Question on something in cruise docs

[jtl513]

Wish HAL would put the "Know Before......." booklet on their WEB site & up date it when it changes, or am I expecting too much..;)LOL

I understand it is there, but like much of HAL's site it doesn't get updated often enough.

 

I have never received a "Know Before You Go" booklet for any of our HAL cruises. We just received our docs last Friday for our 12/7/08 cruise. How does one go about getting one? I downloaded one from the website and see nothing about Electrical Appliances.

Do you get the blue pouch from your TA? It should be in there along with an excursions booklet. If you don't get these items I suspect your TA might be "lightening" the pouch.

[pipedreams62]

Was This?

 

[Tampa Girl]

I understand it is there, but like much of HAL's site it doesn't get updated often enough.

 

Do you get the blue pouch from your TA? It should be in there along with an excursions booklet. If you don't get these items I suspect your TA might be "lightening" the pouch.

 

Yes, we get the blue pouch from our TA - and, yes, I suspect you are right, John. An e-mail tomorrow will be in order!

[serendipity1499]

Hi All...The mystery has been solved..There is another "Know Before...." booklet published 9/08 " Coconutfish posted this on the other electricity question thread:

 

Quote...

 

Power bars

On page 18 of the "Know Before You Go" booklet printed 09/08 it states:

 

"If more outlet space is necessary, only Holland America Line provided power bars are to be used. Please contact the Front Desk for more information."

 

Please cooperate with this directive because this is a fire safety issue that can affect everyone. Thanks! Unquote

 

Now we can lighten our luggage even more..

Cheers..:)Betty

[DesertDogs]

We were not aware of this new requirement. Just got off the Zaandam on Friday and we used our own power strip. No one said anything to us and it was on the desk area in the dressing room of the Suite.

 

Maybe they are not available on all ships yet.

[O2B@C]

... There are cheap power bars without overload breaker protection and no doubt somewhere there was an incident or two. ...

 

I bought a cheap power strip for my Westerdam cruise about a year ago, and when I tried to use it, it blew the fuse in my suite. They cheerfully fixed it, I plugged it in again, and the same thing happened. Once again, the repair person was very gracious, but after that, I tossed the offending power strip. It actually was not necessary - we just made the laptop, cell charger, and camera battery charger take turns.

 

So I guess this is my fault for getting such a bargain-basement power strip. :rolleyes: Sorry! I've learned my lesson, really I have! :D

 

Seriously, folks, I don't blame HAL for wanting to maintain some quality control over what gets hooked up to the ship's electrical system. And this seems to be a pretty customer-friendly way to deal with it, since they save you the trouble of packing your own.

[kryos]

Just got my docs for my first HAL cruise and came across something I've never seen on Princess, Carnival or NCL.

 

It states that if you need a power strip, you must use a HAL provided one. I've always brought my own. Does anyone know why and can you depend on them having one available? Will I have a problem if I bring my own?

Wow! That's a new one on me too. I brought my own on my Statendam cruise a couple of weeks back, but never had reason to use it. I've learned now to just leave the power strip at home if I am sailing solo in the cabin. It's only necessary if sharing the cabin with someone else who may not want her camera charger to be unplugged when I decide to use my laptop that may be running low on power.

 

But, I guess in all fairness the rule does make sense. They don't want anyone using an inadequate power strip that might short out the electricity in all the cabins on that circuit breaker. Wonder if they charge a rental fee for a HAL power strip though?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruzincurt]

We do not bring a power strip, but we do take a 'triple swivel tap'.

Doesn't take up as much room as the power strip.

 

 

Where's the ground pin? We leave all the electronic stuff at home and only plug in a hair dryer. No need to plug in a croc pot, coffee maker, blender or iron. Whatever you take, make sure it at least has the UL label on it.

 

As an electrical engineer here's my take on it: If I was designing the cabin electrical system, each cabin would get a 20 amp circuit breaker which means it can handle 16 amps continuous. My 1875 watt hair dryer draws 15.6 amps. So there is not a lot of extra capacity for plug in stuff in a particular cabin.