Texas Cruise Guests Advised Common Item is Now Banned

Fans of cruise ship vacations in Texas might need to rethink their packing plans. Especially if you have a fall or early winter cruise in your plans for the remainder of 2024. And if you were wondering there are still some amazing itineraries that you can book for the final three months of the year.

Some of those trips begin in the Port of Galveston in Texas. It is the nation’s largest cruise and cargo port. The fact that Galveston Port is about an hour’s drive from Houston, Texas also makes air connections to the terminal convenient as well.

Those who enjoy cruise vacations seem to point to the lack of stress this mode of vacation travel seems to offer. I like cruises because you only have to unpack your bags one time but you still get to see a lot of destinations. Also when you travel via cruise ship you get to bring a little bit of home with you too.

It’s not uncommon on cruise ships for guests to decorate their stateroom door or the interior of their stateroom to make it look more inviting. However, one of those items that we all seem to have in our homes and most of us consider to be a necessity when we travel is no longer being welcomed aboard many ocean-going vessels.

I have found the cruise lines, at least the lines I have been on over the past 24 months have gone out of their way to meet the energy needs of today’s traveler. Not only are we all packing a camera on vacation but for most of us that camera is also our phone. Which also serves as our computer and lifeline to the outside world and electronic boarding passes.

All of these phones need to be charged, right? So the simple solution is to bring a power strip with you on board the cruise ship, right? Well, that’s where the cruise lines are cracking down and many of them no longer allow guests to carry multi-port power strips with a surge protector on board the vessel.

The reason is safety. In particular, fire safety on board. Too many power strips plugged into too many stateroom outlets could pose a fire hazard so Royal Caribbean has now banned the strips from their sailings. You can bring a multi-port USB charger onboard but it must be safety certified.

Another item, besides the power strips that are banned from Royal Caribbean ships, is baby monitors. Those devices could interfere with radio communication and navigation devices on the ships so they are not allowed either.  Here is a comprehensive list of items that are not allowed on most cruise lines. So do plan accordingly.