small refrigerator

[Golden Lake]

I am going on Holland America Line for the first time. Do they have small refrigerators in inside cabin rooms. I need this for medicine I am taking along.

[RuthC]

It depends on the class of ship whether or not there's a fridge in the inside and outside cabins.

 

On the Prinsendam, all four Vista ships, and both Signature class ships, every cabin has a fridge.

on the two S-class ships, and the four R-class ships, only the cabins with a balcony have a fridge. The inside and outside cabins can rent one for $2 per day. The problem with that is where to put it, and taking up the available outlet.

 

The fridges in the cabins are more of a cooler, and may not keep your medicine at optimal temperature. You can talk to the folks in the infirmary to see if they can store it. Or, try keeping the ice bucket in the fridge to keep it colder.

[Bobocasey]

The little refrigerator often are not cool enough for the meds. I found taking a small cooler and filling it up a couple of times a day with ice keeps the medicine at the correct temp. It didn't freeze it. Your room steward can get you the ice when you need it. Also I found that covering the cooler with those thick pool towels also helped control the temp.

[RMLincoln]

We requested a refrigerator on Volendam (R Class) for our porthole room. It was put under the desk which meant that the chair needed to be somewhere else, usually in the way. We brought an outlet triple tap which allowed for the frig plug plus one other plug... it wasn't wide enough for three plugs. You might request a power strip.

 

I like the idea of a soft "cooler", really an insulated bag with ice. It would be more space efficient, but first concern is that it must do the job needed.

[Crew News]

I am going on Holland America Line for the first time. Do they have small refrigerators in inside cabin rooms. I need this for medicine I am taking along.

 

I took my infrared imaging thermometer on our last cruise and found a constant 47 degrees in our minibar each day which satisfied my DW's medication refrigeration requirements.

 

We have requested a large champagne-size ice bucket into which we can submerge our double Ziploc bag with meds that needed colder temps. Our Room Stewards delivered ice three times per day.

[Mary Ellen]

To ensure that your refrigerator is doing its job, it’s important to keep its temperature at 40 °F or below; the freezer should be at 0 °F.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm253954.htm

[Golden Lake]

I am going on the Zuiderdam ,Holland American Cruise Line for the 1st time. Do inside staterooms have small refrigerators in them that I could use for medicine storage.

[Blue Mudshark]

I am going on the Zuiderdam ,Holland American Cruise Line for the 1st time. Do inside staterooms have small refrigerators in them that I could use for medicine storage.

Some HAL staterooms have electric coolers, but they are explicitly not suitable for storage of medications. You can have the ship's medical staff store your medications properly.

[TAD2005]

We've had many fridges in HAL Vista class veranda cabins and because of the way they are mounted, under the desk, in a closed, poorly ventilated cabinet, they do not cool well. The heat caused by the compressor in the fridge heats up that little cabinet to 90 + degrees. That extra heat causes the compressor to run continuously, which, in turn, heats up the cabinet even more. It's a vicious cycle, and the inside of the fridge is barely cooler than room temperature. We have had one mini-fridge overheat and start smelling like an electrical fire. The room steward could hardly hold it with bare hands because the outside was so hot. It's a pain to do, but we try to keep the cabinet door open to allow that heat to escape, which does produce a cooler fridge.

[jtl513]

We've had many fridges in HAL Vista class veranda cabins and because of the way they are mounted, under the desk, in a closed, poorly ventilated cabinet, they do not cool well. The heat caused by the compressor in the fridge heats up that little cabinet to 90 + degrees. That extra heat causes the compressor to run continuously, which, in turn, heats up the cabinet even more. It's a vicious cycle, and the inside of the fridge is barely cooler than room temperature. ... It's a pain to do, but we try to keep the cabinet door open to allow that heat to escape, which does produce a cooler fridge.

There no compressors in normal Vista ship coolers; they are thermoelectric, like portable picnic coolers. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling). However you are correct that keeping the cabinet door open does help because they can only produce a temperature differential of about 25 degrees from the surrounding air, so if the warm air builds up in the cabinet it elevates inside the cooler as well.

 

If for some odd reason the normal thermoelectric cooler in your cabin had been replaced by a true refrigerator (with a gas compression/expansion cycle) that would explain why yours got so extremely hot in a cabinet which was not designed for it. We've been on 10 cruises in Vista and Signature ships and never had one with a compressor, or a cooler that overheated with the cabinet door closed.

Edited March 18, 2016 by jtl513

[Fouremco]

I'm guessing that you have started the second thread to include the additional information that you will be on the Zuiderdam. Good, then we know that you are on a Vista-class ship. Now you can pop back to the other thread and see the comments pertaining to Vista-class ships. Have a great cruise!:)

[Golden Lake]

Thanks everyone for the replies. They were all very helpful. I'm sure we will be able to work something out with all your suggestions.