Why Cruise Ships Ban Certain Electrical Devices

Why Do Cruise Ships Ban Some Electrical Devices?

Major Risks on Ships of Using Some Electrical Device Usage

Fire Hazards: Fire is the biggest danger at sea because it spreads fast in closed spaces. Standard multi-plugs can overheat if too many items plug into them.
Surge Protection Conflicts: Surge protectors interfere with a ship’s unique isolated electrical grounding system. This interference can bypass safety breakers or damage ship wiring.
Circuit Overloads: Too many high-wattage devices (mostly things like curling irons, hair dryers or straighteners) on a single ships circuit will trip breakers, cause power outages or even worse.
Please Note: Most ships provide specific hair blowers/dryers in staterooms and those need to be used instead of your on device as they have been carefully selected.

Cruise Line Power Strip Rules

Most major cruise lines ban surge-protected power strips and extension cords, but rules vary by line and non-surge USB charging hubs are usually allowed.

Surge Protectors: These are banned across all major cruise lines (including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney, Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America) due to shipboard fire safety risks.

Standard Power Strips & Multi-Plugs:

Lines like Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, and Norwegian generally allow non-surge-protected power strips and/or outlet adapters.

Royal Caribbean & Disney strictly prohibit all power strips, extension cords, and multi-plug AC outlets, allowing only certified USB/USB-C multi-port wall chargers. Some Disney ships may also restrict even multi-plug adapters. Some Disney ships also restrict multi-plug adapters.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Cruise Approved Devices

You will often see claims about an Item being Aproved By the Cruise Lines International Association and while there is a small bit of truth to that claim, each cruise line still has it’s own policy and it many conflict with CLIA stated policy. So when you see AC power strips advertised as approved for onboard use by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), that “Cruise Approved” statement may not actually be accurat for the cruise you’re taking. Many items sold online as being Cruise Approved Non-Surge Power Strips are still not universally allowed, as each ship has a specific policy and individual security teams will enforce their ship’s specific policy.

The real problem for cruisers in todays world is that we mostly travel with a number of electical devices that need to stay charged. And even today most ship staterooms only offer a couple of available electrical outlets. So if you have to cheat here are a few important considerations to keep you and your cruise ship safe:

Only use the ships provided hair dryer.
Never bring along and use surge protected multi-outlets or devices. Period!
If you are still going to temporarily use a multi-outlet, charge only low voltage digital devices and only while you are in your stateroom.
If you are traveling with a laptop that needs charging, only charge it by plugging it directly into the ships provided outlets and never leave it charging while you are out of the stateroom.

Considering all of the above you should now recognize that each ship is actually a unique environment. They were built at different times in different shipyards and electrical standards have evolved over time and replacing a ships electrical system is simply not an option. Also our world and our requirements have changed over the years and today we are much more dependent on degital devices and keeping them charged. Cosidering this we need to understand and balance our digital needs against the critical importance of ship safety at sea.