Power Strips Confiscated

[turquoisesea]

19 hours ago, Croptop said:

For my cruises, I take one of these:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00ALSMFO0

and one of these:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003E46M2Y

and have never had a problem with them being confiscated. Provides me with plenty of outlets without taking up much space.

 

Also handy to have in the airport where plugs can be at a premium. I can pretty much always find someone who's willing to share their outlet when I pull out the the triple tap plug.

Your second link shows the three plug, however that would not have worked in the CB mini suite cabin we were just on. The ONE double outlet by the desk only allowed for the two prongs.  The round (grounding?) prong would not fit. 

[MissP22]

10 minutes ago, turquoisesea said:

Your second link shows the three plug, however that would not have worked in the CB mini suite cabin we were just on. The ONE double outlet by the desk only allowed for the two prongs.  The round (grounding?) prong would not fit. 

But it does fit the outlet for the TV on the shelf. 

[cruisingrob21]

This was left by the previous cruiser in our cabin on our last voyage - it blended in all too easily but worked very well.

 

https://amzn.to/2SBNLuz

 

[palolake]

We've been on 24 cruises and have only had our surge protected power strip taken at embarkation on our last cruise in San Pedro.  I didn't know they prohibited ones with surge protection.  We've purchased a new cube style with no surge protection.

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, palolake said:

We've been on 24 cruises and have only had our surge protected power strip taken at embarkation on our last cruise in San Pedro.  I didn't know they prohibited ones with surge protection.  We've purchased a new cube style with no surge protection.

Was it at least returned on the last day?

[janina]

17 hours ago, voljeep said:

Princess is changing out lamps and replacing them with lamps that have a built in USB port ... at least that's a start...

That will really help instead of having to plug your stuff in by the desk.

[palolake]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Was it at least returned on the last day?

 

Yes.  They mark what they confiscate and give you a receipt to pick it up at the end of the cruise.  But it was a pain how long we had to wait for them to find it.

[Colo Cruiser]

2 hours ago, palolake said:

 

Yes.  They mark what they confiscate and give you a receipt to pick it up at the end of the cruise.  But it was a pain how long we had to wait for them to find it.

San Pedro seems to be pretty strict.

My plug strip was not surge protected. 

I had forgot to put it in my luggage and carried it on and they took it also giving me the claim check.

Security brought mine to my cabin the day before we disembarked.

I have taken that same one on probably 50 of my Princess cruises without an issue.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 7/25/2019 at 4:31 AM, MissP22 said:

Now I'm beginning to wonder if my multi-unit will be denied some day. 

It says nothing about surge protection on the device & it's been OK with security & cabin stewards ever since my DH bought it years ago. 

I suppose we'll continue to sail with it until they say something. 

 Yes, it’s OK until it isn’t. I could have checked it in and then stood in line later to get it but we were in a hurry and unfortunately I didn’t take the time. I’m sure it went into the garbage or an employee kept it. It was new.  Good luck.

[MissP22]

33 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

 Yes, it’s OK until it isn’t. I could have checked it in and then stood in line later to get it but we were in a hurry and unfortunately I didn’t take the time. I’m sure it went into the garbage or an employee kept it. It was new.  Good luck.

If & when it even does get denied boarding my DH will be standing on line to get it back.

With him it's more a matter of principle.

[Hazegreyunderway]

We decided to skip bringing an extension cord for our last cruise on the Grand, and opted for asking the room steward for an extension cord.

 

He brought a 25 ft bright yellow heavy duty construction cord (eye roll).

[Haboob]

49 minutes ago, Hazegreyunderway said:

We decided to skip bringing an extension cord for our last cruise on the Grand, and opted for asking the room steward for an extension cord.

 

He brought a 25 ft bright yellow heavy duty construction cord (eye roll).

...and (I'll bet) only one socket on the end?  😉

[AZJerry]

1 hour ago, Haboob said:

...and (I'll bet) only one socket on the end?  😉

No doubt.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

9 hours ago, MissP22 said:

If & when it even does get denied boarding my DH will be standing on line to get it back.

With him it's more a matter of principle.

I should have 😢

[satxdiver]

We will be sailing out of San Pedro later this year.  For the longest time I took a power strip with the surge protector.  Now with the new electronics I take a 6 port USB adapter.  One outlet at the desk is used for the adapter and one is used for our clock radio.  The power strip is no longer needed.  With our collection of electronics, we use all 6 ports every night.  Being an electrical engineer I do understand their ban on power strips with surge protection.  

[neverbeenhere]

an EE?  You’re kidding, please. 

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, neverbeenhere said:

an EE?  You’re kidding, please. 

Why would satxdiver be kidding about being an EE?

[Globehoppers]

I have not had any problems with voltage converters which include multiple outlets and USB charging ports.  Needed for international travel and works well on every ship/cruise line we have enjoyed.   

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Universal-Converter-Charging-Worldwide/dp/B01E140XWA/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=voltage+converter&qid=1564319246&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

[Outerdog]

2 hours ago, Globehoppers said:

I have not had any problems with voltage converters which include multiple outlets and USB charging ports.  Needed for international travel and works well on every ship/cruise line we have enjoyed.   

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Universal-Converter-Charging-Worldwide/dp/B01E140XWA/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=voltage+converter&qid=1564319246&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

 

That device has a surge protector and must not be used on ships for reasons previously outlined.

 

[cougaraz]

2 hours ago, Globehoppers said:

I have not had any problems with voltage converters which include multiple outlets and USB charging ports.  Needed for international travel and works well on every ship/cruise line we have enjoyed.   

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Universal-Converter-Charging-Worldwide/dp/B01E140XWA/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=voltage+converter&qid=1564319246&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

Right up until the day that it starts a major fire on a cruise ship.  Plugging in a device with surge protection on a ship is a dangerous practice and not worth the risk to your own life or the lives of your fellow passengers.

[lx200gps]

On 7/25/2019 at 4:20 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

San Pedro seems to be pretty strict.

My plug strip was not surge protected. 

I had forgot to put it in my luggage and carried it on and they took it also giving me the claim check.

Security brought mine to my cabin the day before we disembarked.

I have taken that same one on probably 50 of my Princess cruises without an issue.

Interesting. As I understand it, the strip was confiscated by  PORT security at the passenger embarkation security checkpoint? They, not Princess security, then gave you a claim check for having confiscated a "legal" power strip, and Princess security gave it back to you on the last day? Since the power strip was presumably on the "OK" list, why did you not query them right away, ask for it back and not wait until the end of the trip? I have to admit I'm a bit mystified as to how embarkation day security works, as to the division of responsibilities between the port rent-a-cops and Princess security, and why the Princess security folks didn't look at it, realize it was OK, and give it back immediately.

[Haboob]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Interesting. As I understand it, the strip was confiscated by  PORT security at the passenger embarkation security checkpoint? They, not Princess security, then gave you a claim check for having confiscated a "legal" power strip, and Princess security gave it back to you on the last day? Since the power strip was presumably on the "OK" list, why did you not query them right away, ask for it back and not wait until the end of the trip? I have to admit I'm a bit mystified as to how embarkation day security works, as to the division of responsibilities between the port rent-a-cops and Princess security, and why the Princess security folks didn't look at it, realize it was OK, and give it back immediately.

 

The issue here is likely the "realize it's OK" bit.  I'd not be comfortable with returning a "power strip" without opening it up and seeing if one of the doodads inside was a 10¢ MOV or not.

 

I'd not expect ship security to have the time, expertise, or inclination to do such.

[neverbeenhere]

one of the online posted explanations 

 

 

Why can’t I use a power strip from home?

In short, fire is the greatest danger at sea, and these devices may not prevent faults like they’re supposed to. I’ll try and keep this simple so we don’t go off an electronics-engineering deep end (only to be corrected by actual electronic engineers). Your home power strips will certainly work on a cruise ship, but they aren’t safe for a rather ironic reason. The circuit breaker that is supposed to protect you from fire due to short-circuits or overload may not work right on a ship. These breakers generally rely on disconnecting the ‘hot’ wire in your AC circuit, leaving only the neutral and ground wires connected. Because a ship generates electricity in a different way, and has a somewhat different method of grounding, there is a chance that the circuit could become overloaded, but tripping the power strip’s built in breaker will not stop the flow of electricity. If you want to better understand this

[chengkp75]

35 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

one of the online posted explanations 

 

 

Why can’t I use a power strip from home?

In short, fire is the greatest danger at sea, and these devices may not prevent faults like they’re supposed to. I’ll try and keep this simple so we don’t go off an electronics-engineering deep end (only to be corrected by actual electronic engineers). Your home power strips will certainly work on a cruise ship, but they aren’t safe for a rather ironic reason. The circuit breaker that is supposed to protect you from fire due to short-circuits or overload may not work right on a ship. These breakers generally rely on disconnecting the ‘hot’ wire in your AC circuit, leaving only the neutral and ground wires connected. Because a ship generates electricity in a different way, and has a somewhat different method of grounding, there is a chance that the circuit could become overloaded, but tripping the power strip’s built in breaker will not stop the flow of electricity. If you want to better understand this

This is not totally correct.  While the power strip will only disconnect the hot lead, if the neutral wire to the power strip becomes overloaded, the ship's circuit breaker, which does disconnect both power leads, will trip to provide safety.

[Globehoppers]

I once watch a surge protector, attached to the cabin outlet and a computer, actually melt.  The ship's line surged with a voltage spike (this was 1985).  The computer survived without a problem. Good surge protectors work.  Plus, when used with devices that convert AC to DC for power, unlike a device like a coffee maker or hair dryer, they have no effect on ship's power.