The one reality that all cruisers know is that cruise cabins can be small, especially if you opt for the more economically priced staterooms. How will you survive a week or more in these tight quarters? Luckily, we have come up with our top cruise cabin hacks and space saving tips to help you maximize every square inch of your cruise cabin.

Top Space Saving Tips for Your Cruise Cabin

Store your luggage under the bed

Though this might sound a bit counter-intuitive, one of the best ways to save space in your cruise cabin is to fully unpack on embarkation day.

Once you unpack and organize all your belongings that you will need for your cruise vacation, simply slide your empty luggage out of sight. Use the dead area under your bed to neatly store your luggage and add some much needed space back to your cruise cabin.

If you have multiple pieces of luggage, you can always stow away the smaller pieces within the larger suitcases to ensure they will all fit.

Use packing cubes

This cruise cabin hack starts even before you board the ship. When packing for your cruise, we suggest utilizing packing cubes.

These squares help you organize your clothing items and make unpacking a breeze. Packing cubes are perfect for storing items like under garments, pajamas, bathing suits, and any other clothing you would normally leave folded in a drawer at home.

Once you are on the ship, you can simply unzip and place on a shelf in the closet or a dresser drawer depending what your cruise cabin offers for storage.

Of course, packing cubes also keep items organized and save space in your luggage during traveling as well.

Ask for extra hangers

While unpacking, you will want to hang up items that get easily wrinkled. Think dresses for women, khakis and dress pants for men, and other like items. You’ll want to look your best for formal night!

You can also use the clothes bar in the closet to hang items like jackets or vests, rain coats, sweaters or sweatshirts, and other clothing that is essential when cruising to cooler climates.

Related Note: If you’re cruising to Alaska, we have our complete packing list to ensure you know exactly what to pack and what to leave at home.

If you run out of hangers while doing so, just ask your stateroom attendant for more. He/She should be able to grab you extra hangers to aid in your unpacking process.

Use magnetic hooks

Many first time cruisers might not know this, but the walls of your cruise cabin are metal. So, another great cruise cabin hack is to use magnetic hooks to create extra storage in your stateroom.

Think beach bags, hats, jackets, or anything else you might ordinarily throw on the sofa. You can now neatly hang these items to allow for extra seating and to reduce clutter.

These hooks come in a variety of strengths. While the 25 lb. hooks will work for lighter objects, we recommend at least 40 lb. magnets for anything with a bit more weight.

Magnets can also be used to hang cruise daily programs, shore excursion tickets, and other documents that you want to keep handy.

Use an over-the-door shoe organizer

Another one of our cruise cabin hacks to save space is to bring an over-the-door shoe organizer.

While we do tend to overpack, this necessary accessory for the cruise cabin isn’t for shoes. If you think outside the box a bit, an over-the-door shoe organizer can be used for much more than just shoes.

If you bring along one of these handy organizers, unpacking your toiletries will be a breeze. With individual compartments for things like suntan lotion, perfume/cologne, deodorant, and much more, all your toiletries will be neatly stored in one place without cluttering up the bathroom or desk counter space.

You can also use the pockets to store other smaller items like sunglasses, medications, or even small electronics.

Keep your electronics organized

If you are like us, your electronics checklist might be almost as long as your clothing checklist. From phones, watches, laptops, airpods, cameras, and everything in between, you could end up with a sea of cords.

On embarkation day, designate an area of your cabin as the work/charging station, then keep all the accessories nearby. If you are looking for extra charging outlets, we always pack a cruise approved power strip with extra outlets and USB ports to charge multiple devices at one time.

While some newer cabins do have USB outlets near the bed, it’s not a universal feature. Thus, we also recommend bringing portable power banks to leave near the bed in the evening just in case. These also work great to keep you powered up while going ashore in ports of call.

Rearrange furniture

After unpacking and getting organized, take some time to assess your cruise cabin’s layout. Another one of our cruise cabin hacks is don’t be afraid to rearrange the furniture a bit to maximize the space to best meet your travel party’s needs.

This might mean moving tables, ottomans, or other small pieces of furniture out of the way to allow more room to maneuver in the generally tight quarters.

If there is something in the cabin that you do not plan on using for the duration of the cruise, consider asking your stateroom attendant to simply remove it. This could be a piece of small furniture, extra glassware, an ice bucket, etc.

Pack away laundry

During the course of your cruise, you should try to stay organized to reduce clutter in the cabin. This means taking a few minutes at the end of each night to pack away your dirty laundry.

Whether you bring a reusable laundry bag or a trash bag, you can store it on the floor of your closet and quickly discard of your dirty items. Once the bag is full, simply place it in the suitcase under the bed.

If there are any other bulkier clothing items or shoes that you no longer need, you can also place them in a packing cube or the suitcase throughout the course of the week.

This cruise cabin hack will not only keep you organized, but it will make packing at the end of your cruise much easier.

Pack less

Perhaps the top cruise cabin hack and space saving tip is to pack less! Coming from chronic over-packers like ourselves, we know this can be difficult.

However, as you pack for your cruise, try to pick outfits based on what activities you have planned during the day, items that can easily be mixed and matched, and limit bigger and bulkier items.

Over the years, we have gotten better, but we still always manage to come home with outfits that are unused.

If you are sailing the Caribbean think bathing suits, shorts, and sundresses. If you are sailing colder climates think reusable layers and easily packable outerwear. You get the point! And, don’t forget these other cruise essentials.

Leave these items at home

To help save some space in your luggage and your cabin, you can leave a number of items at home!

Of course, you will want to review the list of prohibited items from your cruise line to ensure you are not breaking any rules. These generally include steamers and irons, candles, surge protectors, pool toys, etc. Making this cruise mistake will get you sent to the “naughty room” and your items will be confiscated.

Besides these items, you don’t need to bring a hair dryer as one is provided in the stateroom. You should also leave the beach towels at home, as your cruise ship will have towels to use by the pool and for shore excursions. We also recommend leaving expensive jewelry at home, as you don’t want to risk losing it.

…If all else fails

If you have tried to consider all of our top cruise cabin hacks and space saving tips, but you still think you will not have enough room, then you might want to consider upgrading to a larger cabin. This is especially true for families or those with accessibility needs.

All cruise lines have a variety of stateroom options that vary in size and price. There are accessible cabins for those with wheelchairs along with suites that have extra bedrooms and bathrooms, larger closets, and just generally more space. So, be sure to review the selections when booking your cruise.

Other Cruise Cabin Hacks

Make sure everything works

Once you are settled into your cruise cabin, now is a good time to make sure everything works. Check the lights, television, power outlets, air conditioning, etc. You should also locate the hair dryer and ensure that it works.

If you plan to use the safe, you should use this time to set it up as well. It’s also not a bad idea to check the water temperature in the shower.

This way, if you find any issues, you can report them to your stateroom attendant promptly and maintenance can fix them before they become an issue for you.

Meet your stateroom attendant

You also want to make it a priority to meet your stateroom attendant during the first day of your cruise.

He/She can review any questions you have about the cabin, and you can also make your preferences known at this time. For instance, you can request any additional items you may need or items you want removed. Since most cruise lines only provide once daily service now, we always request extra towels.

If the beds are in the wrong configuration, they can adjust it during the evening turndown service. Or, if you are traveling with family in connecting staterooms, they can open the divider between the balconies if able.

Personalize your cabin

Now that you have maximized your stateroom with our space saving tips, it’s time to have a little fun.

Many cruisers love to decorate their cruise cabin doors. As long as it is allowed on your cruise line, we suggest packing a few items to get you in vacation mode. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion, cruising with a group, or just here to have fun, show off that spirit on your cabin door.

You can easily find accessories on Amazon or more customized options on Etsy.

You should also consider a small dry erase board for your cabin door, especially if you are traveling with a larger party. This is an easy way to leave messages for each other.

Pack a small night light

Since you will be sleeping in an unfamiliar environment, having some light to guide the way at night is a good idea. The last thing you want to do is trip and fall while attempting to get to the bathroom during the night.

This re-chargeable, wireless light is the perfect option for a cruise. You could also pack a few battery operated tea lights instead. Either way, leaving a small light in the bathroom is another one of our cruise cabin hacks.

Bring liquid hand soap

We aren’t sure why more cruise lines and hotels haven’t converted yet, but we always travel with a small container of liquid hand soap. If you are as adverse to bathroom bar soap as I am, you might be wondering why you didn’t think of this sooner.

A small travel container left near the bathroom sink eliminates the mess from bar soap and can easily be packed with other toiletries in your luggage.

Consider these toiletries too

Along the same lines, you might want to consider a few other travel-sized items. First, we always bring Downy wrinkle release. Since cruise lines don’t allow irons or steamers, this is the next best way to minimize wrinkles in your clothing.

Also, given the tight quarters of cruise ship cabins, you may want to consider air freshener or a small bottle of Poo-Pourri to keep the stateroom smelling fresh.

Take a spare card

More and more cruise lines are switching to energy-saving features. While this is great, it does become somewhat of a nuisance in your stateroom. On many newer ships, there is a slot where you need to insert your key card in order for the lights, air conditioning, and sometimes even power outlets to work.

This inevitably leads to forgetting your card in the slot when you leave the cabin. Or, the room being really warm and your laptop battery dead when you come back from a long day ashore.

Thus, one of our cruise cabin hacks is to bring an extra card to leave in this slot. It could be an old key card, a membership card, or any other non-credit card. So far, MSC Cruises is the only cruise line we have found to be specific enough to recognize that it’s not your cruise key card in the slot.

Pack some clothes pins or bag clips

Clothes pins or magnetic bag clips can come in handy for a few different purposes during a cruise vacation.

The more obvious use is to hang bathing suits and other small items to dry. Whether it’s with clothes pins in the shower or with magnetic clips hung somewhere else in the room, this is an easy drying solution.

If you are sensitive to light and have a balcony cabin, these clips can also come in handy for the curtains. You can clip the curtains tightly together for some extra room-darkening. It will almost make it feel like you have an interior room while you are trying to sleep!

A shower curtain might be helpful

Finally, if you are traveling with a friend or the kids in the same cabin, packing a shower curtain might be helpful. We all know that cruise cabins are tiny, and they don’t provide much privacy. Thus, a dark-colored curtain can help.

With the use of magnetic ceiling hooks, you can easily hang a shower curtain as a divider. You can utilize it between the two twin beds for some extra privacy and personal space. Or, you can separate the living space from the bed if you are traveling with kids.

Comments

Do you agree with our Top Cruise Cabin Hacks and Space Saving Tips? What are your secrets for maximizing your stateroom layout? Drop us an anchor below to share your other cruise cabin tips.