Fan

[SoftballMom8]

On my last cruise the room to me stayed HOT! we had it check and they said it was fine. The room right next to me (a friends room) was nice and cold.

 

I want to bring a fan but im not sure if we can and If so what kinds of fans are allowed??

[shof515]

a small portable fan like this: https://www.amazon.com/O2COOL-10-inch-Portable-Fan-Adapter/dp/B00ATSHMIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496075537&sr=8-1&keywords=o2+fan is good to have and is easy to pack. I have one

 

DO NOT bring one of these big fans: https://www.amazon.com/Holmes-HBF2010A-WM-21-Inch-4-5-Inch-Speed-Settings/dp/B0037W4YD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496075575&sr=8-1&keywords=box+fan

[Alex of the Seas]

Totally agree with Shof515. We always take a small fan and a long single end extension cord. Never know where you will want to put the fan and where the outlet is in the room. Don't bring a power strip as it will usually be taken and held until end of the cruise.

 

I also bring a small 3-way adapter plug so I can charge electronics (cell, camera, tablet) while still using fan. Just bring it in the carry-on luggage. TSA doesn't care and it doesn't get confiscated. Stewards never say anything and I leave it out in plain view, just don't overload it.

 

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[SadieN]

Your AC could have been effected by someone leaving their balcony door open.

 

 

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[Organized Chaos]

Look in the camping section of Walmart or similar. They have small (usually 8"-10") portable fans there. Mine runs on A/C or battery. Like Alex of the Seas, I take a long extension cord (6'-8') so I can move the fan next to the bed. Not just for cooling, but I also like the white noise. You are allowed to bring a power strip. Just make sure it's new or in very good condition, and that it is not surge protected, and it shouldn't get confiscated. But I don't bother with those because their cords are much shorter than an extension cord. A 3-way adapter gives you extra plugs if needed. Every time we left the room, I just moved the fan to the counter and the extension cord out of the way so it wouldn't be in the steward's way.

[easyboy]

We have a 5" battery operated fan that is handy to bring.

 

 

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[coevan]

Your AC could have been effected by someone leaving their balcony door open.

 

 

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Oh my, here we go again, get out the popcorn. Every cruise we have had with a balcony, at some time, we left the door open. My wife likes to sleep in a meat locker. We have never had a hot room.

[Tommy J]

I always take a 20" Lasko box fan. Twenty dollars at Dollar store or Walmart. If you are not flying this is the best.

[Crusingdiva62]

Leaving the balcony door open wouldn't affect you but other staterooms

 

 

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[hftmrock]

Oh my, here we go again, get out the popcorn. Every cruise we have had with a balcony, at some time, we left the door open. My wife likes to sleep in a meat locker. We have never had a hot room.

 

 

and yes get the butter for the popcorn because its been generally established that its not YOUR room that will have a hot room because its working harder... its all the other rooms around you that you are unknowingly affecting

[hftmrock]

from the last debate, here is the details from Chengkp75 who is as respected a member for the technology of a ship as there is here

 

Unlike HVAC in your home or a hotel, which rely on the fact that the structure leaks air to provide fresh air to the rooms, a ship has to ensure that fresh air is introduced to all spaces to keep air quality up. The basics of HVAC design says that 20% of a cabin's volume must be replenished every hour, and 80% can be recirculated, so there are two A/C systems in your cabin.

 

The 20% replenishment is done by the bathroom exhaust vent taking air from the cabin, and passing that air through a heat exchanger to start cooling outside fresh air coming into the ship. Large fans pull outside air into the ship, through this heat exchanger, then through a large chiller to bring the temperature and humidity down to acceptable levels, and then this fan is ducted to supply all the cabins on a given deck, on one side of the ship, and in a given fire zone, so probably 30-40 cabins for each air handler. As in my earlier post that was quoted several pages above, this air is sent into the cabin to maintain a slight positive pressure, so that if there is smoke in the passageway, the pressure in your cabin keeps it from coming in under the door.

 

Now, the cabin thermostat controls the recirculation of the air in your cabin. There will be an individual fan and chiller unit for your cabin. The fan will run all the time, and the thermostat will control whether the chilled water from the engine room enters the individual cabin chiller to cool the air or not.

 

So, what happens when you open the balcony door? First off, on nearly all ships, a switch will turn off the recirculation A/C system, but the fresh air supply of cool air will continue. Now, since the pressure balance of your cabin is based on the size of the bathroom exhaust vent, and the space under the cabin door to determine how much volume of air is needed to maintain the positive pressure, when you open a vastly larger opening (the door), the supply air duct cannot keep up, and the pressure in this cabin drops. The supply air for all cabins then takes the path of least resistance, and tends to go to the cabin with no back pressure. Therefore, that cabin gets more fresh, cool air, while the rest of the cabins on that air handler get less. Yes, your cabin feels cool, but the other cabins get hotter.

 

How can you tell this is so? Open your balcony door, then open your cabin door to the passageway, and see if any paper in your cabin remains after the wind tunnel takes it out the balcony door. Or, walk down the passageway, and listen for the "whistling" sound of air screaming under the cabin doors of those cabins where the balcony door is open. That's how I find the culprits.

 

Some cruisers say that newer ships have the ability to shut off the fresh air supply when the balcony door is open. I have not seen this system in operation, and I'm skeptical that this is actually the case, as this would cost an enormous amount of money to install motorized dampers in each cabin, and even if these dampers are installed, when they closed it would imbalance the air flow unless there was an "excess pressure" damper to relieve some air flow to outside.

 

As for John Heald, while many think he is the god of Carnival, like most hotel crew and even senior staff outside the engineering department, they are truly clueless about technical matters, and I have frequently heard crew giving wrong information to passengers, which I will then step in and correct.

 

And for those who think the cabin steward is the "policy police", when the vast majority of their wages come from your DSC, do you really think they are going to say anything to annoy you?

 

And that's as far into the "debate" over balcony doors as I will get.