Cruise cabins offer very little space. A traditional cabin has between 165 and 190 feet of space. That's half the size of a traditional hotel room which can be shared by as many as four people.
Because of the very limited space, cruise passengers have embraced a variety of different space hacks. Some people swear by using magnetic hooks to store some items on the wall.
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Cruise cabins are metal, so magnets stick and magnetic hooks can help keep hats, T-shirts, and other items available while freeing up storage space. In other cases, passengers use shoe bags, which can be hung on the front door of the cabin.
That method of storage can be used for shoes, as well as other items like sunscreen, and other loose gear that can clutter up the room. In all cases, the challenge is how to find a place for everything with two (or more) people sharing a space that usually has a closet with a hanging bar, a handful of drawers, and maybe a hidden storage space (look over the beds.)
Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald recently answered a question on his Facebook page which will help passengers on all major cruise lines find some more space.
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Carnival shares a cabin storage hack
Heald shares questions publicly, rather than answer them directly when he believes his answer will help more people. He recently fielded a question about cabin storage.
"We are trying to be prepared for our next cruise. Nobody will help us with the answer to our question. We would like to store the bags under the bed and since have several sets of luggage to choose from, knowing how tall that space is will help us choose the best pieces to take. We will be in a Havana cabin on the Panorama ship if that makes any difference," the upcoming passenger asked.
Heald was clear with his answer.
"Thank you and the simple answer is that if you have normal-size luggage and not a case that a roadie for the rock band Throbbing Gristle would use, it will for sure ft under your bed," he wrote.
Putting your luggage under the bed means you don't have to leave it out or take up valuable closet space with it. For many passengers, however, this hack goes deeper than just getting their luggage stowed.
Your luggage can be cabin storage
Heald posted another comment about some of the responses he got to his original post on storing luggage under your bed.
"Some of you have been telling me that you don’t unpack but you keep your clothes in your suitcase, put that suitcase under the bed but pull it out when you need something so it acts like a drawer," he wrote.
That's something that over 1,800 of his followers had an opinion on.
"I store mine under the bed, but I do hang up my elegant clothes. My daily outfits are in Ziplock bags ready to grab each day and stored in the drawers," Jaime Riddle shared.
Other respondents shared that they don't use their luggage once they unpack.
"We completely unpack and put those suitcases under the bed. I have to have a tidy and organized cabin otherwise I want to clean and that is not what I have in mind for vacation," shared Debbie Brygider Range.
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Many reported using their luggage for dirty clothes.
"Unpack everything, putting things in draws, hang up what I can. I don’t want to live out of a suitcase. I set up the biggest suitcase as a clothes hamper and the rest go under the bed," added Trisha Napper.
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A lot of passengers use a suitcase for dirty clothes.
"We unpack everything then suitcases go under the bed for storage. We usually pull out one suitcase daily for a dirty clothes hamper and then push it back under the bed," posted Shaun Renee Paulsen.
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