Little things matter on a cruise ship. Until a few years ago, it was general practice for family-friendly cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian Cruise Line to offer a single America-style electrical outlet and one European outlet on cruise ships
Many ships did not offer a single USB port in their cabins. Plus, since traditional surge protectors are not allowed — something newer cruisers often don't know — even a solo traveler can have trouble keeping their devices charged. In some cases, even relatively new ships have legacy technology, which shows how challenging making changes can be.
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Royal Caribbean's (RCL) Allure of the Seas, for example, an Oasis-class ship that first sailed in 2009, still has the old-school chargers for Apple's original iPhone. That's actually two chargers out of date since Apple (AAPL) moved onto Lightning chargers and recently adopted USB-C charging.
When Allure enters drydock later this year, it's very likely that the clocks with those old-school chargers will be swapped out for USB and/or USB-C. But, on a ship that has 2,745 cabins, that's no easy task.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) has decided to take on an even bigger task by making a key in-cabin change on all its ships.
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Carnival adds a key in-cabin safety feature
Cruise cabins, even most suites, are really small by traditional hotel room standards. A normal cabin, interior, or balcony, generally comes in between 160 and 185 square feet, about half the size of the average hotel room.
Add in this: As many as four people could be sleeping in a cabin and safely moving around when the lights are on can be a challenge, let alone after dark. That's something Carnival has been addressing on every ship in the fleet, according to a Facebook post by its Brand Ambassador John Heald.
"So during drydock, we are adding the nightlights to the ships. Some of you will have experienced this where you get up in the evening, perhaps to use the bathroom and a nightlight will automatically come on," Heald posted.
Heald also explained why the cruise line has made this decision.
"This morning while answering the questions I’ve had a few people that say they do not like these and that they find them annoying. Obviously, they are very important for safety and avoid trip hazards in the dark," he added.
While you would think this would not be a controversial issue, Heald's post generated more than 3,000 comments.
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Carnival passengers are mixed on nightlights
Many responses to Heald's post were very negative on the motion-activated lights.
"I use electrical tape to cover any light or glowing reflective thing in the room. If I want/need a nightlight, I would bring my own," Bill Brodie wrote.
J. Todd Self sees the need but proposed a different solution.
"I do not like them. They always wake up my spouse or myself if she gets up. That said, perhaps consider a blue LED light that would illuminate enough to see but the blue color would not cause someone to wake up," he posted.
Some passengers, however, like the new lights.
"Yes, the motion-sensor light along the floor on Freedom was a nice surprise. It didn't stay on too long but kept us from tripping on cords," wrote Merika Campbell.
Other passengers were really enthusiastic while also suggesting an easy fix for passengers who don't like the nightlights.
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"I loved it! Thank you Carnival for adding these. For those who don't like them, they can just roll up a towel and cover them since they are on the floor. I love that they are very dimmed and only come on when there is motion (my feet touching the floor) and go back off when I make it back into bed," shared Chris Gekeler.
Daniel Cotterell felt that the cruise line should be giving passengers the option to not use the nightlights.
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"So the lights are cool, and should definitely be installed. But there should be an off button for those who don’t need/want them, or find them particularly helpful," he wrote.
The cruise line has not shared when every ship will enter drydock to have the lights added.
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