FYI on powerstrips

[carncruiser1964]

The restrictions say no household goods, which they are interpreting as no power cords.

 

 

Household goods? That could mean just about anything. :confused:

[Lady_Jag]

Household goods? That could mean just about anything. :confused:

 

That's the point, I think. This way, Carnival can revise as they see fit, and claim that the policy has always been in effect.

 

Remember when the carry-on sodas/water restrictions just read "a small quantity per passenger"? Now, the words "12 per person" or something like it have been added to that policy.

 

Personally, I don't care one way or another, but I can see why some folks would be upset.

[Vanessa L]

Remember that ships generate their own electricity, and even though it may look the same as what you get back home, it's NOT.

 

Having one outlet in each cabin safely limits how much electricity each passenger uses. I'm fully aware that these ship generators are capable of generating much more than what's actually used, but cruise lines have to be on the side of caution. They need to visualize worst case scenarios (for example, every single passengers bringing an extension cord with multiple outlets, and plugging in several electrical devices at once). I'm sure nobody would enjoy a power outage in the middle of the ocean at night because the electrical system got overloaded.

 

Carnival does not prohibit us from bringing irons, extension cords, etc to make us mad. There's a legitimate reason behind all of it...:)

 

Excellent point Tapi, IF they hadn't been allowing power strips ALL ALONG. And to date not one story about how a power strip was responsible for a ship fire!! Smoking in bed, yes. But no power strips. How is it that JUST NOW the grand poobah of engineering for Carnival woke up and went, "Holy sh*t! Power strips cause fires, damm*t. I better ban those God forsaken things NOW!!!!!" We think NOT!!

 

What in the world is going on at Carnival? Have they LOST THEIR MINDS???

[wendymac]

O. K. so here's my question, what if you and your mom going with you both have to use a CPAP machine at night, which is MEDICALLY necessary! Each machine uses 2 plugs! What would Carnival do? I mean both of us need to have these or we have sleep apnea. I have packed an extension cord already, but that only has 3 plugs on it. And I'm not sure if the one plug in the room is even near the bedside? Anyone have an answer?

 

One person in our group going on the dream uses a CPAP machine, and we have been advised BY Carnival to bring an extra power bar. So I would think that if you need it for a CPAP machine that would be acceptable...lol maybe they are going to start renting them out......

[sailaway4]

Do you want them to wait for a fire to ban some things?I can't imagine traveling with half the stuff some people take.I think I would stay at home if I needed all those things.

[LemurCat]

Excellent point Tapi, IF they hadn't been allowing power strips ALL ALONG. And to date not one story about how a power strip was responsible for a ship fire!! Smoking in bed, yes. But no power strips. How is it that JUST NOW the grand poobah of engineering for Carnival woke up and went, "Holy sh*t! Power strips cause fires, damm*t. I better ban those God forsaken things NOW!!!!!" We think NOT!!

 

What in the world is going on at Carnival? Have they LOST THEIR MINDS???

 

I think the extension cords/power bars leads to fires argument is totally specious. Now, the extension cords/power bars lead to too great a drain on the ship's generator I totally get. If you consider the amount of crap people plug in for use on the go -- phone, iPod, camera, laptop, Kindle, satellite radio, GPS, etc. etc. etc. -- the total usage of those in-room outlets must have (metaphorically) exploded in the past ten years.

[Vanessa L]

Do you want them to wait for a fire to ban some things?I can't imagine traveling with half the stuff some people take.I think I would stay at home if I needed all those things.

 

It has been noted in the past that smoking in bed has caused on board fires on cruise ships. They have not banned smoking in bed even with proof that it causes fires. OTOH, power strips have a 100% success rate in not causing one on board fire and they want to ban them???? This does not compute. At all. I mean, cell phones cause brain cancer, right?????? Should we ban those too, or wait for the first case to happen? Sometimes, you have to go with common sense.

[MrPete]

ALLS I know is I'm never interested in trying out a lifeboat. And YOUS better not be the reason I need to.

[Vanessa L]

I think the extension cords/power bars leads to fires argument is totally specious. Now, the extension cords/power bars lead to too great a drain on the ship's generator I totally get. If you consider the amount of crap people plug in for use on the go -- phone, iPod, camera, laptop, Kindle, satellite radio, GPS, etc. etc. etc. -- the total usage of those in-room outlets must have (metaphorically) exploded in the past ten years.

 

Concur 100% LemurCat. But TELL us that!! Don't just arbitrarily start banning stuff because it's Tuesday. I've found that people will adjust to change MUCH more easily if they are given a sane reason for the change. "Your damned power strips and 'stuff' are pulling too much energy from our generators you materialistic people" would be about right, LOL.

[LemurCat]

Concur 100% LemurCat. But TELL us that!! Don't just arbitrarily start banning stuff because it's Tuesday. I've found that people will adjust to change MUCH more easily if they are given a sane reason for the change. "Your damned power strips and 'stuff' are puling too much energy from our generators you materialistic people" would be about right, LOL.

 

Oh honey ... you don't expect a large corporate to actually communicate in a clear and consistant manner do you? ;)

[Vanessa L]

Oh honey ... you don't expect a large corporate to actually communicate in a clear and consistant manner do you? ;)

 

 

Oh wait......

 

This IS Carnival we're talking about.....the poster child for excellent customer service (NOT)........

 

Never mind (use your best Emily Latella voice for full effect) :o

[LemurCat]

Oh wait......

 

This IS Carnival we're talking about.....the poster child for excellent customer service (NOT)........

 

Never mind (use your best Emily Latella voice for full effect) :o

 

See, I knew you'd come to your sense.

[Vanessa L]

See, I knew you'd come to your sense.

 

Thanks for smacking back into reality....sometimes I forget :D

[navybaby1113]

I remember someone saying a couple weeks back that there were some power outages on the Dream. I wonder if this was because of that.

[Vanessa L]

I remember someone saying a couple weeks back that there were some power outages on the Dream. I wonder if this was because of that.

 

Seems like I've read more than one post about power outages on the Dream, starting early in her debut. It could be the power strips, but odd it hasn't effected the other older ships at all, to date. Maybe they should just ban them on the Dream and Magic since they are bigger with more power needs???

[LemurCat]

Thanks for smacking back into reality....sometimes I forget :D

 

And unreality is sooooo much prettier!

[llamacruiser]

Do you want them to wait for a fire to ban some things?I can't imagine traveling with half the stuff some people take.I think I would stay at home if I needed all those things.

 

This whole thing is silly. This is not a fire risk. Carnival was founded in 1972. I'd imagine people have been bringing power strips onboard for quite awhile. I find it hard to believe that a UL certified power strip is somehow more dangerous than a lit cigarette or that they're just now figuring out how dangerous power strips are. (I'm not saying that cigarettes are evil and should be banned, merely an observation that, to me, something that is actually on fire has to be more dangerous than something that's been tested by a safety standards organization.)

 

I really think this has to relate to fuel consumption. Everything is run off of generators and if they can cut down on the electrical use they can cut down on fuel use too.

 

It seems like it used to be that the whole point of the ship was to make people feel comfortable and at home. This included making sure we could use our devices if we wanted. They profited from this in terms of wifi and cell service. All these sorts of restrictions just really tarnish that idea that its a "resort on the water". No, because at a resort I can plug in anything I want and not even have to think about it on my vacation....and the booze are cheaper.

 

So, its not going to ruin my cruise or anything, but its certainly an annoyance in my mind. It will factor into my decisions in the future as to what lines I take or even whether I want to cruise at all.

 

P.S. - Its not that I wouldn't rather travel without my devices, but its required for work purposes. I must be available.

[firefly333]

As far as I know, the only ship they are confiscating on that the posts have been from has been Ecstasy. Any other ports besides Galveston experiencing this ...

[npstudent]

So like with everything else I'm assuming if they do take a power cord/surge/whatever they return it on the last night of the cruise right?

[halos]

I am going to put the powerstrips in my rumrunners so that they cannot be detected

 

what about the ashes??? Will there be room for power strips? :confused:

:p:p:p

[Vanessa L]

This whole thing is silly. This is not a fire risk. Carnival was founded in 1972. I'd imagine people have been bringing power strips onboard for quite awhile. I find it hard to believe that a UL certified power strip is somehow more dangerous than a lit cigarette or that they're just now figuring out how dangerous power strips are. (I'm not saying that cigarettes are evil and should be banned, merely an observation that, to me, something that is actually on fire has to be more dangerous than something that's been tested by a safety standards organization.)

 

I really think this has to relate to fuel consumption. Everything is run off of generators and if they can cut down on the electrical use they can cut down on fuel use too.

 

It seems like it used to be that the whole point of the ship was to make people feel comfortable and at home. This included making sure we could use our devices if we wanted. They profited from this in terms of wifi and cell service. All these sorts of restrictions just really tarnish that idea that its a "resort on the water". No, because at a resort I can plug in anything I want and not even have to think about it on my vacation....and the booze are cheaper.

 

So, its not going to ruin my cruise or anything, but its certainly an annoyance in my mind. It will factor into my decisions in the future as to what lines I take or even whether I want to cruise at all.

 

P.S. - Its not that I wouldn't rather travel without my devices, but its required for work purposes. I must be available.

 

Gratefully, DH can sail without being on call...however, last year during the swine flu fiasco we sailed literally with 4 days notice. He was allowed to sail as long as he was available within reason on cell and computer. Had that not been the case, we could not have gone and they would have lost the revenue (granted it was only $400 total with a $120 S&S bill, but still). I know a couple of people who cannot travel without being on call 24/7 to their offices. If Carnival keeps up this nonsense they are going to find they are going to lose a lot of customers, I'm afraid. Ironically, it is the people who have jobs that require them to be on call that can afford to cruise 2 or 3 or 4 times a year as a result. I can see this not going well.

[Vanessa L]

As far as I know, the only ship they are confiscating on that the posts have been from has been Ecstasy. Any other ports besides Galveston experiencing this ...

 

According to John Heald's blog (that has been copied on this board ad nauseam), this is going to be SOP from now on. No fans, no power strips...or any household items. We'll see how it goes.

[dec2007w3boys]

Thought - both of our cell phones plug in via USB to our laptop. That can charge three things at once. (No, we don't use them on the ship, but I do charge before we go into ports) So if that helps anyone else - great!

 

But, I have a battery charger for the camera like this. I am trying to picture the outlet under the mirror to remember if it will plug in there?

Anyone remember? The plug for this is in the middle of the back, so there needs to be room all around the outlet.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I doubt the multiple power problems (we experienced one for 30-40 minutes) on the Dream have anything to do with power usage in the guest cabins. Of course, I have no first hand knowledge!

 

Tom

[klingoncruiser]

If they would give us enough plugs to make things work, no problem. However the cat fight for a plug with no power strip is just silly. This will soon follow to other lines as well. :rolleyes: