Small Hand Held Steamer Question

[Baileybeau]

Do you know if steamers are allowed on RCCL cruises? I've only found old posts regarding this topic. I know I can put clothes in bathroom with hot shower running or use Downy Wrinkle Release Spray to get rid of wrinkles. I don't want to get sent to the naughty room and be "shamed" for having a steamer. LOL!

[bethco]

Steamers are not allowed. Bringing it could land you in the naughty room.

[flpenguin]

They are allowed. I've brought one for several years and never have been to the naughty room.

[Lionesss]

If found they will be confiscated and you will be able to get it back as you exit the ship on the last day. They have an area set up for these items, for you to claim.

 

Safe journey

[cruisenfever]

They are allowed. I've brought one for several years and never have been to the naughty room.

Not according to this link off the RCI website http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=333&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Policies&faqId=2608

 

You must camouflage it well seeing that you haven't been caught!!;)

[spookwife]

They are allowed. I've brought one for several years and never have been to the naughty room.

 

not any longer. they did change the policy and parts of the website do reflect that. but more importunely, people have had them confiscated.

[Rob&Bonnie]

Royal is very fussy about anything with a cord. We got sent to the naughty room for our toothbrush charger on 2/28 - so very recently.

[retire2cruise55]

We brought a steamer on Oasis in July without a problem. It was in our checked luggage.

[cb at sea]

As long as it doesn't look like an iron, it will probably make it thru. Steamers are allowed.

[chengkp75]

We brought a steamer on Oasis in July without a problem. It was in our checked luggage.

 

The OP asked if steamers were allowed on RCI ships, not whether or not you happened to get one past security. Clearly, from the prohibited list linked in a previous post, they are not allowed, so they may be confiscated if found, or used onboard if not found.

[retire2cruise55]

The OP asked if steamers were allowed on RCI ships, not whether or not you happened to get one past security. Clearly, from the prohibited list linked in a previous post, they are not allowed, so they may be confiscated if found, or used onboard if not found.

 

And yes, they are allowed!

[S.C.]

They are allowed. I've brought one for several years and never have been to the naughty room.

 

We brought a steamer on Oasis in July without a problem. It was in our checked luggage.

 

Would you mind sharing which ones you have? I need one that does a good job of getting the wrinkles out!

[CORKY_Q]

Q: What items are not allowed onboard the cruise ship?

 

A: Weapons, illegal drugs, and other items that could interfere with the safe operation of the ship or the safe and secure environment of our guests and crew are prohibited. The following are examples of items that guests are not allowed to bring onboard. These and other similar items will be confiscated upon being found. Alcoholic beverages, illegal drugs, flammable liquids, explosives, and dangerous chemicals will not be returned..

 

Prohibited items:

Firearms & Ammunition, including realistic replicas.

Sharp Objects, including all knives and scissors. (Note: Personal grooming items such as safety razors are allowed. Scissors with blade length less than 4 inches are allowed.)

Illegal Drugs & Substances

Candles, Incense, Coffee Makers, Clothes Irons, Travel Steamers & Hot Plates. (Items that generate heat or produce an open flame. This includes heating pads, clothing irons, hotplates, candles, incense and any other item that may create a fire hazard. NOTE: The only exception to this policy are curling irons and hair straighteners. Matches and normal lighteners are allowed onboard. However "torch lighters" and novelty lighters that look like guns are not allowed onboard. Torch lighters emit a powerful concentrated flame, and therefore are prohibited.

Edited March 21, 2015 by CORKY_Q

[LMaxwell]

I have one that has NO EXPOSED PLATE and it has never been confiscated or questioned. YMMV

[flpenguin]

Would you mind sharing which ones you have? I need one that does a good job of getting the wrinkles out!

 

I have a Conair hand held steamer from target 24.99. works good

[chengkp75]

I have one that has NO EXPOSED PLATE and it has never been confiscated or questioned. YMMV

 

As you say, YMMV. The problem is not that the steamer does not have a hot surface like an iron, which most believe to be the cause for concern, and for an iron it is. A steamer does have a heating element in it, and relies on a temperature switch to shut it off when the water is all gone (the water reservoir will not get hotter than 212*F as long as there is water present, but will rise when the water is all boiled). These temperature switches are known to fail, causing the heating element to remain on, and heat the plastic until it melts and combusts. This is why UL approval for these kinds of appliances is dependent on the consumer unplugging the appliance when not in use. Coffee makers with timed on/off switches are famous for causing house fires (Mr. Coffee almost went out of business a few years back over lawsuits for faulty switches). Since the cruise line cannot guarantee that the passenger will unplug the appliance every time, they just prohibit them. From an insurance standpoint (which is the overriding concern here), they don't want anything with a heating element onboard, and if they could ban hair care appliances without causing a monumental uproar, they would.

[island lady]

I have taken my hand held steamer (yes with cord) many times in my checked

luggage, along with my own hand held hair dryer (I don't like the ones on the ship).

Once I was called down to the naughty room due to the steamer, but as soon as they

pulled it out of the suitcase and looked at it, they gave it back to me and told me it was OK.

This was just last year.

 

Funny thing is that I never seem to use it, since the wrinkles seem to fall out of our clothes

once I hang them up right away. I have since stopped taking it, but have still never been

called down for my hair dryer that has a cord on it.

Edited March 21, 2015 by island lady

[chengkp75]

I have taken my hand held steamer (yes with cord) many times in my checked

luggage, along with my own hand held hair dryer (I don't like the ones on the ship).

Once I was called down to the naughty room due to the steamer, but as soon as they

pulled it out of the suitcase and looked at it, they gave it back to me and told me it was OK.

This was just last year.

 

Funny thing is that I never seem to use it, since the wrinkles seem to fall out of our clothes

once I hang them up right away. I have since stopped taking it, but have still never been

called down for my hair dryer that has a cord on it.

 

No, because hair care appliances are specifically allowed.

[Life is Good Cruising]

Do you know if steamers are allowed on RCCL cruises? I've only found old posts regarding this topic. I know I can put clothes in bathroom with hot shower running or use Downy Wrinkle Release Spray to get rid of wrinkles. I don't want to get sent to the naughty room and be "shamed" for having a steamer. LOL!

 

I used to always bring a steamer on board, since they are no longer allowed I now use dry cleaning bags over our clothes which are already on hangers, no problems with wrinkles anymore :)

[MADflyer]

As you say, YMMV. A steamer does have a heating element in it, and relies on a temperature switch to shut it off when the water is all gone........These temperature switches are known to fail, causing the heating element to remain on, and heat the plastic until it melts and combusts. This is why UL approval for these kinds of appliances is dependent on the consumer unplugging the appliance when not in use. .

 

You are exactly right and in fact 4% of maritime fires are caused by just this sort of negligence or faulty appliances.

 

There is an entirely different side to this issue that most passengers seem to not think of.

 

If there is a stateroom inspection in a section of the ship and contraband on the 'not allowed' list is discovered in staterooms the current action taken against the passenger is minimal.

 

What does happen is that the Stateroom Attendant receives a written warning for not reporting the contraband and may receive disciplinary action.

 

The added element is that crew on ships are often fearful of reporting violations due to fear of repercussions from the passenger or other crew. Have you not noticed how fearful the crew are of even receiving a negative review in the post cruise survey.

 

I do not think that RCI have yet implemented a policy like P&O, where poor survey results actually result directly in lower pay for crew, but the relationship is still not conductive to crew reporting passenger violations.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4816

[island lady]

You are exactly right and in fact 4% of maritime fires are caused by just this sort of negligence or faulty appliances.

 

There is an entirely different side to this issue that most passengers seem to not think of.

 

If there is a stateroom inspection in a section of the ship and contraband on the 'not allowed' list is discovered in staterooms the current action taken against the passenger is minimal.

 

What does happen is that the Stateroom Attendant receives a written warning for not reporting the contraband and may receive disciplinary action.

 

The added element is that crew on ships are often fearful of reporting violations due to fear of repercussions from the passenger or other crew. Have you not noticed how fearful the crew are of even receiving a negative review in the post cruise survey.

 

I do not think that RCI have yet implemented a policy like P&O, where poor survey results actually result directly in lower pay for crew, but the relationship is still not conductive to crew reporting passenger violations.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4816

 

True.

 

I strung up a section of lights during our last December cruise on Freedom. They were LED Christmas lights, which do not heat up. Our attendant was quick to tell me I needed to take them down, until she realized they were LED when she touched them to be sure they were not warm. They were allowed to stay.

[Robinhill]

Do you know if steamers are allowed on RCCL cruises? I've only found old posts regarding this topic. I know I can put clothes in bathroom with hot shower running or use Downy Wrinkle Release Spray to get rid of wrinkles. I don't want to get sent to the naughty room and be "shamed" for having a steamer. LOL!

 

Right- i would use the Downy Wrinkle RElease and hang the clothes in the bathroom with the hot shower. That works just as well and less to pack

[griffy116]

Through the years and after a few more cruises, including ports in Europe and luggage restrictions, we've become less and less attached to some of the things we were carrying on a cruise. The steamer is one of the items we discarded. I have two collecting dust in a bin in the closet. We just steam a few things at a time in the bathroom, hang them up and move along. We carry a travel size of Downey as back-up and chose clothing that doesn't wrinkle as easily. We've become very fond of traveling lighter. I can no longer stand dragging the heavy luggage and trying to "shift" things to get around the weight requirements.

[cruiseguy1016]

DW decided she wanted to bring a steamer on our last cruise so, since I'm the "expert" on these things, she asked me if steamers were allowed. I said yes. Apparently I hadn't read through the entire list of banned items :o. She packed her small, travel steamer and off we went. We boarded the ship, used our steamer several times and came back home with it. I never new steamers were banned until five minutes ago when I started reading this thread. For reference, we sailed on the Jewel out of San Juan the week of March 14th - 21st. Maybe since that was spring break week, they were more concerned about alcohol being snuck on the ship than steamers.

[drew0tonna]

Sounds like some people are just getting lucky, as mine was taken away in December on Jewel. The issue as explained to me was that the steam can activate the smoke/fire detectors in the stateroom. So, we just had a wonderfully wrinkly cruise :)