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Taking travel kettle on board?


susieh
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They have them on board. They just put them away when it's not an England-based itinerary. No problem. We have even seen them in the top of the closet and in the cabinets in our sky suite. No need to bring your own, just ask for one the day you get on board and have that first meeting with your cabin steward or butler. They will confiscate if you bring one and you don't want to start your cruise with a trip to the naughty room!

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We did the Scandanavian & Baltic cruise on Eclipse out of Southampton August last year and as we all know there are kettles in the cabins. We were on Reflection out of Rome in June this year and I knew there would be no kettles on board. Shortly after being allowed into our cabins I asked our attendant could be have a kettle and sure enough he brought one for our cabin and another for my sister a couple of cabins down from us. We did tip him well! I had brought tea bags along with little mini milk pots and cups. We could have taken them from the buffet area but it saved us carrying the milk down on the lift. I would certainly ask for a kettle once onboard they can only say no.

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So...just to fan the flames. Why is there no complaining about no coffee makers in the staterooms. Many Americans love their coffee, just as much as Brits love their tea. I can't function until I have a cup of coffee, but I have to wait until room service brings me some. Just sayin....... So for a week or a month we do without some things we like at home (like being able to press wrinkled clothing that's already been in the suitcases a week) for all the joys and pleasures of cruising. Like room service. Not cooking meals. Interesting places to visit. Entertainment every night. My glass is mostly full.

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Wonder if ALL cabins did have coffee makers and a majority of passengers used them on a daily basis how much longer would it take for the cabin stewards to clean cabins. Also if it's anything like hotels we've stayed with that provides coffee makers, I'd hope they have 40-50+ extra on board when someone can't figure out how to use it and it's broken for the next guest/passenger to discover.

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Wonder if ALL cabins did have coffee makers and a majority of passengers used them on a daily basis how much longer would it take for the cabin stewards to clean cabins. Also if it's anything like hotels we've stayed with that provides coffee makers, I'd hope they have 40-50+ extra on board when someone can't figure out how to use it and it's broken for the next guest/passenger to discover.

Virtually all NCL cabins have coffee makers. Never noticed any difference in cabin service. And yes, they do have extras.

 

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So...just to fan the flames. Why is there no complaining about no coffee makers in the staterooms. Many Americans love their coffee, just as much as Brits love their tea. I can't function until I have a cup of coffee, but I have to wait until room service brings me some. Just sayin....... So for a week or a month we do without some things we like at home (like being able to press wrinkled clothing that's already been in the suitcases a week) for all the joys and pleasures of cruising. Like room service. Not cooking meals. Interesting places to visit. Entertainment every night. My glass is mostly full.

 

I guess the difference is about 'quality' ....we can make a really nice cup of tea in the cabin with just boiling water and a decent tea bag....For quality coffee we go to Cafe el Bachio.....We have experienced many hotel rooms and ship cabins with coffee makers but non have ever offered real quality coffee...

 

Like you our glass (or tea cup) is mostly full....A kettle in the room, whilst pleasant, is never a deal breaker. However, we are aware that there are guests with medical issues who can really benefit from a hot beverage first thing with medication whilst relaxing who can then make the most of their day... I do hope Celebrity will continue to try to offer those who request a kettle!

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  • 6 months later...

Okay, to give some perspective on why certain items are allowed and others not, and why certain items are used on certain cruises, here goes.

 

First off, it is all about insurance exposure. What does the P&I club and hull insurer feel is a comfortable level of exposure for small heating appliances. When items are provided on the ship, like coffee makers, tea kettles, and hair dryers, these items have to be rotated out of service every couple of months for inspection and testing by the ship's staff. This takes a lot man hours, and expense to keep a rotating reserve onboard the ship. Many folks state that their appliances, like the kettle mentioned above, are safe because of "auto-off" features. These thermostatic switches are well known for their failure rate (look at Mr. Coffee in the 80's, when they almost went bankrupt from lawsuits over house fires caused by their coffee makers), and this is why every single electrical heating appliance rated by UL will have the warning to unplug when not in use. I have seen a cruise line supplied coffee maker go up in flames while being tested in the electrician's shop. Stating that the cabin steward did not comment on a prohibited item is no proof that an item is not a hazard. The stewards will rarely say anything that might upset their guests, regardless of how it might affect their own safety.

 

Another misconception is that the heating element needs to be exposed to be a fire hazard. This is a common thought with handheld steamers. If the auto-off switch fails the element will heat up the plastic water container to the point where it will melt, smolder, and either catch fire itself, or cause an adjacent item to heat up to the combustion point.

 

So, the cruise lines and their insurers feel that removing the outrage from female cruisers if they were to ban hair care appliances is balanced by the risk of allowing uninspected devices onboard. But, for things like coffee makers and tea kettles, since they provide these services at other, larger and therefore fewer, appliances that are already onboard and inspected, they do not feel the risk outweighs the reward.

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But for those of us who don't drink/ make tea they would be a useless item taking up space. Clearly cruisers out of Southampton have a larger population of cruisers whose custom is tea, ergo kettles. I would guess that a larger portion of the passengers on Alaska or Caribbean cruisers are those whose custom is to drink/make coffee. Maybe they should put coffee pots in the cabins so we can make fresh brewed coffee.

 

Oh I like my chocolate on my pillow warmed before I eat it what about a small hot plate. My toast is cold when it arrives to my cabin. What about a toaster for my cabin. The hair dryer just does not get the bread toasted enough.

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Oh I like my chocolate on my pillow warmed before I eat it what about a small hot plate. My toast is cold when it arrives to my cabin. What about a toaster for my cabin. The hair dryer just does not get the bread toasted enough.

 

The more you have the more you want....Our second Celebrity cruise was in the M class PH with massive fridge freezer, microwave, coffee maker and kettle in the butlers pantry. The fridge was self filling too.....every time the champagne emptied another bottle was there....

 

Much as we loved the light and space in the S class PH I missed the pantry!

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Okay, to give some perspective on why certain items are allowed and others not, and why certain items are used on certain cruises, here goes.

 

First off, it is all about insurance exposure. What does the P&I club and hull insurer feel is a comfortable level of exposure for small heating appliances. When items are provided on the ship, like coffee makers, tea kettles, and hair dryers, these items have to be rotated out of service every couple of months for inspection and testing by the ship's staff. This takes a lot man hours, and expense to keep a rotating reserve onboard the ship. Many folks state that their appliances, like the kettle mentioned above, are safe because of "auto-off" features. These thermostatic switches are well known for their failure rate (look at Mr. Coffee in the 80's, when they almost went bankrupt from lawsuits over house fires caused by their coffee makers), and this is why every single electrical heating appliance rated by UL will have the warning to unplug when not in use. I have seen a cruise line supplied coffee maker go up in flames while being tested in the electrician's shop. Stating that the cabin steward did not comment on a prohibited item is no proof that an item is not a hazard. The stewards will rarely say anything that might upset their guests, regardless of how it might affect their own safety.

 

Another misconception is that the heating element needs to be exposed to be a fire hazard. This is a common thought with handheld steamers. If the auto-off switch fails the element will heat up the plastic water container to the point where it will melt, smolder, and either catch fire itself, or cause an adjacent item to heat up to the combustion point.

 

So, the cruise lines and their insurers feel that removing the outrage from female cruisers if they were to ban hair care appliances is balanced by the risk of allowing uninspected devices onboard. But, for things like coffee makers and tea kettles, since they provide these services at other, larger and therefore fewer, appliances that are already onboard and inspected, they do not feel the risk outweighs the reward.

 

Always interesting and informational, Thank you. I wish I could find it but several years ago someone in the know posted on this board explaining the way the electrical systems are installed on a cruise ship. The post even included some schematics, it was quire interesting.

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Agree with a couple of posters. I hear about kettles a lot but not coffee pots. I would LOVE a coffee pot as the stuff from room service is not that good. I'd happily bring my own coffee. And yea, I can go to the coffee place but they also have a large tea selection. A morning cup of English tea is not any different than a morning cup of coffee. Both are desperately needed - lol

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I realize this is a resurrected thread, but I'm very happy to see it! I will be very hopeful that I can get a tea kettle for our room. At least, I'll ask. One thing I don't think a lot of people think of on here is the fact that when you order a coffee, you basically can start drinking your coffee right away. It's a grab and go kind of drink because it is mass brewed, but tea isn't. When you order a tea, you still have to wait for a while for it to brew. And if you are brewing tea for medicinal purposes (I have a few that I drink daily), the brew time is 10-15 minutes. Having the hot water available in your room can make a big difference for a tea drinker to be able to drink their tea WITH their family coffee drinkers.

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