backup generators
 

Does anybody know if any cruiselines offer rooms with access to a backup generator?

My grandfather has a heart pump that operates on a battery that requires him to plug in every night. He had me researching Alaska cruises last year before he had the device put in & had to postpone the trip because of the surgery. I am going to research to see if it is possible for them to take the trip this year, but they won't be able to do it unless the ship has a backup generator in case there are issues.

You could try the medical department of the cruise lines you are interested in, but any listing I've seen for a cruise with medical conditions required your equipment to have it's own backup power. I don't think you will have much luck finding one that will guarantee you electricity.

Wow, that's a real "challenge" for the cruiselines and you might have better luck getting more specific answers by dealing with the cruiseship's corporate office directly. I would consult with your grandfather's PCP on advice, options and what to request from the cruiseline in terms of preparedness & contingencies.

There are topics/discussions about various special needs over at the boards/forums at cruisecritic.com - goggle or search among the threads.

NCL has an "Access Desk" and you might want to contact them directly by phone, fax or email directly:
http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cm...ssibleCruising

I don't think the typical cruiseship cabins, including the "accessible" ones are designed to integrate (red tag outlets) backup power generator functions - in the unlikely event of a power failure (engine fire, etc.) A gas-powered generator will emit fumes and can be noisy while running, and must be properly setup to run with ventilation (out on the balcony) From my standpoint, there are many safety & risk management issues involved with having the equipment in a ship's cabin. ^

While you are exploring this - consider investing in AED and/or ask the cruiseline on whether the ship being sailed on carry an AED .... @:-)

Good luck & Alaska, yes, is a must see for anyone who ever wanted to cruise - for its scenic beauty.

I don't think you're going to find any ships that have any sort of backup for individual cruise rooms. That said, long term power outages aren't necessarily real common on ships, but they do happen. And generally power to rooms is low on the priority for their backup generation compared to other things (like keeping the bridge running). And in extreme cases, it can be like the Carnival Splendor was, where power was out quite a while.

Now, in at least some of those cases, I wouldn't be surprised if the medical offices at least have some other backup systems in place (but don't know), so it might be possible to visit there in an emergency where power was out elsewhere (although it'd likely involve walking down many flights of stairs to get to it).

I'd guess a lot also comes down to whether it's something where'd it'd be ok for power to be out a couple hours, or whether it's critical that there's power all the time overnight. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not even going to try to make a guess on that for something that important.

But like I said, long term power outtages are definitely the rare event, not common, so this may be something you just have to weigh the risks against the rare chance it happens, because I doubt you'll ever get a guarantee from a cruise line that you'll always be able to get to power in some way.

It's not the answer you're looking for, but if my life absolutely depended on regular access to electricity I don't think I'd go on a cruise.

The chances of an outage are extremely slim, but there's no recourse for him if the power goes down and they can't get backups running.

How much power does this use? If this is a small pump, then a portable battery pack may be enough to recharge it for up to a week.

Once you know the power requirements, you may be able to find a solution that doesn't require a generator.

Thanks for all of the replies. We will discuss this with his doctor at the next visit to see what they say.

All ships have emergency generators. In 10+ years of going to sea on merchant ships I've never seen power go out for more than a half hour. Ships generally carry 30% of the main generators as a spare IE a ship that runs normally on 2 will have a third in reserve in case one of the two goes down. I'm sure if it got real bad the cruise staff would let you plug into an emergency outlet.

Tell that to the passengers on board the Carnival Splendor.

The Splendor never went dark, from what I read on it. They lost main power but still have emergency power. Emergency power is limited to essentials such as navigation equipment, radios etc. I would be impossible to have an emergency gen big enough, they have to be outside the engine room. To power the whole ship and yes most of the refers went down but they aren't essential.We're talking about worst case here and the splendor fire was bad but I have seen, thankfully not been on but see a lot worse shipboard fires

If your life absolutely depended on regular access to electricity you'd happily cruise? I sure wouldn't.