Cabin organization and storage tips?

Sorry if this has been posted before, I tried searching but couldn't find a exact thread on the topic. I've read a lot about using a hanging shoe organizer to store things on the door, but I'm wondering what other tips there are for general cabin organization and for maximizing storage.

Thanks!!

July 2012 ~ Celebrity Infinity ~ Alaska

Sorry if this has been posted before, I tried searching but couldn't find a exact thread on the topic. I've read a lot about using a hanging shoe organizer to store things on the door, but I'm wondering what other tips there are for general cabin organization and for maximizing storage.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

July 2012 ~ Celebrity Infinity ~ Alaska

Store your luggage under the bed. And, if you have one, strollers, also. You can store things in the shower until you need to use it.

One note, Disney Cruiselines does not allow over the door organizers any longer. At least not hung over the door, you can hang them from the hooks in the room or in the closet.

This is the best answer you will get.

On our first 4 or 5 cruises, we always brought to many shoes and too much clothing. Bring half of what you may think you need (not true of underwear of course), and essential shoes to wear. Too many times we brought back stuff we never wore once.

The storage space in cabins is plenty for you. Leave the organizer at home, and create more space in your luggage to bring back memories.

Luggage under the bed is also the best place for shoes and stuff that you may only want to wear once.

Sorry if this has been posted before, I tried searching but couldn't find a exact thread on the topic. I've read a lot about using a hanging shoe organizer to store things on the door, but I'm wondering what other tips there are for general cabin organization and for maximizing storage.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

July 2012 ~ Celebrity Infinity ~ Alaska

Your best bet would be to go onto one of the many "must bring" threads on CC so you can determine what NOT to bring. If you brought half of the stuff that is recommended on the lists, you would be taking 3 or 4 suitcases with no space for clothes.

This is lots of space in the cabin for anything that any normal person will bring. Don't worry about it. We never have a problem. Just use common sense.

DON

Have never needed the "over the door" thing...there are shelves and cubbys everywhere!

Thanks for the replies so far! I'm a very light packer. I'm planning on only taking one carry on sized rolling suitcase of clothes for my 11-night cruise. But always looking for room organization tips :-)

Interesting that Disney no longer allows the hanging door thing.

July 2012 ~ Celebrity Infinity ~ Alaska

Zip lock bags are the best tip I've ever gotten from here. I started using them years ago from a tip here. I use everything from snack, sandwich, gallon and 2-1/2-3 gallon ones. The small are for jewelry, the biggest are for shoes and individual outfits (shorts and a t-shirt). Not only is it a great way to pack, but it's the easiest method to unpack in the cabin and be packed to head home at the end of the cruise. A quick wipe with an antiseptic of the drawers and I toss the baggies in and i'm unpacked. Cubbies are the same. I can easily grab an outfit, head to the bathroom and I'm ready to shower or dress to head out on a tour. I put the dirty clothes in the baggy when I take the clean things out, toss them into the suitcase (stored under the bed) and by the last day of the cruise, I'm packed to go home. No over-the-door hanger has never been needed. I put my formal outfit inside a dry-cleaning bag (on the hanger) and it is put straight into the closet. If I have a few wrinkles in one of the outfits in the zip lock, I spritz it with a travel size bottle of Downey Wrinkle Release that I also take. I'll take my outfit for dinner out in the morning, let it "steam" while I take a shower, hang it in the closet and have no wrinkles when I get ready that evening. Take a few empty zip-locks for a snack that you take back to your cabin to keep it fresh. You get "chosen" for that random airport TSA bag check? They aren't handling your things. They can easily see what you have.

Thanks for the replies so far! I'm a very light packer. I'm planning on only taking one carry on sized rolling suitcase of clothes for my 11-night cruise. But always looking for room organization tips :-)

 

Interesting that Disney no longer allows the hanging door thing.

 

 

July 2012 ~ Celebrity Infinity ~ Alaska

They had issues with damage on the doors (scratching on the doors and warping of the doors due to the close fit between door and frame).

Best new tip I learned was on a cabin crawl. The walls of the cabin are metal, so magnets work on them. Our hostess had brought several magnetized clips she got at an office supply store. She used these to hang the daily newsletter and any special reminders on the wall in plain sight.

Worked like a charm for me on our most recent cruise!

Shoe organizer -- instead of hanging it over the door (which damages the door, flaps around and gets in the way) take a couple of zip ties and attach it to a hanger INSIDE the closet.

Handy, out of sight, accessible. At home, it is kept loaded with cruise-only stuff (lanyards, sea bands, ear plugs, rain ponchos, low-numbered luggage tags). I just fold it up and go.

Of course, a shoe organizer is nailed to the wall inside our hall closet at home, with gloves, scarves, hats, umbrellas, etc. I'm a fan of keeping it organized.

• Shoe organizer - use the removable adhesive hooks and put it on a wall [For me, this is the best declutter method I have found. Yes, there is storage available in the room, but the shoe organizer helps enormously!]
  
• Bring a pillow case to use as a laundry bag and keep it in the suitcase under the bed
  
• Magnets work on walls and mirrors; messages can be written on mirrors in dry erase marker
  

Have fun!

We mainly travel as a family of 4....so that makes organized space important to my vacation well being;). Besides the over the door shoe holder, we have also brought another skinny one to hang in the closet for shoes - there just didn't seem to be enough floor space for all of us, and it was easier for each person to find their shoes.

We also have brought the clear shelves/containers that stick to shower walls or mirror. The showers are pretty small and they don't have the shelves to hold things that we are used to at home.

First thing is packing at home. Put everything you want to pack on the bed. Then put half of it back in your closet. Shoes, you will only need 3-4 sets max. If doing formal night, rent shoes on the ship. You need everyday shoes, tennis shoes, walking shoes, and formal shoes. For the ladies, get over the matching pairs. Pack a black set, tennis, walking, another color that goes with most of your outfits. My wife is down to 4 pair. One of the pair you need is what you wear boarding the ship. As others have said, there are a ton of places to put things. We unpack everything into the closet and dresser drawers. Dirty stuff goes into one of the empty suitcases. If on a longer cruise (12 days) in the Eastern Med, we take 7 days worth and have the changes laundered on the ship. This will likely get you out of an overweight suitcase charge on the airline. Yes, we book PH Suites and have laundry done 2 times aboard so we can go home with mostly clean clothes, even more so if we get caught in a delayed trip home and still have fresh clothes.

Here's something I've done. Get a coffee cup (or two) from the buffet area. You can use it to put your pocket change in, car keys, or any other small items that you won't need on the ship. The cup will fit in a drawer, out of the way, and keep your stuff in one place until debarkation. When it's time to leave, leave the coffee cup on the vanity and the room steward will take care of it.;)

Thanks for all these great tips!! I'll definitely incorporate some of these on my next trip. Love the magnetic walls!

I always laugh at the "pack your luggage and take out half" advice, because if I did that I'd have nothing to wear! I normally only bring one carry on sized luggage of clothes. I'm a light packer and plan my outfits carefully to mix and match so everything does double duty.

If you have a sofa in the room look to see if it has drawers under it. Usually one has things the steward needs/stores, but the other one is often empty.

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Thanks for all these great tips!! I'll definitely incorporate some of these on my next trip. Love the magnetic walls!

 

I always laugh at the "pack your luggage and take out half" advice, because if I did that I'd have nothing to wear! I normally only bring one carry on sized luggage of clothes. I'm a light packer and plan my outfits carefully to mix and match so everything does double duty.

Me too ;)

I do t think I'd have enough "stuff" to put into shoe organiser. I think it's great for a family of 4 etc, but for a couple???:eek:

I have 1x going out shoes, walking / gym shoes, pair of pluggers (thongs in Aus speak) & that's it for an 11 night cruise! I may swap the plugger for uggs for winter T.A. Cruise! :D My suitcase was choccas with Christmas decorations for our cabin!

I agree with the magnet tip. For excursion tickets; to hold lanyard; also caps and hats for storage in the cabin or in the closet area.

I always travel with a set of four bags from Ikea ("Dimpa" I think it is called). They have these plastic removable inserts that hold them open. The two big ones go in the closet for dirty clothes. One onto the shelves to hold small items. The last smallest one onto the desk to hold all the papers you get-newsletters, coupon books, etc. They fold flat and live in the interior pocket of my luggage.

We always put the empty suitcases under the bed. Then put a garbage bag in one and throw dirty laundry in as we go.

Also a huge fan of ziplock bags if every size!

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Your best bet would be to go onto one of the many "must bring" threads on CC so you can determine what NOT to bring. If you brought half of the stuff that is recommended on the lists, you would be taking 3 or 4 suitcases with no space for clothes.

This is lots of space in the cabin for anything that any normal person will bring. Don't worry about it. We never have a problem. Just use common sense.DON

Agree with you, Don! Gosh, you'd have no room for your clothes! :D

One extra thing we have found extremely helpful is a larger zip lock bag to put things in going into our safe so nothing falls between the cracks.

LuLu

~~~

Lots of this stuff takes little space - less than a pair of shoes. I never travel without a sixteen foot length of sturdy cord and some zip ties of various lengths and strengths. No matter how the airlines brutalize my suitcase, I can get it home with those things. I also bring some clothes pegs, useful in many ways on the trip.

And now the magnetic clips - because the walls in the cabin are real estate. I have been able to park a hat and a pair of sunglasses on the wall with magnetized clips.

Zip lock for the safe is a great tip. Too many people have things left behind in the safe because it's dark, small and out of the way. Agree with a couple of the magnetic hooks for the wall too. We've carried the shoe organizer before, but we've just found that we never really used it. Four to a cabin, maybe, but for a couple? Nope.

I have a small folding hamper I use to hold dirty laundry. I keep three big ziploc type plastic bags I got from Magellans. One holds socks and undies, one holds dirty shirts and one holds dirty shorts. I toss a scented dryer sheet in each ziploc bag before I leave the house so they will help keep the stinkies down ;):D. I don't want dirty laundry stinking up my suitcase. Instead, I use my suitcase to hold all my purchases I make during the cruise. I also keep my valuables locked in my suitcase under my bed as well if they are too big for the safe (i.e., camera, laptop, etc.).

We stopped bringing the over the door thingy. It takes up too much valuable real estate in my luggage and the more I cruise the less I bring so I don't need it anymore.

Here's something I've done. Get a coffee cup (or two) from the buffet area. You can use it to put your pocket change in, car keys, or any other small items that you won't need on the ship. The cup will fit in a drawer, out of the way, and keep your stuff in one place until debarkation. When it's time to leave, leave the coffee cup on the vanity and the room steward will take care of it.;)

Now THAT is a great idea.

Have a good look around your cabin before you unpack for all the storage spaces. Our inside cabin had heaps of nooks and crannies for storage. On the last morning of the cruise when I was double checking I hadnt left anything behind, I found more shelves hidden behind mirrors in the cabin that I didnt even realise where there.