Every strip on this page advertises itself as cruise approved. What that badge actually means is that something has been left out: surge protection. It is not an oversight, it is the entire point, and it changes where you should and should not use one of these.
The problem these solve is real and specific. A hotel room has one reachable socket, usually behind the bed, and you arrive with a phone, a laptop, a watch and someone else’s tablet. A cruise cabin is worse. So you want outlets, USB ports, a plug thin enough to sit behind furniture, and a cord long enough to reach where you sleep. Here is what actually separates them.
At a glance
| Power strip | Standout feature | Price tier | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORICO AP3 | Best seller here; publishes size and weight | Premium | |
| Addtam | The only retractable cord on the page | Budget | |
| NTONPOWER | Thinnest plug here at 0.31 inches | Mid-range | |
| POWSAF | Cheapest, ETL listed, with a warranty | Budget | |
| Beeiker | Six USB ports, three of them USB-C | Mid-range | |
| NTONPOWER 10 in 1 | Six AC outlets on three sides | Premium | |
| Lazdeck | Eight outlets, widely spaced, wall-mountable | Budget | |
| ORICO 5 in 1 | The smallest thing here that still has USB-C | Budget | |
How to choose a travel power strip
Cruise approved means unprotected, and that has consequences at home
Cruise lines ban surge protectors in cabins, so this whole category is built without them, and every listing here says so proudly. On a ship or in a hotel that is exactly right. At home it is worth pausing on. If you bring one of these back and plug your desktop, monitor and console into it, you have given yourself four sockets and nothing else. It is an extension lead, not a shield. Keep the protected strip for the desk and keep this one in the suitcase.
The cruise rules are not as settled as the badges suggest
Here is a detail worth knowing before you pack. ORICO’s own listing carries a note that Royal Caribbean does not allow corded power strips to be plugged in onboard at all, surge protection or not. Lazdeck’s listing, meanwhile, implies its non-surge strip is fine for that same line. They cannot both be right, and cabin policies change. The badge on the box is the manufacturer’s opinion. Check your specific line’s current policy before you sail, because the alternative is watching it disappear into a confiscation bin at the gangway.
The USB ports will not charge your laptop
Read the wattage rather than the port count. Addtam quotes 15.5 W maximum across four ports. POWSAF quotes 3 A total across three. Beeiker offers six ports sharing 24 W. NTONPOWER’s USB-C manages 15.5 W. Those are phone and tablet numbers. A modern laptop over USB-C wants somewhere between 45 and 100 W and will either charge at a crawl or ignore the port entirely. When these listings promise you can throw away your bulky adapters, they mean your phone bricks. Bring the laptop charger and plug it into an AC socket.
FCC and ETL are not the same badge
This one catches people. ETL listed, which Addtam and POWSAF both state, is a genuine North American electrical safety listing from a recognized testing lab. FCC certification, which ORICO and Beeiker cite, covers radio interference rather than whether the thing catches fire. Watch the wording closely too: one ORICO listing mentions a UL test report, which is not the same as being UL listed. For something carrying mains current in a hotel room, a real safety listing is the badge worth having.
Plug thickness and cord length decide whether it fits your room
Hotel sockets live behind the bed and the headboard sits flat to the wall. That is why every brand here brags about a flat plug: 0.39 inches on the ORICO and Beeiker, 0.35 on the NTONPOWER 10 in 1, and 0.31 on the smaller NTONPOWER, the thinnest here. ORICO adds a 45 degree right angle so the cord leaves sideways instead of out. Cord length is the other half: 5 ft on the Addtam and Beeiker, 4 ft on most, 3.7 on the small ORICO, and just 0.3 ft on the Lazdeck, which is a wall splitter rather than something that reaches your nightstand.
Count outlets, but look at the spacing
Six outlets are useless if two chargers block four of them. Lazdeck is the only brand addressing that directly, with 1.67 inches between sockets against a standard 1.5, spread over three sides so bulky adapters do not fight. NTONPOWER’s 10 in 1 uses the same three-sided trick to fit six outlets in a travel-sized body. If you carry wall warts rather than cables, that geometry matters more than the total.
ORICO AP3
The best-selling strip here, and one of the few that tells you exactly what you are packing: 9.98 ounces, 4.33 by 2.5 by 1.6 inches, smaller than the phone you are charging with it. Four AC outlets, two USB-A and one USB-C make seven devices at once. The plug is 0.39 inches thin at a 45 degree right angle, so it sits behind a headboard without a fight, and the 4 ft flat cord wraps around the body for storage instead of knotting itself in your bag. A fire-resistant PC shell and protection against short circuit, overheating and overcurrent.
Pros:
- The best-selling strip in this group
- Publishes both weight and dimensions; almost nobody does
- Thin 45 degree flat plug for sockets behind furniture
- Wrap-around cord storage; fire-resistant shell
Cons:
- Only one USB-C port
- FCC certified, which is about interference, not safety
- Joint most expensive here
Best for: the safe default, packed and forgotten until you need it.
Addtam
The only strip here that solves the cord properly. Instead of wrapping 5 ft of flex around the body and hoping it stays, the cord retracts into the round housing, so you pull out what you need and wind the rest away. It gives you three AC outlets and four USB ports, two of them USB-C, which is the best USB-C count at this price, and iSmart circuitry that reads the device and sets the charging speed. It is ETL listed, which is a real safety listing rather than an interference certificate, and it costs very little.
Pros:
- Retractable 5 ft cord; nothing else here does this
- Two USB-C ports among four USB total
- ETL listed to North American safety standards
- Cheap, and a compact circular shape that packs flat
Cons:
- 15.5 W maximum across all four USB ports
- Only three AC outlets
- Retracting mechanisms are one more thing to break
Best for: anyone who has untangled a wrapped cord in the dark once too often.
NTONPOWER
The one built for the socket you cannot reach. Its plug is 0.31 inches thick, the thinnest on this page, which is the difference between sliding behind a bed frame and not. The body is 4 by 4 by 0.9 inches with a 4 ft flat cord that wraps around it, and it carries three AC outlets rated at 1250 W alongside two USB-C and two USB-A. NTONPOWER is also unusually specific about which cruise lines require no surge protection rather than waving at the category, which is a small mark of a listing written by someone paying attention.
Pros:
- Thinnest plug here at 0.31 inches
- Two USB-C ports; seven devices at once
- Publishes its AC rating at 1250 W
- Slim 0.9 inch body with wrap-around cord
Cons:
- Three AC outlets, fewer than the ORICO
- 15.5 W per USB-C port; phones only
- No safety listing named
Best for: hotel rooms where the only socket is behind something heavy.
POWSAF
The cheapest strip here, and it does not spend its savings in the wrong place. It is ETL certified, a real safety listing that several pricier rivals do not claim, and it comes with a 30-day return and a 12-month warranty, the only warranty stated on this page. Four AC outlets, two USB-C and one USB-A cover seven devices, with 3 A total across the USB ports, 5 V at up to 3 A on USB-C. The 4 ft cord wraps around the body in a circular channel. It is plain, it is cheap, and the important boxes are ticked.
Pros:
- Cheapest strip here
- ETL certified; a genuine safety listing
- 12-month warranty and a 30-day return, the only cover stated
- Two USB-C ports and four AC outlets
Cons:
- Only 3 A total shared across three USB ports
- No plug thickness published
- No dimensions or weight given
Best for: spending the least without giving up the certification that counts.
Beeiker
The USB specialist. Six ports, three of them USB-C, is the most on this page by a distance, and it suits a family where everyone hands you a cable at bedtime. Three AC outlets bring it to nine devices at once. The total across all six USB ports is 24 W at 4.8 A, with 15.5 W available on a single USB-C, and smart charging identifies each device. It is 4.5 by 3.2 by 1.1 inches at 8.7 ounces, with a 5 ft braided cord, which is both longer and tougher than the usual flat flex, and a 0.39 inch plug at 45 degrees.
Pros:
- Six USB ports, three USB-C; the most here
- Braided 5 ft cord rather than thin flat flex
- Publishes weight and dimensions
- Nine devices at once with three AC outlets
Cons:
- 24 W shared across six ports is thin once they are all busy
- FCC certified only; no safety listing claimed
- Only three AC outlets
Best for: a family holiday where the phones outnumber the sockets.
NTONPOWER 10 in 1
Six AC outlets in something you can still pack, achieved by wrapping them around three sides of the body so nothing blocks its neighbor. Add two USB-A at 12 W and two USB-C at 15.5 W and it powers ten things at once, which is genuinely more than a hotel room usually needs and exactly right for a cabin with a single socket and four people. The AC side is rated 1250 W, the plug is 0.35 inches thin, and the 4 ft cord wraps around the body. It accepts standard two or three prong plugs.
Pros:
- Six AC outlets on three sides, so adapters do not clash
- Ten devices at once, the most here
- Thin 0.35 inch plug; 1250 W AC rating published
- Cord wraps around the body for storage
Cons:
- Joint most expensive here
- No safety listing named
- Bulkier than the 3-outlet strips it competes with
Best for: a cabin or room with one socket and a whole family’s devices.
Lazdeck
Read the cord length before you buy this one: 0.3 ft, about four inches. This is a wall splitter that hangs off the socket, not something that reaches your bedside. Taken as that, it is generous: eight AC outlets and six USB ports across three sides, spaced 1.67 inches apart rather than the usual 1.5 so fat adapters stop blocking each other, plus two rear holes for wall mounting. It is 5.9 by 3.2 by 1.2 inches with a low-profile flat plug. For a dorm desk or a home office wall it makes a lot of sense; for a hotel bed, less.
Pros:
- Eight AC outlets and six USB, the highest count here
- Wide 1.67 inch spacing stops bulky adapters clashing
- Wall-mountable with rear mounting holes
- Cheap, and three-sided so everything fits
Cons:
- The cord is four inches; it will not reach your nightstand
- Sells modestly against the true travel strips
- Largest body here at 5.9 inches long
Best for: a dorm or office wall, rather than a hotel bedside.
ORICO 5 in 1
The minimalist. Two AC outlets, two USB-A and one USB-C, in a body smaller than a phone with a 3.7 ft cord that wraps around it. If you travel alone with a laptop and a phone, the four-outlet strips are carrying weight you never use, and this is the real size for that trip. Same ORICO thinking elsewhere: a flat plug for sockets behind beds, a fire-resistant shell, and protection against short circuit, overheat, overcurrent and overvoltage. Its listing cites FCC certification and a UL test report, which is not the same as a UL listing.
Pros:
- Smallest strip here that still includes USB-C
- Flat plug and wrap-around cord in a pocket-sized body
- Fire-resistant shell with full protection circuitry
- Cheaper than ORICO’s four-outlet model
Cons:
- Only two AC outlets
- A UL test report is not a UL listing
- Shortest cord of the true travel strips at 3.7 ft
Best for: traveling alone, light, with a laptop and a phone.
The verdict
Best overall: ORICO AP3. The best seller here, and it earns it on the things you notice in a dark hotel room: a plug thin enough and angled to sit behind a headboard, four AC sockets plus three USB, a cord that wraps rather than tangles, and a body under ten ounces. It is one of only two strips here plain enough to publish its size and weight, which is exactly what you want to know before it goes in the bag.
Best value: POWSAF. The cheapest strip on the page is also ETL certified, which is a real electrical safety listing that several pricier rivals here never claim, and it is the only one offering a 12-month warranty. Four outlets and two USB-C cover seven devices. The USB output is modest and it publishes no dimensions. For the money, the trade is easy.
Best premium: NTONPOWER 10 in 1. Six AC outlets arranged over three sides means bulky adapters stop stealing each other’s space, and with four USB ports on top it handles ten devices from one wall socket. That is the actual cruise cabin problem solved. It costs the most here, which in this category is still not much.
FAQ
Why do these all say no surge protection?
Because cruise lines ban surge protectors in cabins, and this category is built for cruises. The badge advertises an absence, not a feature. That is fine on a ship or in a hotel, but it means you should not bring one home and trust it to protect a computer. It gives you sockets, nothing more.
Will one really be allowed on my cruise?
Check your line, close to sailing. The listings disagree with each other: ORICO’s own note says Royal Caribbean does not allow corded strips onboard at all, while Lazdeck implies its non-surge strip is acceptable there. Policies differ by line and change over time, and the box is not the authority.
Can I charge a laptop from the USB-C port?
Slowly, or not at all. The best USB-C output here is about 15.5 W, and total USB output tops out around 24 W shared. Laptops generally want 45 W and up. Use the AC outlets and your own laptop charger, and take the USB ports as what they are: phone and tablet chargers.
Which certification should I look for?
ETL listed, which Addtam and POWSAF claim, is a genuine North American safety listing. FCC certification is about radio interference, not fire risk, so it answers a different question. Also read carefully: a UL test report, as one listing mentions, is not the same as being UL listed.
Does the flat plug really matter?
In hotels, yes, more than any other feature. The socket is usually behind the bed and the headboard is flat to the wall. A plug at 0.31 to 0.39 inches with a right-angle exit slides in where a normal plug will not, and that is the difference between charging at the nightstand and charging across the room.
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