Power board and adaptor question for QE

[Mel_Oz]

Hi folks, I'm booked to travel on the QE in October with my dad. We both love our electronic devices and are worried there won't be enough charging ports in our cabin. I know some cruise lines allow you to bring non-surge protected power boards on. Does Cunard? Also what sort of adaptor will I need for my Aussie appliances?

(Experienced cruiser, but first time on Cunard)

[Bigmike911]

Cunard discourages power boards as a fire risk. There will be 110 US style plugs and 220 UK style. most electronic devices can use either. Buy a couple of two flat pin US and a couple three pin UK and you should be fine.

[Mel_Oz]

1 hour ago, Bigmike911 said:

Buy a couple of two flat pin US and a couple three pin UK and you should be fine.

Thank you Bigmike911!

[sfred]

Hi @Mel_Oz.  A QE Britannia cabin has six power points.  Four are in a row at the back of the writing table (2 US, 1 UK, 1 European) and two are adjacent to the hot water kettle (2 US) and used by the kettle although you can swap the kettle out if you need to.  No Aus/NZ power points, unfortunately, so you'll need adaptors.  Also no USB.

 

Photo of the desk power is below.  Best wishes for your voyage!

 

[majortom10]

15 hours ago, sfred said:

Hi @Mel_Oz.  A QE Britannia cabin has six power points.  Four are in a row at the back of the writing table (2 US, 1 UK, 1 European) and two are adjacent to the hot water kettle (2 US) and used by the kettle although you can swap the kettle out if you need to.  No Aus/NZ power points, unfortunately, so you'll need adaptors.  Also no USB.

 

Photo of the desk power is below.  Best wishes for your voyage!

 

Link doesnt work.

[Mel_Oz]

11 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Sadly the photo didn't come through but thank you so much for the trouble you took.

On 1/22/2022 at 5:23 PM, sfred said:

Hi @Mel_Oz.  A QE Britannia cabin has six power points.  Four are in a row at the back of the writing table (2 US, 1 UK, 1 European) and two are adjacent to the hot water kettle (2 US) and used by the kettle although you can swap the kettle out if you need to.  No Aus/NZ power points, unfortunately, so you'll need adaptors.  Also no USB.

 

Photo of the desk power is below.  Best wishes for your voyage!

 

 

 

11 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Link doesnt work.

 

11 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Link doesnt work.

 

[sfred]

Retrying

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by sfred

[Ranchi]

On QM UK sockets are fairly close to the desktop level and sometimes struggle to accept leads which are fitted with reinforcements to limit tension between the flex and the plug. 

[P2l]

Is that an Ethernet port or a 2nd phone socket next to where the phone is plugged in?

[sfred]

5 hours ago, P2l said:

Is that an Ethernet port or a 2nd phone socket next to where the phone is plugged in?

 

It is an RJ45 ethernet port, but I don't think it has ever been active. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Sometimes the outlet is too low to the desk for my camera battery charger to fit. Is an ordinary extension cord okay? Or maybe a "squid?"

Edited January 24, 2022 by 3rdGenCunarder

[BigMac1953]

They don't "discourage" trailing sockets, they BAN them.

[lissie]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:56 AM, Mel_Oz said:

Hi folks, I'm booked to travel on the QE in October with my dad. We both love our electronic devices and are worried there won't be enough charging ports in our cabin. I know some cruise lines allow you to bring non-surge protected power boards on. Does Cunard? Also what sort of adaptor will I need for my Aussie appliances?

(Experienced cruiser, but first time on Cunard)

Are you coming back from Barcelona to Oz? I'm on that cruise too. 

 

When I've taken QE in the past out of Sydney they had one (!) adaptor for Au /NZ plugs - but I doubt  it automatically for non-Australian home ported cruises. 

 

If you are like us we have finally got to the point that everything except one laptop can be powered off a USB - so look for a travel USB plug which includes different plug adaptors. BUT be careful  - you do NOT want to plug into the US port - its only 110V so  everything takes 2x as long to charge. You want to use the UK or EU plugs (220V). 

 

Be careful though - there is very little clearance below the plugs on the desk - so you want something compact - I like the look of this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M3SFWKB/ - but I need USB C charging you may or may not.  I have an older one which is similar shape/layout to this Amazon.com: Travel Adapter, Universal Plug Adapter for Worldwide Travel, International Power Adapter, Plug Converter with 4 USB Ports, All in One 3.0A USB C Wall Charger AC Socket for EU UK AUS Asia Phone Laptop : Cell Phones & Accessories - and it was too big to have USBs plugged in - as it was hard against the desk. 

 

BTW assume you'll have very, very little connectivity at sea - the wifi is beyond bad and charged for by the minute!  

[Mel_Oz]

4 hours ago, lissie said:

Are you coming back from Barcelona to Oz? I'm on that cruise too.

We are! assuming all goes well and Aussies don't get locked out of Barcelona and ships can come back to Oz. Maybe we can catch up 🙂

 

Thanks for the advice about the UK plug. I have a lovely little 4-USB hub from Kogan that has adaptor plugs and can clip in upside down: that should take care of the ipads and maybe the camera. Dad loves his laptop so we will definitely have an adaptor for that.

 

I also bought a nice little solar-recharge power bank for daytrips. That one in Egypt with 3 hour each way connections to the Valley of Kings will definitely be a drain on the phone/ipad)

[lissie]

Oh I 

2 hours ago, Mel_Oz said:

We are! assuming all goes well and Aussies don't get locked out of Barcelona and ships can come back to Oz. Maybe we can catch up 🙂

 

Thanks for the advice about the UK plug. I have a lovely little 4-USB hub from Kogan that has adaptor plugs and can clip in upside down: that should take care of the ipads and maybe the camera. Dad loves his laptop so we will definitely have an adaptor for that.

 

I also bought a nice little solar-recharge power bank for daytrips. That one in Egypt with 3 hour each way connections to the Valley of Kings will definitely be a drain on the phone/ipad)

Surely to Gawd - Spain has been open fairly  consistently - but we will need cruise ships back in Australia for her to relocate! 

 

There are a couple of relevant Roll Calls running 

 

[Victoria2]

 

I don't know if this is a fleet wide innovation or even ship wide, but on QV on our last cruise before lockdown, Sept'19, the plug sockets had been inverted so the problem of being too near the desk/work surface wasn't a problem.

[phillipahain]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:50 AM, Ranchi said:

On QM UK sockets are fairly close to the desktop level and sometimes struggle to accept leads which are fitted with reinforcements to limit tension between the flex and the plug. 

Theres only one UK socket available on QM thanks to phone being plugged into the other one ...and yes the plugs are way too close to the desk although on a previous cruise the electrician did come and turn the socket the other way up ...quite why Cunard has not had commonsense to do this in every cabin i cant understand but its the same as the stupid pull out rail in the single wardrobe the gliders are broken or missing but they have not changed it to a standard rail 

[Underwatr]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:31 AM, BigMac1953 said:

They don't "discourage" trailing sockets, they BAN them.

I know about the issue with surge-protected sockets, but I haven't seen a ban on unprotected types in writing or in practice. I have a small travel extension with four US outlets and a six-inch cord (sadly no longer manufactured). No issues on several lines.

[BigMac1953]

55 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

I know about the issue with surge-protected sockets, but I haven't seen a ban on unprotected types in writing or in practice. I have a small travel extension with four US outlets and a six-inch cord (sadly no longer manufactured). No issues on several lines.

From Cunard's FAQ's:

 

All guests taking electrical medical or mobility equipment onboard will be required to take their own extension lead with them and are not permitted onboard unless being used with essential equipment (e.g. CPAP and nebuliser machines or aid to mobility). Extension leads will be checked for electrical safety prior to sailing.

Surge protected extension leads are not accepted in any circumstances as they interfere with the ship's electrical distribution.

[frankp01]

2 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I have a small travel extension with four US outlets and a six-inch cord (sadly no longer manufactured). No issues on several lines.

I have something very similar, and have never had an issue with bringing it aboard. I've assumed that it's so small it doesn't get flagged. Funny thing, I had just done a web search today to see if it was still made. I believe mine is from Monster, and it's no longer available either.

[Underwatr]

10 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

I believe mine is from Monster, and it's no longer available either.

That's the one I have. I've never considered it an "extension" since the cord is so short.

On HAL one of the few outlets in the cabin had a regular molded "cube tap" on it (and was essential for giving occupants any usable outlets) so that's another approach.

 

[lissie]

7 hours ago, phillipahain said:

Theres only one UK socket available on QM thanks to phone being plugged into the other one 

Or just unplug the phone - its not something we ever use anyway - and if for some reason you wanted to - you just plug it back in!