NCL Spirit - hairdryers and irons.........

[jnmrlk]

Can any-one help me with these 2 items - do I need to bring an iron and a hairdryer - am I allowed to bring an iron and hairdryer.

I have read that it is a good idea to bring an extension cord or multi outlet - if I do so should it be without the 3rd grounding plug?

Any other advice on extras to bring would be greatfully received

[NEWYORKER55]

You would need to have a hair dryer with dual voltage plus an adapter for Japan as the Spirit is an Asian ship that doesn't have the same voltage as the U.S. I purchased a Conair model that has dual voltage & the above mentioned adapter (which comes with adapters for other countries also). I went to Target. The adapters would be located where they have travel accessories displayed. By the way...the hair dryers on the Spirit are horrible. They remind me of a vacuum hose...it gets really hot while you are drying your hair. If you try to use your regular hair dryer you will blow the lights in your sector of the ship!!!

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Can any-one help me with these 2 items - do I need to bring an iron and a hairdryer - am I allowed to bring an iron and hairdryer.

I have read that it is a good idea to bring an extension cord or multi outlet - if I do so should it be without the 3rd grounding plug?

Any other advice on extras to bring would be greatfully received

 

Can't comment on the Hairdryer-didn't use it. But the iron- I brought 2- 1 regular travel iron & 1 steam iron that converted to an iron. Both worked great. I did bring a power cord since we charged 2 way radios, phones & game consoles.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Just call the front desk and they will bring you the iron. They don't put them in the cabins and don't want you to bring your own because of the fire hazard.

[slotaddict]

Ok do I or dont I need a converter. I have a 1500 watt hairdryer, the last I read was that you did not need one unless the wattage was higher.

 

Help I am leaving in 2 days.

[electricron]

Ok do I or dont I need a converter. I have a 1500 watt hairdryer, the last I read was that you did not need one unless the wattage was higher.

Help I am leaving in 2 days.

 

 

The Spirit's electrical receptacles have signs stating the wattage limitation at 500 Watts. Your hair dryer is rated at three times the limitation.

 

I suggest buying a dual voltage hair dryer at Wallmart.Then buy a plug adapter for it. Switch the hair dryer to 220 Volts, using the adapter, and plug it into the Spirit's 220 Volt receptacle.

 

Dual Voltage, 1875 Watt hair dryer $20

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9605535

 

Travel power adapter $18

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8586816

When you get back home, switch the hair dryer back to 110 Volts and use the regular US plug.

[noahsmom]

Do you need the adaptor even if your use you phone charger and MP3 charger and curling iron. I understand the voltage thing but the actually plug outlet - is it different than American outlets?

[ilovewdw]

Just off the Spirit last weekend. I brought a 1875 watt Travel Hairdryer with Dual Voltage. I got it for $23 at Target. I got an adapter at Walmart for $9. It worked perfectly. I am so glad I brought the hairdryer. The ones provided in the Cabin are awful.

[electricron]

Do you need the adaptor even if your use you phone charger and MP3 charger and curling iron. I understand the voltage thing but the actually plug outlet - is it different than American outlets?

 

Yes, and no, let me explain.

 

Sitting right next to the European 220 Volt, 50 Hz receptacle in your cabin is an American 110 Volt 60 Hz receptacle. So, for most of your electronic gear, the American 110 Volt receptacle is good enough. But, hair dryers and other electrical appliances that use heaters, it may not be good enough, because of the 500 Watt limitation.

 

The reason there is a 500 Watt limitiation is the amount of current (Amps) flowing through the wires. Since American homes uses half the voltage, it requires twice the current flowing through the wires.

 

Wire sizes used in our homes and on the Spirit are based on Current (Amps), not Watts. You don't go buy a 500 Watt fuse, you buy a 10, 15, or 20 Amp fuse. The sized fuse or sized circuit breaker that's recommended for any circuit is based upon the sized of wire used.

 

Since the Spirit was built for the Asian market as the Superstar Leo, with no plans to ever sail from America, the wires used when it was built was based upon 220 Volt Asian circuits. Therefore, half (smaller) sized wires were installed on the Spirit. With smaller wires, the circuit breakers used were also rated smaller.

 

At the American voltage of 110 Volts, a 6 amp circuit breaker can only support approximately 600 Watts. At 220 Volts, the same circuit breakers can support aproximately 1200 Watts.

 

An 1875 Watt hair dryer isn't going to trip a circuit breaker as fast with European/Asian voltage as it will at the American 110 voltage. At 220 Volts, the hair dryer draws around 9 amps. That's just 50% more amps than the 6 amp circuit breaker rating. At 110 Volts, the hair dryer draws around 18 amps. That's 300% more amps than the circuit breaker rating.

 

That's why a 1875 Watt hair dryer will eventually trip the circuit breaker on the American receptacles, but not on the European/Asian receptacles.

 

In case someone suggests installing a larger rating circuit breaker would work, let me remind you the circuit breaker rating is based on the wire size. NCL would have to install larger wires first. And that's a very expensive solution because there's almost 1,000 cabins aboard the Spirit. They would have to rampage through walls and ceilings to pull the wires and since the wires are in metal conduits, they would have to run new conduits too, because the existing conduits are too small for the larger sized American wires. Even more destruction of the walls and ceilings. That's why it so expensive to do.

 

Other cruise ships built with just the slightest possibility they might sail from America are built with larger conduits and wires. I repeat, the Spirit was not because Star Cruises never though they would sail the Spirit from North America, why spend more money for larger conduits and wires when building it. That would have been a waste of money. But unexpectedly, the Spirit is sailing from North America.

 

I hope I explained this so you can understand.