Help! Holiday lights on the verandah?

[Little Feet]

We are on a vista class ship very near the holidays and I thought it would be festive to string up a few lights on the verandah. I am not successful at finding solar powered lights. The battery ones seem to come only in a string of 12 at the most.....and as we have an aft corner that would require a zillion strings of lights and batteries. Can anyone come up with a suggestion? I cannot remember seeing an electrical outlet on the verandah....and I do not think running a cord inside is advisable as the door closes tightly.

 

Has anyone done this before? What would be an option?

 

Thank you!

 

Little Feet

[arzz]

My first instinct on Holiday lights on the veranda comes from my background as a chemistry teacher -- Could this be a fire hazard?

 

I do realize that you could really enjoy them and I do not mean to be a wet blanket but holiday decorations in publically shared accomodations does make me nervous -- I remember the friends that I lost during their freshman year in college when there was a dorm fire that started with a short in the holiday lights in the hallway and fed its way down the hallway on all of the holiday decorations.

 

I don't mean to be a scrooge but please consider the safety aspects of all holiday decorations (especially things like candles) that you consider on a vehicle as fire sensitive as a cruise ship.

[gliles]

Battery operated lights would be fine, as she said she would just need a lot of them.

[Grumpy1]

On a previous thread that discussed this, someone posted that they had been ordered to remove the lights from their verandah as there are international regulations about the colors of lights and where they can be displayed. try searching all posts for balcony lights or something like that. It was about a month ago, but I don't know which message board.

[gliles]

On a previous thread that discussed this, someone posted that they had been ordered to remove the lights from their verandah as there are international regulations about the colors of lights and where they can be displayed. try searching all posts for balcony lights or something like that. It was about a month ago, but I don't know which message board.

Ah, intereresting. It would be nice to have them out there but I personally have enough to pack as it is.

[Druke I]

I also recall seeing a notation that the colored lights might violate some shipping rules (laws).

 

I believe ships are supposed to only display red/green navigation lights, and of course the so-called white lights for lighting.

[geoherb]

For our Christmas cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship, we brought red and green chili pepper lights. We put them around the mirror on the vanity. We did not have a balcony on that cruise--but I think I would have kept the lights inside the cabin instead of on the balcony even if we had.

 

For our balcony cabins, I bring a windsock to hang. It's great to be able to spot our cabin from shore.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It has been a while, but when we did do a couple of christmas cruises, I packed a small christmas tree complete with lights and decorations. The only time we turned on the lights was when we were in the cabin. Otherwise they remained unplugged. BUT we did return to our cabin one time before our room steward was done cleaning up and we saw that he had plugged in the lights while he was working. We walked on by the room and never said a word.

[sopa]

Krazy Kruisers, what a nice story. It lit up my day!

 

sopa

[joangg]

When we took a Xmas cruise, I took lights, but as we were in an inside cabin I didn't have the opportunity to hang them outside. The windsock or a Holiday flag would be great! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one fond of lights! I loved to have them on! Very cheery.

[DFD1]

Maritime navigation depends heavily on colored lights on the outside of ships approaching each other. While your Christmas lights would be tiny compared to navigation lights, I expect that the authorities would still consider them a hazzard to navigation if placed on the outside. It seems far fetched to me, but I suppose that a confluence of events could cause them to be confusing in a panic or "close call" situation. Too bad, because they sound like a great idea.

[Little Feet]

Thank you, everyone, for the education. I had no idea about such maritime regulations. I would not have done anything hazardous....I was looking for safe lighting....and after an exhaustive search I did find a kind of light that sounded possible..."Glowire". It is electroluminescent wire and can be powered by batteries or solar cells. It is waterproof & weatherproof and comes in all colors. Instead, I think I will bring a string of lights for the window (if I put them on the inside I will still be able to see them when sitting outside) and my tiny tree. They are both battery powered, so there would be no safety issues....and the lights will only be on if I am present.

 

I'll have to wait till I have my own yacht to decorate a verandah with the glowire.....not much chance of that in this lifetime....but maybe in my dreams.