Cooling Box

It is a small fridge that is in your cabin that used to be a 'pay as you use mini bar'. It's not a real fridge which is why it's called a cooling box, although some are colder than others.
We put a couple of cups of ice in our's to keep everything cold.
 
If something is already cold, it will keep it cold.
But it will not get a room temperature can of soda really cold.
 
One tip on helping the "cooling box" to keep things colder is to leave the door of the cabinet that it sits in, open. Our room steward always comes along behind us and closes the cabinet door, so I've had to explain to them that I like to leave it open. The reason is that the motor that's in the "fridge" gets hot, and if it sits in a closed-up cabinet, it's even hotter. It just seems to stay cooler when the air in the cabinet can circulate.
 


I noticed that the Dream stateroom description for a CAT 4 list a "Refrigerator" as one of the ammenities. I wonder if this is a real fridge or the cooling box like the Wonder/Magic.
 
When we cruised on the Wonder this past Thanksgiving, the cooling box in our cabin was different than any we have had in the past, on either ship. It cooled down even warm sodas and water bottles (to the point of being cold), and I think it may have been an actual refrigerator instead of the old style cooling box. We were in a cat 3, so I don't know if that makes any difference.
 


I wonder if they have been gradually changing out these units (or changing them out in bulk?) On our 2009 cruises we've noticed that they were much colder than on previous cruises.

If you require a real refrigerator for medications, complete the medical form and one will be placed in your room prior to your arrival.
 
When we cruised on the Wonder this past Thanksgiving, the cooling box in our cabin was different than any we have had in the past, on either ship. It cooled down even warm sodas and water bottles (to the point of being cold), and I think it may have been an actual refrigerator instead of the old style cooling box. We were in a cat 3, so I don't know if that makes any difference.



We were in handicap room, and when we got there, there was the standard "cooling box" in the cabinet, and on the floor was a regular small refridgerator. It had been there at the request of the previous passenger for medical needs, and was never removed. It was MUCH colder than the other.
On our next cruise, we were in a Cat 3 HC room, and it only had the cooling box. I asked them about bringing in the mini "fridge" and was told I could have it if I had medical needs for it. I didn't, so I didn't ask them to bring one.
I don't think it makes a difference as far as category, since we've sailed in the Walt, the Roy, a Cat 2, and Cat 3. They were all always the same, except there were two "boxes" in the Walt and Roy.
Maybe the passenger before you had medical needs and they just never changed the box out.
 
I wonder if they have been gradually changing out these units (or changing them out in bulk?) On our 2009 cruises we've noticed that they were much colder than on previous cruises.

If you require a real refrigerator for medications, complete the medical form and one will be placed in your room prior to your arrival.



I doubt that they would change the out gradually, for one thing, they know about the DIS and they know what an uproar it would cause once some people got "colder boxes" and others didn't.

What IS quite possible, is that they replace one that no longer works at all with a newer one that is much colder than the old ones.
 
Someone in the past who cruised in the first year or so of the Magic's life posted that the ship did have real refrigerators at first, but due to lack of air flow in the cabinent, they all overheated and failed, so they went with the less powerful cooling boxes. Any first cruisers recall this?
 
Someone in the past who cruised in the first year or so of the Magic's life posted that the ship did have real refrigerators at first, but due to lack of air flow in the cabinent, they all overheated and failed, so they went with the less powerful cooling boxes. Any first cruisers recall this?

We were on the Maiden Voyage of the Magic and sailed again the next year but they were the mini bars in the beginning...can't say how cold they got as we never opened them as there was a charge!!!

MJ
 
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Maybe the passenger before you had medical needs and they just never changed the box out.

If that is the case, they removed the "cooling box" and placed the new/extra unit inside the cabinet. I may be wrong (it happens a lot :rolleyes1) but I thought if a real refrigerator was requested for medical reasons, it was put in the cabin in addition to the cooling box. Actually removing/replacing the box, that is in the cabinet, sounds like a lot of time-consuming extra work.
 
If that is the case, they removed the "cooling box" and placed the new/extra unit inside the cabinet. I may be wrong (it happens a lot :rolleyes1) but I thought if a real refrigerator was requested for medical reasons, it was put in the cabin in addition to the cooling box. Actually removing/replacing the box, that is in the cabinet, sounds like a lot of time-consuming extra work.


You are right in that the one time there were TWO in our room...the one in the cabinet and the real mini fridge on the floor.
Best guess is that if one of the old ones croaked out completely, maybe the newer ones just plain work better.
 
I have a theory on the cooling boxes that I’d be interested if others would share their impression.

We’ve completed five sailings and noticed that the cooling box is cool to warm when we arrive in the room. The following morning the unit is much cooler...and gets much colder through our sail.

Since there is a ‘cooling box’ in every room...I believe they are ALL on a separate electrical circuit. I ‘assume’...when the ship is en route to port (maybe shortly after leaving Castaway Cay – after diner maybe)...this circuit is shut down. Then, an hour or so...before the next cruisers come on board...this circuit is turned back on. So...for 10 to 16 hours...DCL does not have to pay the electricity to run the ‘cooling box’ motor (small compressor) in each...and every...stateroom. Financially...this makes sense.

Also...ice lasts longer in an ice chest...and refrigerators are more efficient when ‘a box’ is 50 to 70% full and sealed. It makes good sense that items (bottles of water/wine/soda, fruit etc) that hold cold...will also release cold when the refrigerator cycles off/ice is gone.

One of the first things we do during/after unpacking our suitcases is to add items we’ve brought to the ‘cooling box’. (this will sound silly) I remove the dividers/racks in the cooling box and place them in the top of the cabinet – they just slide out. This allows additional space for the ice bucket the Stateroom Host/Hostess brings in – and refreshes during our sailing.

I’ve experienced very cool to cold items the following day - and colder items as our sailing continues.
 

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