Electrical Appliances in your Cabin.

[dickwho]

The topic is a bit misleading, but I can't think of anything else, it's late in the day.

 

We are soon to go on a world cruise of 104 days, so for all intentional purposes we'll be occupying our cabin for a bit over 3 months. We don't have a weight problem, as we are Sydney to Sydney.

 

I'm taking my lap top, a small power board, short extension lead, and a small fan. Some of these items are on the advice of more seasoned travellers than us, off this site.

 

I also intend to take a small travelling electric iron and a hot water jug to heat water up for coffee. Does anyone know if there is a problem with this. Do the cabin staff report you for having electrical appliances that may be seen as being prohibitive. None of these are dangerous in any way, and of course are used at home.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

[RickEk]

The topic is a bit misleading, but I can't think of anything else, it's late in the day.

 

We are soon to go on a world cruise of 104 days, so for all intentional purposes we'll be occupying our cabin for a bit over 3 months. We don't have a weight problem, as we are Sydney to Sydney.

 

I'm taking my lap top, a small power board, short extension lead, and a small fan. Some of these items are on the advice of more seasoned travellers than us, off this site.

 

I also intend to take a small travelling electric iron and a hot water jug to heat water up for coffee. Does anyone know if there is a problem with this. Do the cabin staff report you for having electrical appliances that may be seen as being prohibitive. None of these are dangerous in any way, and of course are used at home.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

The electric iron might be a problem. The ship will have laundry facilities (I'm assuming it's the Dawn Princess?) with irons. And yes, an iron IS dangerous... they take a fire hazard very seriously.

[rkmw]

The topic is a bit misleading, but I can't think of anything else, it's late in the day.

 

We are soon to go on a world cruise of 104 days, so for all intentional purposes we'll be occupying our cabin for a bit over 3 months. We don't have a weight problem, as we are Sydney to Sydney.

 

I'm taking my lap top, a small power board, short extension lead, and a small fan. Some of these items are on the advice of more seasoned travellers than us, off this site.

 

I also intend to take a small travelling electric iron and a hot water jug to heat water up for coffee. Does anyone know if there is a problem with this. Do the cabin staff report you for having electrical appliances that may be seen as being prohibitive. None of these are dangerous in any way, and of course are used at home.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

hi dickwho, as the previous poster said an iron maybe a problem and they do have laundry facilities and you can iron for free i'm not sure about the hot water jug...... you can get room service 24/7 so i dont think you have to take the hot water jug

 

rkmw

[Luke Warmwater]

I have done 19 cruises on Princess and 75 days on HAL and a few others. I always take a mini travel kettle to make tea without having to wait for room service or go to the Lido. On Celebrity once, we got a visit from the safety officer who warned us that we could be thrown off if we continued to use it as it was a fire hazard. The room steward had seen it when we left it out. Since then, we have continued to use it but, between uses, keep it hidden away in the safe. (It just fits). He also told us that some ships have a "trip" which means that if you use something over a certain power, like an iron, in a stateroom, about 10 to 20 other staterooms will be blacked out.

[paul929207]

I have always heard that you cannot take an iron, but don't recall ever seeing that in writing from Princess.

[GeneK]

An iron, just like coffee makers, is on their list of items you can't take.

[-Lew-]

 

On Celebrity once, we got a visit from the safety officer who warned us that we could be thrown off if we continued to use it as it was a fire hazard. The room steward had seen it when we left it out. Since then, we have continued to use it but, between uses, keep it hidden away in the safe.

Your actions are dangerous to yourself as well as your fellow passengers!

 

On Princess use of an iron in a cabin is prohibited. Use of an appliance for heating water that is not thermostatically controlled is prohibited.

 

Lew

[Colo Cruiser]

Irons are not permitted.

 

Coffee makers are permitted as long as they have a thermostat/auto shutoff.

[Toto2Kansas]

Irons are not permitted.

 

Coffee makers are permitted as long as they have a thermostat/auto shutoff.

 

I totally agree with this statement. I tried to find the prohibited list on Princess this AM but couldn't locate it. Somewhere it says that electrical appliances of any kind that are NOT thermostatically controlled are not allowed. But it does specifically mention that irons are on the prohibited list.

 

As for hot pots, they have an auto shut off and are allowed. In fact, on our first Sea Princess cruise, when it returned from P&O several years ago, the hot pots and coffee and tea making equipment were still in our mini suite left over from P&O which does provide them. By the time we sailed on the Sea Princess the following year, they had been removed, unfortunately.

[angyl]

You can go to YouTube and watch videos of the fire from Star Princess and perhaps rethink your use of appliances which could absolutely overheat and endanger other passengers as well as yourself. Why risk a fire when you can have room service, and laundry services? A fire on a ship would be horrific!

[Pam in CA]

Many people have been on a cruise that has experienced a fire emergency. It's not all that unusual and almost always, it's an electrical fire of some sort. I was on a ship last year that had a transformer blow on the buffet's cooler (industrial frig); we were awakened at 1:55am to the sound of the alarm. Read your local newspaper's fire log and often, you'll see the origin of the fire as electrical. Even the most fail-safe device has the capability of shorting out and starting a fire. It's not something you should take lightly or, "It's my cruise and I'll do what I want."

[billet]

I do believe the explicit statement about appliances has been replaced in the Cruise Answer Book with a more bland

"Each stateroom has other luxuries for your convenience, such as a private safe and refrigerator. In addition, each room is equipped with a 110-volt, 60-cycle alternating current (AC) with standard U.S. plug fittings. Please ask your stateroom steward to check your appliances for suitability before use if you have any questions. All ships are equipped with an electric hair dryer in every stateroom."

 

Taking an iron or any non thermostatically controlled heated applicance is downright dangerous. There is little more terrible and deadly than a fire in a ship, even the local fire brigades will want to stand back and cool the outside and let the crew fight the fire. The applicance can easily slip to the floor or onto the bed when the ship unexpectedly rolls. If the safety officer inspects an applicance and tells you it is dangerous then it is idiotic to continue to use it and such thoughtless action is placing everyone at risk.

[Mercruiser]

As private companies operating in international waters, the cruise lines get decide what is safe or is not safe on their ships, even if their decision making criteria is flawed. It's their ship, they get to decide.

 

That having been said, I'm not sure how a cabin steward is going to have the qualifications required to decide what is safe. The technical criteria for evaluating the safety of an electrical appliance is a complex topic.

 

For example, in the U.S., the safety standard for "Electric Coffee Makers and Brewing-Type Appliances" is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard number 1082. UL 1082 is 112 pages of safety requirements all designed to prevent the appliance from catching fire or electrocuting the user. Other countries have similar standards organizations, e.g. Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and Standards Australia.

 

If you buy a name-brand coffee maker in the U.S. with a UL 1082 label, you can be assured that the device is safe to use. This is only practical way for the "average Joe" to decide if an electrical appliance is safe. The presense or absence of a thermostat, auto-shutoff, or any other feature is not a sufficient indication of product safety.

 

UL has safety standards for all kinds of products including computer power supplies, power strips, extension cords, irons, and even electric fans. If the device meets the UL standard, it is safe to use - if maintained and used properly. The same goes for products purchased in Australia that meet "Standards Australia" requirements. But again, it's their ship. They get to decide.

[billet]

That having been said, I'm not sure how a cabin steward is going to have the qualifications required to decide what is safe. The technical criteria for evaluating the safety of an electrical appliance is a complex topic.

 

That is why the Safety Officer is onboard - the steward would ask him to inspect it.

[Aussie Gal]

We were on a ship last year and were awakened at 2am by the Captain coming over the loud speaker saying all hands to the back of the Show Lounge. It was an electrical fault caused by a brand new Bingo machine that was being charged overnight.

 

We were directly about the Show Lounge (it was on an ex "R" ship) and we could smell smoke. The scariest time was when the fire doors shut and we knew that the fire was just below us and there was no way to escape except over our balcony!

 

It took over 45 minutes before the blaze was under control and it took many days before the smell of smoke finally disappeared outside the Show Lounge.

 

I would never risk bringing anything that could cause a fire in a cabin. It is just so scary when it does happen. We have a book here at home that lists all the ships that have sunk in the past 50 years or so and most of the sinkings were caused by a fire.

 

Jennie

[Grizabellachinchilla]

The topic is a bit misleading, but I can't think of anything else, it's late in the day.

 

We are soon to go on a world cruise of 104 days, so for all intentional purposes we'll be occupying our cabin for a bit over 3 months. We don't have a weight problem, as we are Sydney to Sydney.

 

I'm taking my lap top, a small power board, short extension lead, and a small fan. Some of these items are on the advice of more seasoned travellers than us, off this site.

 

I also intend to take a small travelling electric iron and a hot water jug to heat water up for coffee. Does anyone know if there is a problem with this. Do the cabin staff report you for having electrical appliances that may be seen as being prohibitive. None of these are dangerous in any way, and of course are used at home.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

They won't like the iron. Their literature says irons are not allowed. Water jug may not be a problem if it has automatic cut off. Water immersion boilers are banned. GC

[goose30]

I thought that if you caused a fire due to an electrical appliance that you bought on board you paid for the damages.

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

I don't know about Princess, but on HAL and RCCL irons and steamers will be taken if found in your luggage and returned to you at the end of the cruise.

[Madison3]

I did have my travel iron taken out of my luggage prior to being delivered to our cabin on the Golden Princess - Hawaii - Jan 2009. We got a call from the security office letting us know. I really didn't care about the iron because I found out the laundry rooms had irons. We picked it at the end of the cruise. What originally panicked me when we got the call was that I had three bottles of wine in each suitcase and I thought maybe that was the issue. Princess allowed us to bring on as much wine as we wanted. Whew! Have always taken my laptop, but never any other appliances.

[TravelnAl]

We were directly about the Show Lounge (it was on an ex "R" ship) and we could smell smoke. The scariest time was when the fire doors shut and we knew that the fire was just below us and there was no way to escape except over our balcony!

 

 

Actually, you were not trapped in the area. The fire doors can be opened manually to allow passage. They are just not held open during the emergency.

[Colo Cruiser]

Remember fire doors are designed to be opened by passengers/crew, they are heavy but they do open to prevent being trapped in one area. :)

[Aussie Gal]

Thanks for tellling us now! At the time it was quite scary especially smelling the smoke in our cabin and that was on a non smoking ship. It really worries me that people are still allowed to smoke in their cabins. What is the difference between smoking in bed and using an iron? To me they are both equally dangerous.

 

Jennie

[billet]

Actually' date=' you were not trapped in the area. The fire doors can be opened manually to allow passage. They are just not held open during the emergency.[/quote']

 

However, they are heavy (by design) and you do need to put quite a lot of effort into opening them.

[jagsfan]

I wish I hadn't read that people would be told not to use their appliance, because of

the danger, so they hid it in their safe and used it anyway. I just hope I never sail with

them. Maybe they'd be kind enough to post when and on what ship they're sailing.

[billet]

I wish I hadn't read that people would be told not to use their appliance, because of

the danger, so they hid it in their safe and used it anyway. I just hope I never sail with

them. Maybe they'd be kind enough to post when and on what ship they're sailing.

Looks like you best avoid the Grand on 22 May 2010 :)