Step inside your cruise cabin, and at first glance it looks just like a hotel room, albeit likely a bit smaller than you’re used to on land.
But behind that normalcy are hidden features built into the room that many people don’t realize exist at all. Some are things you may never notice while others are relatively common features simply hidden from plain sight. The one trait they all share? They are all in your cruise cabin and designed to help you have a better trip.
Beds Mattresses With a Secret Feature
When you book your cruise, you’re asked if you want to have your room equipped with one queen bed or two smaller beds. When you get to your cabin, you’ll have the type of bed you requested. But don’t think that the ship’s crew is lugging mattresses all around to make everyone’s request. There’s a hidden feature that helps make the process much easier.
Look under the sheets of your large bed and you’ll see that it’s actually two mattresses, and there is a large zipper in the middle between them.
If a passenger requests one larger bed, then the two mattresses are zipped together and placed in the middle of the wall. If a passenger instead wants two beds, the mattresses are unzipped and pulled apart.
That’s much easier than hauling mattresses in and out.
A Hidden Safe for Your Valuables
One thing that’s hidden in your cruise cabin isn’t exactly a secret, it’s just simply out of sight. We’re talking, of course, about the cabin’s safe.
Every room you sail will have a safe in it, no matter if it’s the cheapest interior cabin or the highest-end suite. It’s not large, usually just big enough to put your passports, phones, and cash and small valuables. You normally close it with a four-digit code or sometimes you slide a card with a magnetic strip that it reads to lock/unlock.
It’s not exactly Fort Knox, but having the safe can help with crimes of opportunity. You don’t want to have valuables just laying around when the room steward has the door open to clean. Someone passing by could quickly dart in and grab anything.
A Mini-Fridge That You Don’t Notice at First
Similar to the cabin safe, every room you sail will also have a mini-fridge. But it’s always hidden away and can take a few tries to find. Normally it’s on the floor and inside a large cabinet.
It’s hit and miss on what’s inside. It seems like half the time it’s a mini-bar and the other half it’s just empty for your own use.
Just know that calling this a fridge may be a bit generous. In reality it’s more of a cooler. It will keep things below room temperature, but certainly not ice cold.
The Secret Direction Marker on Your Cabin Door
One hidden feature of many cabins is something that’s technically not inside the cabin, but just outside. If you have one, we suggest putting it to use as it’s extremely helpful. Let us explain…
Cruise cabin hallways can be confusing. There are no windows, and it’s just door after door on both sides of the hall. You can walk one direction and not know if you’re walking toward the front of the ship or the back.
To help you out, some cruise lines (notably Royal Caribbean) put clues on door markers. For some, it’s an outline of the ship that faces forward. Others have a small arrow pointing forward, and still others are the shape of a wave with the higher side being toward the front.
Next time you open your cabin door, take a look at the door marker to see if there are any clues to which way is forward.
Unseen Lights for Navigating Dark Rooms
Cruise cabins can get dark, especially if you’re staying in an interior room. In these cabins there are no windows so that means no outside light. Turn off the room lights and it’s pitch black.
So what happens if you wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom? You’re stumbling around a dark cabin, bumping into things.
To solve this you can bring a nightlight, or the cruise lines have started to put in a hidden feature. On some lines, we’ve noticed there are motion detectors near the floor. If the lights are out and you starting walking, small under-cabinet lights will come on to help you see.
In other cases we’ve noticed that even when the bathroom lights are out, there’s still a dim glow that it emits. It’s not enough to normally notice, but in a pitch black room you can faintly see it under the bathroom door to help to see where you’re going.
A Clothesline To Help With Drying
What’s a cruise if you aren’t getting in the pool, hot tub, or the ocean? It’s likely that if you’re sailing that you’re going to have some wet clothes. With no clothes dryer available, cruise lines put an item in every room to help you out, although you might not realize what it is.
In the shower you’ll see a large silver disc attached to the shower wall. You might not realize it, but this is actually a clothes line. In the center is a small knob you grab and pull to take out the string, and you’ll find a metal bracket to hold it on the opposite side of the shower.
We’ll be honest, clothes hanging on this line don’t dry that well. Still, it is better than simply wadding them up in a corner.
Why You Don’t Need to Bring a Hair Dryer (Despite One Not Being in the Bathroom)
Speaking of drying, another thing that’s hidden away is something every hotel room has, but in a cruise cabin it’s in an unusual spot.
Packing a hair dryer would take up a lot of space in your luggage. The good thing is that it’s not needed. Every cruise cabin comes with a hair dryer, but it’s not in the bathroom.
Most of the time it’s actually in the desk area in the main cabin. If you search the drawers, you’ll find it. It’s one of the small hotel-style hair dryers, so don’t expect anything too fancy. Still, for a week on a cruise, it’s perfectly adequate.
Multiple Beds Hidden in Plain Sight
Walk into your room, and you’ll see your main bed, as mentioned. It will either be in the together configuration or the separate configuration, but either way, it’s designed for two people to sleep here.
But what about rooms that have three or four passengers? Without realizing it, your cabin accommodates a lot more, but the sleeping areas are hidden.
First, some rooms have a couch with removable cushions. Take away the back cushion, add a sheet, blanket, and pillow, and you’ve got an instant bed.
More common, however, is for beds that drop down from the ceiling. You might notice a large area in the ceiling with a small lock and wonder what it is. When unlocked, this is actually a bed that drops down (a ladder can be found under the regular bed). If it’s not needed anymore, the bed goes back up to offer more space in the room.
