Are power strips allowed?

[rguy123]

Thanks for all the detailed info

[BirdTravels]

I'm confused. Isn't that Belkin one a surge protector? I thought surge protectors were not allowed.

 

Yes. it is surge protected.

[BirdTravels]

How/Where are the outlets situated in the Main Bedroom in the Haven 2-bedroom Suite on the Epic? My DH uses a CPAP machine which he will be bringing along. The last time we cruised, (Carnival) we had the Room Steward bring us an extension cord. We had to plug it in at the Vanity, so it stretched across the floor to the bedside table. I had to be careful not to trip over this ugly yellow cord if I got up in the middle of the night.

 

There is power bedside,,, but I don't remember if it was US Power. There are a lot of US outlets throughout the cabin. At the worst, there is a US plug at the vanity across the foot of the bed (because that is where we were charging our phones). And you would have to avoid tripping over and extension cord running to it. There is definitely US power bedside in the second bedroom. And bedside in the living room pull out bed.

[chengkp75]

Your posts are always so informative and helpful. Quick question from a non-technical person. How do I (and the confiscators) know if my power strip is surge protected?

 

Thanks,

T

 

Generally it will say on the printing on the power strip words like "surge protection", "clamping voltage", or "XXX joules of protection". Other give aways are things like the little green LED on the Belkin unit that says "protected".

[TMC]

Generally it will say on the printing on the power strip words like "surge protection", "clamping voltage", or "XXX joules of protection". Other give aways are things like the little green LED on the Belkin unit that says "protected".

 

Thanks for the info.

[mking8288]

Always traveling light despite all the gadgets, I picked up a neat 6" 3 prong outlet extension with a 2nd. outlet on the small tap. This will allow me to connect my notebook PC's power adapter (45 watts) and one of the mobile device's charger or Anker 4 port charger - on the road, by tapping into just one wall outlet ... whether it's at a hotel or on a cruise. (see picture) - sold at MicroCenter's retail store, under $4 each with taxes. This one is replacing the old plain 6" outlet extension now in the gadget pouch.

 

The typical (non-suite, non-Haven) staterooms on NCL's newer mega-ships have up to 4 outlets for pax use, 2 are 110-120 volts and 2 for 220-240 volts; and, it's far better than the Dawn/Jewel class ships where you sometimes have just 2 outlets, maybe 3.

 

Now, it's easy to have 4 to 5 electrical outlets - just make sure the devices can handle dual voltage (and, most if not all smartphone/tablet/iPad/iPhone chargers are).

 

As for USB ports integrated into the Escape's reading lamp, did anyone check to see its rating (1A or 500 maH or ??) Newer iPhones & iPads and those monster sized Samsung's that every other person seemed to own & carry often require as much as 2A and higher for proper charging. Plugging an USB charging cable into one of those port would do nothing in terms of charging ... our Nexus 6 and 5X with USB type C 3.1 specs is best mated with a 3A source for charging.

Edited June 17, 2016 by mking8288

[PorkChopKid]

Other options....

We use a USB charge adapter since our phones and tablets are charged via a USB cable. We use these at home because it plugs into one AC outlet and allows us to plug up to 4 USB cables into it. Here is the Amazon ad for what we use.... USB Charge Adapter

 

All of the ships have at least one 220v plug. We have a couple of these from a trip to Europe that we bring along so we can use the 220v outlet. European Plug Adapter. That is the 220v outlet in the lower left corner of the panel. All of our camera chargers can take a 220v input. All of our phone and tablet chargers can be used on 220v as well.

 

Cabin 7038 -08 by KathyCat102, on Flickr

[Gwendy914]

Well, a few misunderstood ideas here. Your statement about making sure it is a surge protector is completely wrong. Surge protectors are useless onboard a ship, and can be a safety concern. Power strips without surge protection are fine.

 

Amperage is determined by the load you plug in (whatever you are charging), not the electrical supply, so saying that amperage is not steady is also not correct.

 

Further, surge protection has nothing to do with amperage, it protects from over voltage, and due to the grounding system used onboard ships, you don't get the voltage spikes from load variations, blown transformers, or lightning strikes like you do on land.

 

Your clock lost time due to variances in frequency, again not amperage, and fluctuations in frequency are more common onboard ship than ashore, as the diesel generators cannot mechanically react as quickly as the electrical demand, so speed changes in the generators cause variations in frequency. The only effect varying frequency has is to cause motors to run very slightly faster or slower, and for anything you plug in in your cabin, there will be no noticeable difference. Your clock uses the 60Hz input frequency for it's "time tick" which is why it gains or loses time onboard.

 

I am currently researching USB chargers for the folks here on CC, getting some answers from the manufacturers about their claims of surge protection. I haven't finalized anything yet, and won't make any recommendations yet, but I am leaning to the fact that any multi-port USB charger that only has a two prong plug is not surge protected, despite the manufacturer's claims, but items like the Belkin posted above, which have "power" outlets and a three-prong plug are surge protected and are a potential fire hazard. Once I've completed my research, I will post to all forums here with recommendations.

 

BTW, I also worked for NCL, and would have taken your surge protected power strip during cabin inspections.

 

I was wondering if you have any recs now. I don't want to start a fire. :)

[old nutter]

I was wondering if you have any recs now. I don't want to start a fire. :)

 

Butting-in, I would say that any power strip with other than more mains sockets is a potential fire hazzard. A USB socket that did not come with the relevant main equipment is not good practice. Power strips with buillt-in USB sockets in them have components in them to reduce the voltage from mains to the 4-6 volts for USB connections. Those components are vulnerable to failure, even when nothing is connected to them - I have had one blow-up quite spectacularly at home. The power strips tend to be left connected to mains rather than just being plugged in when charging - that makes them a risk. Add to that the problem that that very large country in the Far East produces a huge number of cheap counterfeit electrical goods that do not meet any consumer safety regulations and you have a very bad mix for anywhere, but particularly a ship.

 

As long as you use extension strips with just extension sockets in them, you should be OK.

[tonytone68]

I am going to need to charge two cameras, two phones, and a tablet. Are power strips/surge protectors allowed on an NCL ship? Thanks!

 

I've always brought a couple. I use one for my CPAP and the other for our electronics. I've never had a problem.

[pcakes122]

For those who have "never had a problem" with bringing surge protectors onboard, here's evidence of someone who did:

 

Link to the full Coast Guard advisory: http://www.uscg.mil/tvncoe/Documents/safetyalerts/SurgeProtectiveDevices.pdf

[luv2cruise523]

I had no idea, I have used the Belkin one on several cruise ships. I will be shopping for a non surge protected power strip for our December cruise.

 

Thank for the information.

[Sarae]

https://smile.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-Outlets-Universal-Simultaneously/dp/B01D7HQHJK/ref=pd_sim_sbs_23_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MZG9Q1E1EKGEF2NPSYWT[/urlhttp://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/editor/insertimage.gifhttp://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/editor/insertimage.gif Edited September 4, 2016 by Sarae

[retired rascal]

We have a small like (approx 4" X 3") that can charge 6 devices at once. Check out multi port chargers on Amazon..many available.

[pcakes122]

A grim reminder of why surge protected power strips are not allowed on cruises:

 

http://www.people.com/article/nebraska-couple-death-amazon-cruise

 

What a horrible tragedy. :(

[chengkp75]

A grim reminder of why surge protected power strips are not allowed on cruises:

 

http://www.people.com/article/nebraska-couple-death-amazon-cruise

 

What a horrible tragedy. :(

 

Very interesting, considering that another article about the daughter's searching for answers claimed that the power strip was the culprit because it didn't have a surge protector. Now wondering which way it was.

[pcakes122]

Very interesting, considering that another article about the daughter's searching for answers claimed that the power strip was the culprit because it didn't have a surge protector. Now wondering which way it was.

Interesting, for sure. This article says:

 

"Smoke inhalation killed them both", says Kelly, and her dad also suffered burns on his body since the surge protector that caught fire was located beneath his bed.

 

I wonder if there is an "official" report available online anywhere.

[chengkp75]

Interesting, for sure. This article says:

 

"Smoke inhalation killed them both", says Kelly, and her dad also suffered burns on his body since the surge protector that caught fire was located beneath his bed.

 

I wonder if there is an "official" report available online anywhere.

 

Here's the other article:

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7nLOk5orPAhUI5yYKHUXFC9QQFghYMAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kshb.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Finvestigations%2Ffamily-searching-for-answers-after-parents-die-on-peruvian-cruise&usg=AFQjCNGB-hf1idgdx_jZCPOIAP27Y6Z3wA

 

Given that the ship is registered in Peru, and the incident happened in Peru, I doubt there will be anything available on the internet about this, and most likely not for several more months.

[old nutter]

The British electricity system uses 220-240V three-pin sockets. One of the main pins is Live at 220-240V, the other is Neutral at 0V. European and US systems use different voltages and connectors. The odd one in the plug/socket is the safety Earth. These voltages are derived in such a way that the Neutral connector is normally connected to Earth at the main distribution system, so they will normally be at the same potential.

 

On ships the supply is often floating or balanced with both main connectors live and the supply voltage shared between them. Only the Live is fused with a current limiting fuse that will blow if too much current is passed through it either because too many things are connected to one socket strip, or there is a major fault in something plugged in. That is also the case with surge protectors. Surge protectors also contain electronic components are so are a potential hazard if overloaded and have been known to catch fire.

 

I have once experienced a serious fire many years ago when the neutral and earth became separated at the suppl;y end and there was a short circuit in one of the lighting units between earth and neutral. Because there was no fuse or breaker in the Neutral or Earth wires, unlimited current started to flow through the light fitting with the Neutral/Earth short circuit and none of the safety breakers cut the supply and the lighting wires got very hot and gave off toxic smoke - nasty.

 

The surge protectors in power strips do not apparenttly cut-out the Neutral part of the system, so can be a fire risk. Therefore, it is best to have just a simple multi-point set of sockets on board a ship with only wires in it and be very careful of the loading. Do not use the strip for high-power things with heaters in them, such as hair dryers and curlers.

 

The other increasingly frequent potential cause of fires is the use of non-standard USB chargers (not just for Samsung 7s;)). Multi-USB chargers and power strips with USB chargers are now known to cause the vast majority of electrical fires in homes in the UK and Europe. There are a lot of cheap badly-made chargers for all sorts of portable devices that are used if the manufacturer's charger has failed or been lost. These cheap USB chargers can catch fire or even explode, even if used correctly. And of course there is the now very real problem of non-standard chargers overloading nickel-metal-hydride batteries that burn ferociously if they are not charged correctly (not just Samsung 7s).

 

So, for everyone's sake, use only basic power strips, don't overload them, only use manufacturer's chargers and most importantly do not leave chargers connected if you are either our of the room or asleep.

[chengkp75]

 

That is also the case with surge protectors. Surge protectors also contain electronic components are so are a potential hazard if overloaded and have been known to catch fire.

 

The surge protectors in power strips do not apparenttly cut-out the Neutral part of the system, so can be a fire risk. Therefore, it is best to have just a simple multi-point set of sockets on board a ship with only wires in it and be very careful of the loading. Do not use the strip for high-power things with heaters in them, such as hair dryers and curlers.

 

 

Actually, the fire hazard in surge protectors on ships can be caused with very little current, not enough to trip a normal circuits breaker, so the fact that the power strip doesn't open the neutral is one cause for concern, but not the only one. The danger of MOV's in surge protectors is that due to the shipboard systems using SCR drives to vary motor speeds (most especially the propulsion motors), the MOV which is designed to dump high voltages (with or without high currents) to ground, will be exposed to low voltage reverse voltages which are harmful to the MOV, and can, after repeated exposures cause "thermal runaway" at fairly low currents, overheat and cause the surge protector to catch fire.

[Gwendy914]

Yikes!

 

So I'm just going to bring this:

http://amzn.to/2cbZ7ls

 

And use the chargers that came with the devices and not a USB station. And unplug it when we are not in the room or asleep.

 

And hope other people are doing the same. :)

[PorkChopKid]

Yikes!

 

So I'm just going to bring this:

http://amzn.to/2cbZ7ls

 

And use the chargers that came with the devices and not a USB station. And unplug it when we are not in the room or asleep.

 

And hope other people are doing the same. :)

We bring along a 3 outlet version of this.... 3-OUTLET It is NOT a surge suppressor but is very much like what you're using except it has a short extension. Here is a picture of it in use (hold cursor over image for extra notes)....

Oh, and I should mention that I do NOT use it in the 220v outlet with a european adaptor.

Edited September 13, 2016 by PorkChopKid

[chengkp75]

We bring along a 3 outlet version of this.... 3-OUTLET It is NOT a surge suppressor but is very much like what you're using except it has a short extension. Here is a picture of it in use (hold cursor over image for extra notes)....

Oh, and I should mention that I do NOT use it in the 220v outlet with a european adaptor.

 

Just a note, there is nothing wrong with using this in the 220v outlet, since the current draw is halved at the higher voltage.