If you are planning your first cruise it is important to know that the cruise cabins are small, especially the inside cabins. They are so small in fact that they can feel claustrophobic. There are many things that you can do to prepare your cruise cabin in order to make it more efficient and organized. You don’t have to worry that it will eat into your cruise time as preparing and organizing your cabin will only take a few minutes of your time with these cruise cabin hacks that will keep you organized.
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If you follow the ten cruise tips and these ten cruise cabin hacks your cruise will be much more enjoyable.
10 CRUISE CABIN HACKS TO KEEP YOU ORGANIZED
Decorate Cabin Door
Larger cruise ships can have as many as 2,000 cabins all of which look the same from the outside. This can make it difficult to determine which cabin is yours, especially after a few drinks 🙂 . This is where decorating the outside cabin door is beneficial. Many cruise lines will decorate the door for you if they know ahead of time that you are celebrating a special occasion. If you aren’t, this is a fun project to do, especially if cruising with children. This type of welcome sign can be hung with a magnetic hook.
Highlighters and Coloured Pens or Pencils
You will be receiving a daily news letter while on your cruise. A highlighter or colour pencil is the perfect way to mark your newsletter to help you plan your day on the ship.
JUST ONE TIP: There is limited desk space and the cabin walls are steel. Bring a few magnets with you to post family notes and notes to your room steward in order to avoid clutter.
Use Packing Cubes to Save Space
Many of us use packing cubes in order to save space in our suitcase. If we pack efficiently, the clothes are best left in the packing cubes. This will keep your clothes organized and easier to find throughout your cruise.
If cruising with more than one person, organizing your clothes can become a real chore. This is especially true when when cruising as a family. The cruise cabins only provide one small (very small) closet for storage.
Clothespins
While it isn’t completely necessary to have clothespins handy in your cruise cabin, they certainly help your clothes, especially bathing suits, to dry quicker. The cruise cabins do have a clothes line in the shower area of the bathroom where your wet suits and clothes can be hung to dry.
FOLLOW ALONG FOR MORE CRUISE TIPS 🙂
Bring a Small Pad of Paper and Extra Pens
The cruise cabins do have a small notepad of paper, but if you are cruising with family you will need more than what is available in order to leave notes for your family as well as your room steward. Each cruise cabin is provided one pen. If you’re anything like me, you will have it lost within the first day so I recommend bringing extra pens with you on your cruise.
Bring a Folder for Your Daily Newsletters
As previously noted, you will be receiving a daily newsletter on your cruise outlining the events happening for each day on the ship. These newsletters can take up a lot of room and make your cabin seem cluttered. An envelope will help you stay organized and keep your cabin free of clutter
Laundry Hack for Your Cruise Cabin
This is my absolute favorite cruise cabin hack. It not only helps to keep the cabin tidy, it also makes life much easier and keeps you organized when you get home from the cruise. Nobody likes having dirty laundry mixed in with clean clothes when packing to go home. Pack your dirty laundry into the empty packing cubes. This way when you get home, you will know what’s clean and what’s dirty. In the alternative have a separate pop-up laundry bag to put dirty laundry in during your cruise or store it in your suitcase until it’s time to go home. This will keep the dirty clothes off the floor and hidden away.
Hanging Toiletry Bag
Believe me when I tell you that the washrooms in the cruise cabins are small and I mean SMALL! I highly recommend bring a hanging toiletry bag to store your toiletries in throughout your cruise. If you insist on bringing your own shampoo, conditioner etc. put it all in smaller travel containers
Lanyards
I always seem to “lose” my cruise card in my cabin. Having a lanyard will not only help to make the cruise card more visible, it will also allow you to navigate the ship hands free … unless of course you are carrying a drink 🙂
Charging Stations
If you are cruising with more than just yourself, or with multiple electronic devices, you will definitely want to invest in a charging device. Most cruise cabins only offer one plug in the cabin area.
Bonus Cruise Tip
Just One Tip: At the end of my cruise I leave any books that I have read in my cruise cabin for the room steward
Thank You Notes
While thank you notes are not a cruise cabin hack, providing the cruise staff with a personal note of appreciation (with a little extra tip) is a much appreciated gesture.
Final Thought on These Cruise Cabin Hacks?
I hope you found these 10 cruise cabin hacks useful with helping you to keep your cruise cabin organized. I know that the more often you cruise you will discover more cruise cabin hacks that work for you. Let me know what cruise cabin hacks you’ve discovered and I’ll add them to the post 🙂
HAPPY CRUISING 🙂
Kelly xo
SAVE THESE CRUISE CABIN HACKS TO HELP YOU STAY ORGANIZED DURING YOUR NEXT CRUISE!
JUST ONE PASSPORT 
Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle
Great tips! I’ve never been on a cruise before so I’ll pin these for when that day comes. Thanks for sharing
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Just One Passport
I hope that one day you will be able to go on a cruise. I love cruising!
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Julia
I love the idea with the Thank you notes! That‘s so thoughtful ☺️ And I think I really need to invest into a hanging toiletry bag, that sounds amazing for saving space in these small cabins!
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Just One Passport
I find that the thank you notes make it a little more personal than just leaving cash.
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thehappinessfxn@gmail.com
I have never been on a cruise so reading this guide was extremely helpful. Thank you.
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Just One Passport
I love cruising, but it isn’t for everyone.
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Renée
I’ve never been on a cruise, but still image these are great tips, especially for tight quarters. Thinking about wet clothes and having clothes pins is very clever. Great roundup.
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Just One Passport
Thank you. I love cruising and am anxious to go on another one. I just don’t have the patience for the airports yet.
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Chelsea
These are awesome tips I never would have thought of! Decorating your cabin door is so smart and I love packing cubes for any kind of trip. They truly make travel so much easier.
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Just One Passport
They sure do make things easier. Decorating the door can be fun, especially if you have kids with you.
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Sharyn McCullum
Great tips. I wish I had taken a plastic sleeve for all the newsletters on the cruise I went on. I kept them all so I can read back over things I did. I agree with packing cubes – they are great!
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Just One Passport
I love the newsletters but they are difficult to keep organized
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Gail and Paul
Great tips! Cruises can be awesome experiences, being prepared adds a lot! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Just One Passport
I LOVE cruising and I’m currently looking at doing Alaska again. That was my favorite as it has lots of adventures and the scenery is spectacular
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Lisa | Waves and Cobblestones
I like to bring magnets that are hooks — they are great for hanging up hats or light jackets to keep them out of the way.
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Just One Passport
I agree. I keep my backpack and beach bag hung on the magnet hoods.
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hannahthemaddog
This makes me want to go on a cruise, but I have seen photos of those bathrooms and they are TINY! Good tips though, especially hanging bags for toiletries, that helps save a ton of space!
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Just One Passport
Tiny is an understatement lol. Barely big enough to turn around
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Christina
Great list. We take many of the items when we cruise.
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Just One Passport
Awesome! I’d love to hear if you take anything I didn’t cover. Always looking for inside tips
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mpaprojecttravels
Such great tips! We have never been on a cruise but would like to go. I am definitely saving for future reference!
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Just One Passport
I love cruising. It’s a great way to see several places and determine if you want to go for a longer vacation. The food on cruise ships is also fantastic (and the drinks)
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Bea Pinnegar
These are actually such incredibly useful and practical tips! Thanks for this lovely list – definitely saving it and coming back to it when I plan my next cruise trip 🙂
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Just One Passport
Awesome! I hope you got a couple of new tips! I’m always looking for the inside scoop and ideas from experienced travellers/cruisers. Anything to make it easier 🙂
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Agnes
It’s a great article with many valuable tips on preparing and organizing a tiny cabin during a dream cruise. I love packing cubes and often use them. The laundry tip is excellent!
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Just One Passport
Thank you. The laundry tip is my favorite. There’s nothing worse than getting home and having dirty and clean clothes mixed together and having to wash everything.
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