOT

Posted
Posted
This would be banned on Carnival, evidently with good reason. Does Celebrity have a list of banned items and are surge protectors on it?

 

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/csncoe/docs/safety%20alerts/USCG%20Marine%20Safety%20Alert%2003-13%20Surge%20Protective%20Devices%20Onboard%20Vessels.pdf

Interesting as I brought it with me in November on Carnival Pride. As I said in my post, I have never had a problem with it.

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DrKoob "Live from...." Rare

DrKoob

Posted
Posted
If the only reason you need it is to charge electronics, you do not need a power strip but a multi-port USB charger. I use this one -

 

http://www.amazon.com/inStream-SeptimusB-Port-Charger-Smartphones/dp/B00SALFN6C?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00 -

 

It has 7 power ports and is great.

 

DON

 

This is not true if you have a laptop with you. My MacBook Pro will not charge off a USB port.

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