Organizing Stateroom

[sailorblair]

One item you would appreciate is a bungy cord specifically designed to attach your carry on to your main suitcase without flopping around; it also works with my CPAP case. Available from http://www.hedonics.com

[TinaT]

hilighter!! so you can hilite the activities on the daily compass and you dont have to read it over and over...

[suzyed]

hilighter!! so you can hilite the activities on the daily compass and you dont have to read it over and over...

Yup! I bring two....one yellow to mark what I want to do on the Patter and one blue for what my DH wants to do, and then I mix them to make green, to mark what we both want to do! ;)

[suezyq50]

We have never taken any organizers. DD did for her kids. Each child had assigned pockets for sunglasses, hair bows, etc. It worked out real well for them.

[Matter-T]

I’ve read several post about things to bring on a cruise so I’m set for that but since the rooms are so small what kind of things can I do / bring to keep everything in some kind of order?

I found the following.

· Mesh bag shower organizer – fits in small shower and holds shampoos and soaps. Folds flat. Can be found at Dollar General.

· Shoe rack for over the bathroom door

· Pop up laundry bag

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

Gee...:confused: Been on several cruises never needed any extra storage space. Sorry, you didn't have enough. Then again, how much stuff did you

bring:D! Talk to ya soon.....Diane

[fleckle]

Yup! I bring two....one yellow to mark what I want to do on the Patter and one blue for what my DH wants to do, and then I mix them to make green, to mark what we both want to do! ;)

Since we often don't do the same things, we find it much easier to each have our own copy of the daily activities schedule than trying to share one.

[Matter-T]

The best way, I have found to organize a stateroom is to leave the kids and DW at home.:D

 

Hasn't worked so far.:(

 

Ron

 

You're funny!!:D

[peachcrek]

You're funny!!:D

 

LMAO VERY TRUE AND VERY FUNNY!!! except for the wife part!!!!

[darienill]

THis trip we're bringing two power strips because we have a NOOK , Camera, Cell phone. etc etc. Aren't sure if the will be a place for them both but we'll see.Those 2.5 gallon zip bags are handy for packing.

 

On Princess they have a laundry and go get a pack of "Purex 3 in 1".

Throw it in the tub, let some water fill up, then put in laundry. Move it to the dryer with the load. It contains soap and fabric softner, lays flat for packing, great stuff. Bring some US quarters.

[loriwentworth]

We normally pack each person clothing in 2gallon ziploc baggies for the trip. This keeps the clothes organized, packs well, keeps things dry in the suitcase if they should spend time in the rain on the tarmac.They are also perfect for wet items as well as dirty clothes. Also would recommend a power strip so you can plug everything in that you need to. Last thing we bring especially with kids is a folding box to keep shoes in so they are not strewn all over the room.

[footballbabe3]

I use ziplock baggies for my costume jewlery that goes with each outfit.

I clip it to part of the outfit in the suitcase then clip to the hanger. That way my outfit with matching jewlery is all together.

[Alaskanb]

We will be taking a LL Bean personal organizer and a dollar-store 5 pocket organizer. The 5 pocket organizer is only 12 x 18 and hangs with a cord --no bigger than a large zip-lock. I plan on also using it when I visit family with young children to keep meds out of reach.

[fleckle]

.... Didn't know the walls were magnetic in cruise ship rooms? That's helpful to hang notes, photos, itineraries, etc. I learn something new every day on the Cruise Critic forums! Thanks, all.

Well, most are. Very handy for hanging up the route map, invitations to events, itinerary schedule, excursion and appointment reminders, etc.

 

But some are not (such as the cabin walls we had on HAL's Amsterdam).

[gotta cruise again]

Great comments and ideas in all the posts--thank you! Have our 10th cruise in 17 days: here are some of our tips/tricks for organizing the cabin.

 

1. if you have a "clam shell" style suitcase (opens approximately in half) then leave it open under the bed and start packing the items that you aren't going to use again (i.e. tuxedo after the last formal night)

2. we take one of those give-away bags that look like reusable grocery bags but have no ridged bottom to put dirty clothes in. Makes it easy to take down to the laundry.

3. laundry: dryer sheets are packed in a baggie; quarters in a clear (though no reason not to use black, I don't guess) film canister. My sister told me of detergent sheets--not liquid or powder but the sheets disolve in water--but I don't know the manufacturer. Probably need to find out but we usually just buy a little box of powder on in the laundry and use 1/2 each for the two small loads we do.

4. we store all our cables and plugs in one drawer along with binoculars and possibly other electronic devices (those we don't put in the safe)

5. I use the desk as my make-up station. I put eye/lip pencils, lipsticks/gloss, mascara (anything long and skinny) into one of the water glasses and then into a drawer. I tend to bring shorter pencils/samples on cruises. Keeps them all handy and tidy.

6. we each keep our toothbrushes and little paste tubes in another water glass on the shelf in the bathroom.

(if anyone is wondering: our steward always brings extra glasses to fill-in where we are using the extras)

7. I bring small plastic clothes clips (regular clothes pins work too) so I can hang things on the horizontal part of a pant hanger that need to air dry. They are also good for pinning the drapes closed if needed or clipping important papers together. I have used them to clip a note to the lampshade too!

8. go through the "mail" everyday!! You arrive to stacks of papers and fliers in the cabin and receive more in your box daily--throw away what you know you won't use or will want later. Store the rest in a neat stack. Hmmm: I'm wondering if those post-it flags would be a good way to label divisions in that stack??? (Yes, I'm OCD about things like that but this is a vacation so I'll just let it go!)

9. resist the urge to explore immediately! as soon as your luggage arrives, unpack and organize (we also go iron our own clothes that may need it as no one is using the laundry at that time!!). You can explore a little after your quick bite to eat after arriving while waiting for luggage to arrive; and explore just prior to sail-away and after it too. Or explore before/after dinner (depending on the time you eat). But get things unpacked as soon as you can--even if not all bags have arrived at the cabin!

10. last organizational tip: take a minute or two everyday to put things away! We decide when we unpack where things will "live" during the cruise and try very hard to put things back.

 

Love the idea of the small dry erase board that is all magnet--thanks!

 

Like others said: a tiny extension cord of some type is good as the box on the end of charging cords often don't fit into the outlets due to decorative moldings around them.

 

All our cruise have been on Princess except one RCCL; no storage problems at all but only two in the cabin. All types of cabins from inside to mini-suites.

 

Looking forward to hearing more ideas!!

[STARFISH*4]

since i started to zip-up everything in ziplocks (daytime clothes-underwear/lingere) and hang the rest (evening clothes) its so much easier to unpack and stay organized....everything in the ziplock bags 2.5 gallon and smaller go in the drawers and on the shelves everything else is hung up right out of the suitcase--cuts the unpacking down to less than 1/2 the time spent at least!

[donaldsc]

I’ve read several post about things to bring on a cruise so I’m set for that but since the rooms are so small what kind of things can I do / bring to keep everything in some kind of order?

I found the following.

· Mesh bag shower organizer – fits in small shower and holds shampoos and soaps. Folds flat. Can be found at Dollar General.

· Shoe rack for over the bathroom door

· Pop up laundry bag

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

Yes - read the innumerable lists of stuff you should bring and then use them as a guide as what not to bring. Almost all the lists have a bunch a junk that you will not need.

 

DON

[Happy ks]

We certainly all have our individual packing/organizing styles!

 

What works for us is to have all the things we need (toiletries) in individual kits that are packed according to where they will be used in the cabin. My husband has a hanging kit for his toiletries, we have a shared kit for shampoo/condition/body wash. I have one for the bathroom, one with makeup and one with hair styling products. I keep all this stuff packed all the time and have essential tools(makeup/hair/razors/toothbrushes, etc...) in duplicates so nothing is forgotten. I merely refill bottles as needed.

 

We used the shoe organizer when the kids were young and we shared the cabin but with only 2 people find it unnecessary. We do use a small travel valet tray that snaps and is flat for travel on the desk top, probably the best accessory we've ever gotten.

 

We try to keep extras to a bare minimum, some stuff is essential, like my DVD player, but since so much else is left behind that I read on these packing lists, we probably pack a whole lot less than other folks.

 

As far as clutter, we throw out all papers that aren't essential, we do not keep anything as a souvenir, it's all just weight we don't need to pack.

 

We repack to go home the same way we packed on the outbound trip, we don't overpack so everything is dirty, no need for separation. We do use ziplocs for smelly underwear, don't need that lingering in the suitcases.

[5326jan]

We certainly all have our individual packing/organizing styles!

 

What works for us is to have all the things we need (toiletries) in individual kits that are packed according to where they will be used in the cabin. My husband has a hanging kit for his toiletries, we have a shared kit for shampoo/condition/body wash. I have one for the bathroom, one with makeup and one with hair styling products. I keep all this stuff packed all the time and have essential tools(makeup/hair/razors/toothbrushes, etc...) in duplicates so nothing is forgotten. I merely refill bottles as needed.

 

We used the shoe organizer when the kids were young and we shared the cabin but with only 2 people find it unnecessary. We do use a small travel valet tray that snaps and is flat for travel on the desk top, probably the best accessory we've ever gotten.

 

We try to keep extras to a bare minimum, some stuff is essential, like my DVD player, but since so much else is left behind that I read on these packing lists, we probably pack a whole lot less than other folks.

 

As far as clutter, we throw out all papers that aren't essential, we do not keep anything as a souvenir, it's all just weight we don't need to pack.

 

We repack to go home the same way we packed on the outbound trip, we don't overpack so everything is dirty, no need for separation. We do use ziplocs for smelly underwear, don't need that lingering in the suitcases.

 

Are you able to hook your DVD player to the tv or do you use it for sleep?