AC converter for hair dryer pre and post cruise

[Canal archive]

Cheeky!

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Does it mess up floating ground?

No, because it does not have anything (like the semi-conductors in a surge protector) that provides a potential path from power to ground.  The electronics in it are very similar to those in your USB charger that takes 100-240v and converts it to 5v.

[Daisi]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

  The electronics in it are very similar to those in your USB charger that takes 100-240v and converts it to 5v.

 

 

So am I reading this correct? If my USB chargers are rated the 110-240V, all I need are the plug adaptors to use them in Europe? Not a converter to plug them into? That will save a lot of weight, as I have a converter that takes 3 plugs & has 6 USB ports. We only need to recharge our "toys" - phones, tablets & camera which are all USB. 

[Haqdeluxe]

10 minutes ago, Daisi said:

 

 

So am I reading this correct? If my USB chargers are rated the 110-240V, all I need are the plug adaptors to use them in Europe? Not a converter to plug them into?

Yes! Additionally... I suspect you will be hard pressed to find a USB charger these days that isn't dual-voltage. 

[slidergirl]

I have been using my Anker Power Port 6 for the past 2 weeks in France and Italy.  Just need the adapter plug and I can charge up all I need.  I was on a canal barge in Southern France and it was perfect for the two of us in the cabin to charge.

[CPT Trips]

9 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Cheeky!

Moi? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[BeeSkip]

Thank you fellow cruise friends...We are NOT taking the blow dryer..case closed...!!!  You are all so helpful

[RTR 21-0]

Excuse my cluelessness, but adapters and converters are different things?  I thought they were the same?  I have a hair dryer/volumizer that is to be used with USA 120v only and not to be used with a converter so I’m assuming I would get an adapter to use in Europe hotels.  If I use it on the ship, I would need the adapter if I plugged it into the outlet in the cabin bathroom but could I use the outlets in the cabin or our travel size non surge protector power cube?  Obviously I was sleeping during science class 😂 TIA 

[Canal archive]

Don’t worry with science we only take in what we consider important at the time but look at it this way - and of course I’ve most probably got it completely wrong. Adapter = to adapt something so that it works or fits with something else so it actually could be seen to be a converter as well. Converter is supposed to convert something to to work with something else so it could be an adapter as well. Oh what a wonderfully diverse language we use especially considering that it all comes from a supposedly dead language!

Now someone can explain the reason why! 

[pontac]

4 hours ago, RTR 21-0 said:

 If I use it on the ship, I would need the adapter if I plugged it into the outlet in the cabin bathroom but could I use the outlets in the cabin or our travel size non surge protector power cube?

 

An adapter just is an intermediary the coverts the plugs prongs of one country to the plugs prongs of another country - in your case the flat USA prongs to the round Euro prongs that allows USA devices to be plugged into Euro sockets. They don't convert the electricity, so a device built to operate on USA 110 volts will receive Euro 220 volts. Best to check the device will take 220 volts.

 

If you read earlier posts in the thread, you'll see that personal hair driers are not allowed to be used on river boats. A hair drier is supplied in every cabin (with Viking certainly). Check the rules with the cruise line you are booked on.

[Canal archive]

With Scenic certainly hairdryers are supplied. I do remember some time ago seeing something about curling/straighteners not being allowed on at least one cruise line something to do with them being an exposed heating surface.

[sharkster77]

Viking supplies hair dryers.  Curling irons for a while were not allowed but were allowed when we cruised in 2019.  Wife found a dual voltage curling iron at Target for only around $10.   All of the chargers for phones, tablets, computers, etc are are dual-voltage---only a cheap adapter needed.  You can still get adapters from ricksteves.com for only $1 each.  We have a set of 4 for both the continent and for UK/Ireland.

Edited August 7, 2022 by sharkster77

[RTR 21-0]

Thanks for the replies!  I’m a visual person so looked up the European outlets, prongs and that with your comments helped me understand.  Sharkster 77, you mentioend phone chargers and I’m wondering if anyone has had issues with them?  We were recently on Carnival Panorama, hubs had every slot taken on the USB port provided by Carnival in the cabin and I forgot to pack our surge protector.  Plugged my phone directly into the outlet at the desk and noticed it wasn’t charging but had charged the day before at hotel.  Tried it on the USB port and didn’t work.  Not sure if it got zapped when I plugged it directly in the socket.  Luckily it wasn’t the phone and cord could easily be replaced.  

[Daisi]

Most chargers for newer phones/tablets are marked 110-240V. As long as your chargers are marked like that, you can just use the plug adaptors.  I buy the chargers that have multiple ports, so I can charge 2-3 devices overnight all at once.

 

Most lines will supply hair dryers, as do hotels if you are doing a pre or post stay.

 

[CPT Trips]

Surge protectors are a big no-no on cruise ships. Ships have an different type electrical system (floating ground) and surge protectors can really mess it up. While I understand why, I don’t know the science well enough to explain it in detail.

[RTR 21-0]

2 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Surge protectors are a big no-no on cruise ships. Ships have an different type electrical system (floating ground) and surge protectors can really mess it up. While I understand why, I don’t know the science well enough to explain it in detail.

Most definitely.  I should have put it was a non-surge protector, cruise approved.