Tips for 4 teens in one room

I was wondering if anyone had any good tips for minimizing the clutter in our kids cabin or even any tips on what to bring or not bring to make our life easier and their room not so "scary":eek:

I was wondering if anyone had any good tips for minimizing the clutter in our kids cabin or even any tips on what to bring or not bring to make our life easier and their room not so "scary":eek:

Over-the-door clear shoe holder. Everything (card games, toiletries, suntan lotion, lanyards, flip flops, pens, highlighter, notepad, chargers, ipod, sunglasses, etc) has a place and you can see it. Mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes.

Limit what they pack; Say 1carry on per person (or smaller suitcase)

If room is not reasonable, they (all) have to hang with you for the day

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I second the over the door shoe organizers. Since we started traveling with our dd I have brought them and it keeps her shoes and hair pieces organized.

Also, I always bring command stick hooks to put on the wall for semi wet clothes or beach bags. A swimsuit coverup or Tshirt is never going to dry on the bathroom hooks with the door closed and there are usually only a couple of hooks. It helps for drying and keep things off of the floor.

Remember there is usually only one plug-in, so if they all have "devices" you should give them a strip plug.

Luggage gets stored under the beds.

Allocate a shelf, drawer and hangars for each.

Cabin must be tidied up before leaving. Takes a minute or so. The Room Steward should not have to wade thru the stuff.

Dirty clothes into laundry bag, hamper or luggage. Shoes put in closet or under the vanity.

Only bathroom 'duties' done in the bathroom. All primping is done in the cabin.

We also use a thin vinyl garden tote to corral all the little stuff on the vanity.

Try and stay on top of the kids and their room cleanliness and make sure they do not put out the do not disturb sign. Not saying that you would do this, but one cruise I was on had a room of three teens (boys) across the hall from me. They hung out the do not disturb sign every day and the parents never checked on them that I could tell.....disembarkation day came and I caught a good view of their room....it was like a couple of bombs went off in it and the steward was in tears. All because Mom and Dad never checked on the boys room and it's condition. I felt so bad for my room steward.

And I won't even go into the noise that came from that cabin......................

Great tips! Thanks! I tend to be a room sargeant anyway on vacation so it shouldn't get too bad,but honestly I was trying to "lighten up" a bit because we are on vacation and don't want to harass them too much! I am def going to do the shoe thing over the door to organize their things a bit. Should be interesting!!!!!;)

Tell them to pick up their stuff!

If they are teens they are old enough to police themselves (I just got back from chaperone duty for my DD's last band trip - I had two groups of four kids each on a seven day trip).

Keep an eye on it, but just remind them of the good stuff that others have mentioned in this thread (the room steward needs to be able to do his job, etc.). And if just one or two of the kids are causing the problem, get down on them (don't lump all the kids together).

Make them budget and be responsible for the room steward gratuity.

You can even get two over the door shoe hangers.....with the clear pockets......one for each of the closet doors......I don't think you need to worry about having too much storage........they can probably fit a t-shirt in a pocket, a pair of shorts in another, only dress clothes in the closet - shoes and sandals in the pockets.......this way you can also quickly access what is available/clean and ready.

I ALWAYS travel with kids and have found these to be one of the best family cruising tips.

good luck. Imagine 4 adults sharing a cabin. They probably will enjoy being together and will not complain. So- you shouldn't expect them to keep it tidy. Really- it's a confined area with four wet swimsuits dripping, wet towels on the bathroom floor, stinky shoes (if they are anything like my son!) and four people's clothes, daily newsletters and dirty room service dishes for good measure. If you think it is going to be tidy- think again. It would be hard for 4 adults to keep it clean.

I second the over the door shoe organizers. Since we started traveling with our dd I have brought them and it keeps her shoes and hair pieces organized.

 

Also, I always bring command stick hooks to put on the wall for semi wet clothes or beach bags. A swimsuit coverup or Tshirt is never going to dry on the bathroom hooks with the door closed and there are usually only a couple of hooks. It helps for drying and keep things off of the floor.

 

Remember there is usually only one plug-in, so if they all have "devices" you should give them a strip plug.

Wow! I can't believe I never thought of that, Travelhound! We just got back from a cruise and were always looking for a place to hang things we handwashed or wet bathing suits. You're right, it takes forever for them to dry in the bathroom. Fabulous idea, and will be bringing command hooks on our next cruise!

Check the room when they claim they have packed their bags before debarkation. I thought I had done this when my 2 dds shared a cabin. I looked in all the drawers and cupboards to check they were empty. When we got home and unpacked, 1 of them had left 1 expensive boot behind! I think it must of been kicked under the bed, and she was so busy having fun with new friends, she left it to the last minute to pack and just threw everything into the bag at the last minute. I rang the cruise line to ask if it had been found, and they said that any clothing or shoes left in cabins was always destroyed. Very expensive lesson learnt!

Bring less clothing ..