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power strip

Barbara H

By Barbara H,
in Princess Cruises

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Barbara H

Barbara H

Posted
Posted

I searched and found different answers.  Are we allowed to bring a power strip with 3 outlets, and 2 USB ports?  It does have a surge protector.  With 2 people, cameras, phones,  an extra phone power bank and I pads we tend to have a lot charging.  Thanks so much!

 

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Thrak

Thrak

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, Barbara H said:

I searched and found different answers.  Are we allowed to bring a power strip with 3 outlets, and 2 USB ports?  It does have a surge protector.  With 2 people, cameras, phones,  an extra phone power bank and I pads we tend to have a lot charging.  Thanks so much!

 

 

No. If it has a surge protector then you are not allowed to bring it on the ship.

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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

Posted
Posted

Thrak is absolutely correct, anything with a surge protector is a fire hazard due to peculiarities of ship-board wiring systems. They aren't fire hazards on land.

 

We use an octopus power strip (Google it) as its unique design allows you to plug in all sorts of oddball chargers without covering up more than one outlet.

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skynight

skynight

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Posted

As mentioned no surge protectors. Not really a fire hazard. Here is the technical reason from chengkp in the past.

"In order to monitor the condition of electrical equipment onboard, there is a single connection between the current carrying conductors and ground (hull), which has a fixed resistance on it, and a meter. Any accidental ground anywhere on the ship will change this resistance to ground, and show up on the meter as a low insulation resistance. Most surge protectors divert voltage surges to the ground wire, so these will show up as alarms in the engine room as low insulation resistance."

From the FAQ's

  • *Electrical devices such as small fans, power strips, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, and extension cords without surge protectors are allowed on board when used with proper caution. However, if such devices are determined to pose a hazard they will be removed and returned the last day of the cruise prior to disembarkation.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, skynight said:

As mentioned no surge protectors. Not really a fire hazard. Here is the technical reason from chengkp in the past.

"In order to monitor the condition of electrical equipment onboard, there is a single connection between the current carrying conductors and ground (hull), which has a fixed resistance on it, and a meter. Any accidental ground anywhere on the ship will change this resistance to ground, and show up on the meter as a low insulation resistance. Most surge protectors divert voltage surges to the ground wire, so these will show up as alarms in the engine room as low insulation resistance."

From the FAQ's

  • *Electrical devices such as small fans, power strips, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, and extension cords without surge protectors are allowed on board when used with proper caution. However, if such devices are determined to pose a hazard they will be removed and returned the last day of the cruise prior to disembarkation.

Surge protectors are also a serious fire hazard.  Because of the floating ground system described above, if an outside light fixture on the bow of the ship fills with water and grounds out, it will not trip its circuit breaker, but will provide a path for current to the ground wire, which will return to the main wiring via any path it encounters.  The MOV's in surge protectors are not made to accept that the voltage in the ground may be higher than the voltage in the power legs of the power strip, and will fail and go into "thermal runaway" and melt the power strip.  This is why even a brand new surge protector, fresh out of the package, can fail when plugged in, because of a ground at the opposite end of the ship, and possibly from a 440v source.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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30 minutes ago, Ereggae said:

These two items were recommended on this board:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BHVKPC3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J44PV2B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would be somewhat wary of the "Cruise On" power strip.  When it was first introduced, it claimed to be "non-surge protected", yet their own photos showed the back of the unit, and it had a "VPN", or "Voltage Protection Rating", which is a measure of how well a surge protector works.  When queried about this, they claimed the ad copy was old, and the units did not have surge protection.  Anyone who buys one of these needs to check to see if there is a VPN on the back, and if so, don't use it on a ship.

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brisalta

brisalta

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Barbara H said:

I searched and found different answers.  Are we allowed to bring a power strip with 3 outlets, and 2 USB ports?  It does have a surge protector.  With 2 people, cameras, phones,  an extra phone power bank and I pads we tend to have a lot charging.  Thanks so much!

 

 

In case you are not aware Princess has swapped out the bedside table lamps for new models that have USB charging ports.

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jpom18

jpom18

Posted
Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, MustangGT said:

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerPort-Overload-Protection-Ultra-Compact/dp/B07D25RSWX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9XC7BKUND561&dchild=1&keywords=power+cube+charger&qid=1626908661&sprefix=power+cube%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-1

 

This has been our go-to for our last few cruises.  Works great!

I have one of these as well (I got mine early last year for something completely unrelated to cruising and of course haven't been able to take it on a ship yet).  I thought about taking it on my next cruise and I know it says it is Cruise safe, however the Amazon Canada site states "To preserve space, PowerPort Cube features surge protection, but cannot protect devices from damage caused by severe electrical storms.".  This does not appear on the US amazon site, even though they are the same product, or the Anker site.

 

I have a strip that has a built in breaker, it trips if my items draw too much and can be reset, but it does not have surge protection.  I don't know if the Overload Protection/Surge Protection they refer to in the product info is actually some sort of breaker or if it actually has some form of surge protection.  I love Anker's stuff but sometimes their product descriptions aren't the best.

Edited by jpom18
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MustangGT

MustangGT

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, jpom18 said:

I have one of these as well (I got mine early last year for something completely unrelated to cruising and of course haven't been able to take it on a ship yet).  I thought about taking it on my next cruise and I know it says it is Cruise safe, however the Amazon Canada site states "To preserve space, PowerPort Cube features surge protection, but cannot protect devices from damage caused by severe electrical storms.".  This does not appear on the US amazon site, even though they are the same product, or the Anker site.

 

I have a strip that has a built in breaker, it trips if my items draw too much and can be reset, but it does not have surge protection.  I don't know if the Overload Protection/Surge Protection they refer to in the product info is actually some sort of breaker or if it actually has some form of surge protection.  I love Anker's stuff but sometimes their product descriptions aren't the best.

Hmmmm. We have taken our on several cruises and have not had any issue.  One would think the same descriptions would apply regardless of which country you are from.  Why are things so confusing?? 🙁

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kokopelli-az

kokopelli-az

Posted
Posted

From the Princess website under Prohibited Items:

 

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), Ham radios, transformers, lasers, laser pointers, electric extension cords with surge protectors*.

 

*Electrical devices such as small fans, power strips, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, and extension cords without surge protectors are allowed on board when used with proper caution. However, if such devices are determined to pose a hazard they will be removed and returned the last day of the cruise prior to disembarkation.

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