Converter or Adapter or Nothing?

I'm going to Europe and haven't been for a while. I assume that no converter or adapter is needed while on a cruise ship. Is that correct? Do the ships have different currents? I want to use a laptop and a camera battery charger.

Do I need to take a converter or adapter or both, or nothing, to the hotel I'm staying in pre-cruise?

What's the difference between a converter and adapter, anyway?

Where are you coming from? That is important info.

What cruise line are you sailing on? If you are a US citizen sailing on an US oriented ship/cruise line, you will not need any adaptors on the ship. But you will need them in Europe- again, assuming you are coming from North America.

A convertor (sometimes called a transformer) changes voltage. An adapter helps you fit in the plug. Many appliances don't need convertors any more, but you probably have at least one that does, so you probably need one.

In our case it is our toothbrush power unit needs a convertor. Our phones and tablets don't.

If you look on the plug of the items you have, you may (again, assuming you are in the US) see "110v", which means you need a convertor for Europe. If it says something like "110v-220v" you don't.

You will need neither while on the ship. Look at the appliances you intend to use in Europe, Apple products for instance let you either current so you just need an adapter to use the outlet in European hotels. With other appliances you will need a converter which changes the current. Often hotels will have converter or adapters available for guests but I prefer to take along my own.

Look at your chargers. Should see

Input 110 - 240 VAC

That means that you can plug your charger into any outlet in the world.

You will probably need adapters though. You can get the on line. These adapters Allow your plugs to fit either American outlets or European outlets

I'm going to Europe and haven't been for a while. I assume that no converter or adapter is needed while on a cruise ship. Is that correct? Do the ships have different currents? I want to use a laptop and a camera battery charger.

 

Do I need to take a converter or adapter or both, or nothing, to the hotel I'm staying in pre-cruise?

 

What's the difference between a converter and adapter, anyway?

Converter serves to convert the current between 110v and 220v. Older appliances didn't have a built-in capability to work on both voltages, so if you plugged in a U.S. appliance (110v) into a European 220v socket, you'd fry it. These days, many things, especially laptop chargers, can handle both voltages. You should look at the charging cable - it probably has a box-like thing in the middle where 2 parts of the cable meet, that's the converter.

Adapter doesn't change the voltage. Different countries have different shapes of plugs, and you use the adapter to be able to physically plug it in. U.S. plugs have 2 flat prongs parallel to each other (and sometimes a 3rd round prong for grounding); European non-U.K. plugs have two round prongs. You wouldn't be able to stick a U.S. plug into a round-holed European socket without an adapter.

I go to Europe enough where I just bought a European USB charger for 20 bucks on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HVKR92Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

Obviously it won't work with a laptop, but it works for everything else we bring (tablets, phones, cameras, etc.)

If I need to bring an adapter... I prefer to bring this....

http://www.amazon.com/VCT-Universal-Protector-Outlets-Capacity/dp/B000784H4K

• there is never enough outlets in my room (phone, gps, phone external battery, camera, camera flash, laptop, tablet, toothbrush, backup camera equipment, of course there's your travel companion's set of equipment.)
  
• I don't want to interrupt my sleep to swap out a charger
  
• how many adapters do you want to bring? if you have space in the luggage.... why not?
  
• warning some cruise lines have issues with powerbars or powerstrips (eg DCL). For those trips, I have my power bar/strip at home.
  

Without knowing what type plugs you have and what cruise line you will be sailing on, we can't give you an answer to your first question.

The US operates on 110 current, Europe 220. A convert is used to switch between the two.

There are different plug styles used in Europe and the US. An adapter is used to allow you to plug into the "other" type outlet.

You can buy a multi adapter for different countries that looks like this:

We have got it for wherever we go.

We also bring a multiplug from Ikea and hide it the drawer.

Try to avoid needing a converter as they are expensive and take up space. Almost all phones, laptops, cameras, etc. will have dual voltage chargers. If you want/need an electric toothbrush take a battery powered one.

Some of these universal adaptors do not fit well. We have one like the one in the post just above. It has springs and in some positions is too heavy to stay plugged in and you need to tape things to hold them in place. The small adaptors are much easier if you are just going to be in Europe. Besides shopping for them online you will find them in lots of stores including places like WalMart.

You probably know this but many European hotels require that you put your key card in a little device that turns the electricity on in your room. So, if you leave your room and hope your devices are charging, you will come back to see that nothing happened. You can usually put another card (your library card, an old room key card, etc) in the slot to keep the electricity flowing. I even remember being on a cruise ship where this was the case.

Thanks, everyone - lots to think about. I'll go check my stuff. I know the laptop's probably OK, but not sure about the camera and battery charger and cords.

The only reason I thought of this issue is that I read an article on Cruise Critic that described things not to do on a cruise ship. It mentioned that some cruise lines have hairdryers in the room and not in the bathroom, and there was a reason for that. I think it said that the current was different in each area and that the bathroom outlets were only for razors. That didn't make sense to me, but perhaps that statement, assuming it actually says that, either applies to older ships or needs to be update. In any case, it did trigger a reminder to me to check and see if we would need a converter and adapter in European hotels.

Thanks for the tip on the "any" card in the slot in hotels which shut off the lights when you pull your card out. I'll keep that in mind.

Just an FYI. If you need an international phone, Mobal offers both phones and SIM cards if you have an unlocked GSM phone. AND if you buy the phone, they send you a VERY handy adapter set free. I have three of them from phone purchases and use them all the time. Kind of hard to see the different countries on the top of the adapter box but a good magnifying glass shows clearly which adapter belongs to which country and then I marked them with magic marker.

My favorite adapter is a one piece one but as maryann ns posted, they are heavy and very often come out of the wall.

If anyone uses mustache trimmers or hair clippers to get that bald look, WATCH out. Unless they are specifically designed for travel, they are 110 voltage if purchased in the USA. My dear departed DH fried two or three of them before I broke down and spent the money for a converter. Back in the late 90's-early 2000's, converters were about $100 so had to weigh the difference between buying one and just replacing the $20 hair clippers. But now you can buy all kinds of converters from Amazon for under $40.00.

Thanks, everyone - lots to think about. I'll go check my stuff. I know the laptop's probably OK, but not sure about the camera and battery charger and cords.

 

The only reason I thought of this issue is that I read an article on Cruise Critic that described things not to do on a cruise ship. It mentioned that some cruise lines have hairdryers in the room and not in the bathroom, and there was a reason for that. I think it said that the current was different in each area and that the bathroom outlets were only for razors. That didn't make sense to me, but perhaps that statement, assuming it actually says that, either applies to older ships or needs to be update. In any case, it did trigger a reminder to me to check and see if we would need a converter and adapter in European hotels.

 

Thanks for the tip on the "any" card in the slot in hotels which shut off the lights when you pull your card out. I'll keep that in mind.

That's correct about the bathroom outlets. The hairdryers normally plug in at the desk in the cabin. Sometimes there is a built-in hairdryer in the bathroom.

If anyone uses mustache trimmers or hair clippers to get that bald look, WATCH out. Unless they are specifically designed for travel, they are 110 voltage if purchased in the USA. My dear departed DH fried two or three of them before I broke down and spent the money for a converter. Back in the late 90's-early 2000's, converters were about $100 so had to weigh the difference between buying one and just replacing the $20 hair clippers. But now you can buy all kinds of converters from Amazon for under $40.00.

• get device (dryer, clippers, etc...) that is 50hz when travelling.
  
• battery charged devices like laptops, phones and tablets convert everything to DC so there is no issues.
  

I bought a multi usb plug (5 slots) that takes most phones, tables, etc. This one is not device dependent so we can mix match apple and android devices. I also purchased short (12 inch) cables to minimize the spaghetti wire mess when charging multiple devices. This works well for us. I no longer take devices that require a converter as the extra weight does not seem worth the hassle.

In our local CVS today I noticed a set of converter and adapter plugs for $10.99 -- out of its plastic packaging it would take up little space, and was somewhat lighter than the set we always travel with.

Thanks, everyone - lots to think about. I'll go check my stuff. I know the laptop's probably OK, but not sure about the camera and battery charger and cords.

 

The only reason I thought of this issue is that I read an article on Cruise Critic that described things not to do on a cruise ship. It mentioned that some cruise lines have hairdryers in the room and not in the bathroom, and there was a reason for that. I think it said that the current was different in each area and that the bathroom outlets were only for razors. That didn't make sense to me, but perhaps that statement, assuming it actually says that, either applies to older ships or needs to be update. In any case, it did trigger a reminder to me to check and see if we would need a converter and adapter in European hotels.

 

Thanks for the tip on the "any" card in the slot in hotels which shut off the lights when you pull your card out. I'll keep that in mind.

Lots of incorrect terminology being tossed around here. Converters, or transformers, convert voltage from 220v to 110v or vice versa. They do not convert current. Current is amperage, and is the "amount" of electricity flowing in the circuit. The reason that the bathroom outlet is restricted to razors only is that it is wired into the bathroom light, and so both the light and whatever you plug in are drawing current through the same wires. Current flowing in wires creates heat, and this is what causes wiring fires or blown circuit breakers (which don't actually sense current, they sense heat). Razors are low amperage appliances, while hair dryers are current hogs. The outlet circuit in your cabin is separate from the lighting circuit, so the outlets in the cabin can handle the hair dryer's current draw, since the wiring is not feeding the lights as well.