What’s Changed Regarding Royal Caribbean’s Policy on Surge Protectors/Power Strips/Adaptors?

Royal Caribbean has recently changed their policy regarding what they allow on board in terms of Surge Protectors, Power Strips and Adaptors. Here’s what you need to know!

Devices, Devices & More Devices!

Royal Caribbean has recently changed their policy regarding what they allow on board in terms of surge protectors, power strips and adaptors. The change was made quietly and was not communicated very well to the public, so there has been a fair amount of confusion among cruisers. We’ve been keeping up on the topic and to the best of our knowledge we have figured out what the new policy is, as well as what it means.

We all might like to get on a cruise ship and simply unplug from the digital world, but in today’s modern society, that’s rarely an option. Perhaps you need to check in with whomever is at home caring for your children, pets or aged parents. Maybe you just want to keep up with the news and social media. Or, horror of horrors, in today’s 24/7 always connected world, you might have to do some work. If you bring your kids on board, each one probably comes with at least one device, and before you know it, you’ve got 4 phones, 2 tablets, 3 smart watches, a Nintendo Switch , a C-PAP machine and a GoPro, all of which are hungry for electricity.

Royal Caribbean has a list of items that guests are not allowed to bring on board. You can review the complete list here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

But with this post we’re focusing on the one item you will need to power all these gadgets.

The current wording of the prohibited items Policy on Royal Caribbean’s US site is:

• Extension Cords and Multi-Plug Outlets/ Power Strips

And on their Great Britain site, it’s:

• Electrical Extension Cords, including power strips/surge protected strips

What has changed is that you used to be able to bring a power strip (something that allowed you to create several plug receptacles from one), as long as there was no surge protection, such as this:

Notice this item has not only has USB ports, but also 3-prong receptacles. Because it creates additional plug receptacles, it lands on the current Prohibited list.

As far as we can tell, this one would also be prohibited because it too, adds additional plug receptacles, even though it plugs directly into an outlet.

This type of device, which only has USB ports, it seems is currently the only thing you are allowed to bring onboard in terms of charging your devices.

So HOW Are We Supposed to Charge All These Devices?

Many newer Royal Caribbean Ships have several plugs and USB ports in convenient locations throughout the room. The very newest ships have USB and USB-C ports to help families keep phones, tablets and smartwatches charged. But some of the older ships have only a single American outlet and a single European outlet and may or may not have any USB ports.

One thing you can do is to bring either an American or a European adapter, which will give you two outlets instead of one. As well, if you are bringing a laptop computer, while you have it plugged into one of the outlets you may be able to use its USB ports to charge other devices at the same time.

If you decide to purchase a USB adaptor, choose one with high wattage, which will allow you to charge devices quickly. See this link for more information about the specific one we’re using.

Can I Smuggle A Power Strip On Board?

You may be wondering what will happen if you try to bring a prohibited item onboard. All luggage that is brought onto a ship is first x-rayed to catch things that are not allowed. It doesn’t matter if it’s packed in your regular luggage or a carry on. If an item is detected, it most likely will be confiscated for the duration of the cruise, and you will be able to retrieve it just before debarking the ship.

Other Cruisers Say They Brought a Power Strip Onboard With No Problem!

This does happen. Sometimes you can get a prohibited item through security. The problem is there is no way to tell if it will work or not, and if you are counting on having that item, you might be very disappointed. As an example, on one of our most recent trips, we had two of the item shown in the first picture above, one in one carry on, and one in another. At the time, that was still, theoretically at least, a legal item, but one of them sailed (pun intended 😊) right through and the other was flagged and confiscated. So, our best advice is, just don’t.

We hope you’ve found this informative and helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you.

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