What are the 11 things you should never,
ever do in your cruise cabin?
Hi, I'm Gary Bembridge.
This is another of my tips for travellers.
I want to share with you 11 cabin no-nos,
things you absolutely must not do in your cabin,
starting with this one.
First is a really obvious one,
and that is nothing with an open flame
should be used in your cabin.
Very good reason for this is fire is the thing
that cruise lines captains, fear more than anything else.
It's the hardest thing to control when you're out at sea.
It's incredibly dangerous.
So it's completely banned.
You can't have candles, incense burners,
anything with flames that are alive.
If you really want to bring something
to create that ambience,
one of the things I recommend you can buy,
the little battery-operated tea lights,
which is actually what cruise lines use in their restaurants
to create that sort of candle effect.
So you could bring something like that,
but nothing with an open flame
should ever be used in your cabin.
The second thing is around the bathrooms.
There's a couple of real no-nos here.
First of all, which is something
the cruise lines keep begging you
is don't put anything other than the supplied toilet tissue,
toilet paper, down the toilet.
The reason for that is there is a suction system.
So the toilets work on a suction system
and are very easily blocked,
so even things like wipes, anything like that,
women's hygiene projects,
don't put anything down the toilet.
There's always a little rubbish bin in the bathroom.
Wrap stuff up if you want to
in the toilet tissue and chuck in there,
but don't put anything down the toilet.
I've been on cruises where we've had a nightmare
because the toilet system has been blocked
and it's a real big hassle for the cruise lines to fix it.
The other thing linked to the bathroom no-nos
is I know a lot of people have been really surprised
because they've stepped out of the bathroom
and discovered either the cabin stewardess cleaning away
or they've now pulled up alongside another cruise ship
or they're pulled into a port
and there's people able to look in.
Really important, particularly, on a river cruise.
So don't step out of the bathroom
completely stark, bollock naked without checking
because there's a possibility
you're going to have an audience,
and one that you didn't really intend to have.
The next area of no-nos is around the electric plugs
and things you plug in in your cabin.
There's probably four critical things
that are no-nos within a cruise cabin.
First of all, you can't plug in
anything that has a surge protector.
So this is extension cables with surge protectors.
Most cruise lines will screen those out.
Some cruise lines will let you bring on board
an extension cable without a surge protector.
Often, people want to bring on devices like that
because not all cruise lines have loads and loads of sockets
and we all, of course, have many things
that we want to plug in nowadays.
So nothing with a surge protector.
Secondly, when you leave the cabin,
anything you've got plugged in, you know, left to charge,
or any of your devices, you need to unplug those.
And the reason for that is a safety one.
So there's no chance of things being plugged in
and fire breaking out there
through some sort of electrical fault.
Cabin stewards are normally instructed
that they should unplug anything that's left plugged in.
And I've done it before.
I've gone out not realising I've left,
perhaps a camera or a phone, being charged
and I'll come back and discover
the cabin steward has unplugged it.
So that's a real no-no.
I shouldn't have done that in the first place.
The third area is you can't plug in anything
that has a heating element.
Now normally, the cruise lines will have screened for these.
So these are things like baby bottle warmers
or you've got some a hot plate
or device that has a heating element
like an iron, travel iron, those kind of things.
They should never be plugged in.
In fact, you shouldn't have brought them on board anyway.
And the cruise line probably, in most cases,
would have screened that
and asked you to have removed it from your luggage
and have held onto it.
The fourth area which is sort of linked to that
is the area of hair accessories.
So hair dryers, in most cases, are allowed on board
on a cruise line, so check if yours is the case.
Most cruise lines have hair dryers supplied anyway.
Most cruise lines nowadays will let you bring on board
curling tongs, but again, check
and find out if you are allowed to use those in the cabin.
So that's a whole bunch of no-nos
around electrical items and the plugs on board.
The next cabin no-no is to actually take items
from your cabin when you leave the ship.
So that's things like umbrellas, slippers, bathrobes,
whatever it is that is within your cabin
because all that will happen is you'll be charged for them,
and actually, the charge for those are pretty high
and they will just basically charge you
once you're off the ship.
So don't take any of those items.
You'll find most cruise lines
will give you the option of buying those
and it's a much cheaper option to do it that way
if it's something you really want.
What about things like toiletries?
Nowadays, as cruise lines
become more and more environmental,
you're finding that many cruise lines
are getting rid of the little miniatures,
you know, the tiny little bottles of toiletries
to have pump dispensers or large products.
If you still have the little miniatures
and you do want to take them with you
because it's some posh brand,
you know, Bvlgari or L'Occitane
or one of these really nice brands,
my tip is perhaps put a couple aside
in a cupboard or in your bag during the course of the cruise
and see if they get replenished.
And if they get replenished,
then you know it's pretty safe to take those off with you.
Normally, when it comes to toiletries,
it's pretty fine to take it.
However, if you've got those big bottles that are refilled,
it's probably frowned upon for you to take those.
So again, watch very carefully what you take off the ship.
My fifth cabin no-no is around the minibar.
Now I tend to never touch anything in the minibar
because, like in hotels, the price in minibars very high.
However, that may differ based on the cruise line.
So if you go to more premium cruise lines,
so, I've been on some cruise lines like Silversea
or Seabourn, where what's in your minibar
is included within the price.
The same, for example,
if you're going Queens Grill in Cunard,
you'll find that what's in your minibar is included
and there's no extra charges.
Even if you have a drinks package,
on pretty much every single cruise line,
the drinks in the minibar is not included
in the drinks package, so it's going to cost you extra
on top of the fees you've already paid
for your drinks package.
So be really cautious about touching the minibar.
I tend to avoid the minibar and make that almost a no-no.
Also really check when it comes to bottled water.
Of course, many cruise lines are phasing out bottled water,
but those that still have it,
check if the water is complimentary or included,
bearing in mind that the water that comes out of the tap
is perfectly fine to drink.
And what I sometimes do is I take little flavour sachets
if I'm worried about the water,
not drinking it just straight out of the tap,
but it is perfectly fine to drink out of the tap.
Another real big no-no in cruise cabins
is smoking and vaping.
It's not allowed in pretty much every single cruise line.
Also on the balcony, it's not allowed.
So smoking, vaping, a definite cabin no-no.
Some cruise lines are really, really strict on that.
They'll charge you extra fees for cleaning.
And theoretically, you could even be disembarked
for breaking that rule,
partly because it's a rule and the smell,
but also from a safety perspective,
they don't want people smoking now
on the balconies and in the cabins.
Another big cabin no-no is around noise,
and there are different rules and regulations around noise.
The real things to watch out for are loud music
in your cabin which can carry through the walls,
particularly if you've got an interconnecting door.
Definitely on your balcony, no loud music.
In fact, you're not even supposed
to play music out on your balcony.
But even just generally cabin no-nos, bearing in mind that,
whilst cabins are relatively sound-proof, noise can travel,
so it's really actually inconsiderate
if your television's blaring loud,
you're playing loud music,
and it is something that's pretty disruptive
and drives me crazy, actually noisy people next door.
Another very interesting and slightly quirky thing
when it comes to noise, is, I was reading recently
about a couple that got disembarked
for actually making love in a really raucous and loud way,
which was driving people crazy
and they got in a huge amount of trouble
and were actually disembarked from a cruise
for being too noisy in moments of passion.
There's a bunch of things around noise and cabin.
Just really be considerate about other people around you.
For me, noise coming out of the cabin is a real big no-no.
The next set of cabin no-nos is related to balconies.
If you're travelling in one
of those cabins that have a balcony,
there's a bunch of absolute things
you should never do on the balcony,
one of which is to sit or let your kid sit on the hand rail.
Really, really dangerous and that's often
how people have fallen overboard.
So really watch out for that one.
Then the usual things like I've said,
you know, smoking, loud music,
getting up to all sorts of mischief
where you could be overlooked and seen on a balcony.
I have a whole video around balcony no-nos,
there's so many of those actually,
but watch out really, really carefully
what you get up to on your balcony,
bearing in mind that often you can be overlooked.
So perhaps sunbathing without any clothes on,
all that kind of stuff is a kind of a no-no,
because it could be rather embarrassing
for everybody concerned.
Two other critical no-nos related to that are,
first of all, you shouldn't leave your balcony door open.
The reason for that, although I know people like to do it
because they like the fresh air coming in
and they like the sound of the sea, is a couple of things.
It actually causes havoc with the air conditioning
and causes the air conditioning to really crank up
and it uses more energy that is necessary on a ship.
Also, actually it can create a wind tunnel.
So if someone opens your cabin door.
That effect is huge and has a massive wind tunnel affect
and everything will be blown around your cabin
and so it's a real no-no to leave the balcony door open.
Also you shouldn't hang out things to dry on your balcony.
For a couple of reasons, they can get blown off
and head off into the ocean where, of course,
they could fall into the ocean and prove actually,
not great for marine life
or they could actually get blown off
and blown into someone else's balcony.
So cruise lines ask you not to hang laundry on your balcony,
even if its swimming trunks.
Normally in your bathroom you'll find,
normally in the shower or above the bath if you have one,
a clothesline, a clothesline that you can pull out
and hang your stuff up there.
That's all a bunch of balcony related no-nos for your cabin.
Another cabin no-no is don't tape things
onto your wall with Sellotape or whatever.
The reason for that is, it very easily pulls off paint
and also the cabin walls are magnetic, because they're metal
so what a lot of people like to do is bring little magnets
so if you do want to pin up things,
just get those little like fridge magnets
and you can put stuff all over your cabin wall
without any risk of damaging the cabin itself.
That's a really good tip
and it's a great way of reminding yourself,
if you want to put up daily programmes
or leave notes for your travelling companions
where you are or whatever it is,
but magnets not Sellotape sticking onto the walls.
The 10th absolute no-no is related to the safe.
First of all I strongly recommend that you use the safe.
Most cruise lines will have a safe in many of their cabins
and that's the place to put things like passport, money,
credit cards, valuable electronics, whatever it is,
use the safe and make sure it's locked away.
But also importantly, a big cabin no-no
is making sure that you don't leave anything in the safe.
So really make sure when you do disembark
that you check in the safe
and things haven't fallen underneath
the little mat they sometimes have on the bottom.
So people often leave things in the safe,
often they realise once they get off the ship
because it's something like a passport,
but if you use the safe,
so that everything's safely locked away
and you know where it is, also very importantly,
but always, a big cabin no-no is make sure
that you double check the safe.
One of the things that I think is a big cabin no-no
although you may disagree with this one,
is don't make a mess in your cabin.
Cabin stewards have a huge amount of work to do
and bear in mind they're often
on six or nine month contracts,
they work seven days a week, really long hours,
and a way of being kind and caring to them
is not leaving your cabin in a total tip and a mess.
It means they can get through your cabin quicker.
It means they can get through
all the cabins they've got to do quicker
and it makes their life so much more pleasurable.
It means they can spend less time doing it
and it's a great thing to do to be good to your cabin staff.
They will really appreciate it.
So not making a mess for me, is a big cabin no-no.
Those are 11 cabin no-nos for me.
Hope you find that helpful.
If you did, remember, I have loads more cruise tips
that you can watch on video.
So why don't you watch another one of those right now.