Top 10 Tips for Staying Organised in a Small Cabin
I have covered why that is the case before but basically, we prefer to spend money doing things whilst on holiday rather than on our accommodation and with a limited budget, that leaves us in the smallest of rooms.
That is something that seems to put off some people when we talk to them about it, with the usual response been don’t you want a balcony, or ‘I wouldn’t be able to stay in a room if I couldn’t see the outside’.
Of course, everyone would prefer to stay in the largest stateroom on the ship but staying in a small cabin has never been an issue for me.
I have travelled a lot in Asia and have stayed in many small windowless rooms and when I stay in a big city, such as London, I use a budget chain such as Premier Inn Hubs, which offer small but clean rooms.
So small rooms are something I am used to and once you get past the worries of not having an outdoor space or daylight, you are left with a good room that when you know the top tips for making the most of it, is perfect for your needs.
In this list I take you through what I consider to be the top tip for staying organised in a small cabin and therefore making the most of the space that you do have.
Our Top 10 Tips for Staying Organised in a Small Cabin
Unpack Everything
Yes, this one is a pain and if you leave your packing before your holiday to the last minute like me, it’s even more annoying as you have only just packed everything you are now unpacking, but it does help and is well worth doing.
With little space to grab your things every day, you really want to make sure that everything you will need for your cruise is out on the first day and then you can store your luggage out of the way and forget about it, well until the end of your cruise anyway.
With all of your stuff in its own place, you also don’t need to keep moving around those you are sharing your accommodation with, you can get ready much quicker giving you more time to enjoy your getaway and with everything away in cupboards or draws, you have more space to relax in.
Store Luggage Under Beds
This is arguably the biggest space saver you can have in a room and something that many people don’t realise, especially those who are new to cruising.
On every cruise ship we have sailed on there has been plenty of space underneath the bed to fit our suitcases, so as soon as we have unpacked them, we can put them under the bed and forget about them until the final day or so, when we need to re-pack.
When staying in a small cabin, where all space is at a premium, having one part of the room given over to keeping your suitcase is just such a waste.
Gadgets Charging Area
One of the reasons many people go on holiday is to get away from all of the stresses of modern-day life but after the first day or two, most will be straight back on to their phones and keeping up with things at home via social media.
Then you have cameras, nightlights, alarm clocks, tablets, laptops, adventure cameras and plenty of other electronic gadgets that all need charging and that all take up space.
What I tend to do is use a draw close to a desktop area, where me and my wife can keep all of our gadgets until we need them and then you can use the desktop space to charge them.
Another issue that tends to pop up is that plugs and usb ports tends to be spread around the cabin, or worse you only a couple of each in one place, so to make sure we can charge a few things at once in the same space, I take a usb c plug, with dual ports but whilst the majority of cruise lines allow these, double check with yours first.
Packing Cubes
Many people will use packing cubes to maximise the space that they have in their suitcases, but then they take everything out of them to put their stuff into draws, cupboards and wardrobes.
What I would recommend doing is reusing your packing cubes in your room as not only a way of saving space, but also as a way of keeping organised.
A packing cube with something such as socks that won’t crease can simply be taken out of your suitcase and put into a draw and then your socks will take up a lot less space.
Me and my wife also keep out the packing cubes that have things like t-shirts in as whilst we will hang them in the wardrobe or put them out on a shelf, when we have worn them, we roll them up and put them back into the packing cube, which we keep in a draw or at the foot of the wardrobe.
That not only gives you more space in draws and storage areas but it keeps your dirty worn clothes from your clean, unworn clothes.
Ask Your Steward to Clear Sides
Something that is always annoying when you arrive in your stateroom, is when the sides are covered in things that you will never use.
Things like expensive bottles of water that you will be charged an arm and a leg to drink, ice buckets and even tea trays with a kettle are just things me and my wife will never use but they take up loads of space and usually right next to plug sockets.
That space could be put to much better use by me and my wife, so when we first meet our steward, we simply ask them to remove things such as those mentioned.
If you have a mini fridge that you is stocked with pay extra things, you can also ask for that to be cleared so you can put any drinks and snacks you get from around the ship or on land in, depending on the rules of the lines.
Get Tomorrows Outfit Out, The Night Before
The last things you really want to be thinking about on a cruise, is the next day, as that is a sure-fire way to make your cruise seem like it is flying by, when you really want it to be relaxing and for it to seem like you still have lots of time left.
One thing that I always do, well aside from when it is a sea day the next day, is to put out what I will wear the next day, the night before.
Its always easier to do the night before, especially if you do it when you are getting changed for the evening anyway and then in the morning you save some time when you are half a sleep to give you more time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast before heading ashore or to the theatre for your excursion.
It also makes it easier to get ready especially when you need to put on things like suncream as you don’t need to keep going in and out of storage areas, as everything is already waiting and ready for you to get dressed.
Hanging Toiletry Bag
In a smaller cabin, you usually get a smaller bathroom and that usually means less space to put out your toiletries but one simple way to combat that, is to have a hanging toiletry bag.
These do exactly what they say on the tin as they are a toiletry bag that opens up and usually comes with a hook, so that you can hang them on the inside of your bathrooms door and then have easy access to all of your toiletries, without taking up that precious space.
Bring Bag for Used Underwear
This is one those things many don’t think about but even if you use a packing cube to pack your socks and underwear, you will likely keep your clean ones in it during your getaway, if fact it’s one of the other tips on this list.
That leaves you with nowhere to keep your dirties after you have worn them, so many will either put them in their case, but that means constantly getting out your case and it not smelling its best by the end of the cruise, or they will use up storage space in their room that really could be put to better use.
All you need to do is have a separate bag, we use a shopping bag that folds up into a pouch, but no matter what you use, you can stick in a corner out of the way or under your bed and then simply pick it up at the end of your cruise and stick it in your case.
Magnetic Hooks
If you are new to cruising, you may not realise that all of the walls, and often the doors, of your cabin are made of metal and that gives the opportunity to add some magnetic hooks to them.
Whilst you will usually have one of two hooks built into your cabin, usually in the bathroom or in the entrance, it is useful to take a couple of your own.
You can then use the hooks for things such as coats, bags, hats, scarfs for hooks in the entrance or toiletry bags, hair towels etc in the bathroom.
All that clears up plenty of space in your room for other things and makes the things on the hooks easier to grab when you need them.
Dedicated ‘Dump’ Area
When on a cruise, its amazing how many things you pick up and that find there way into your pockets, but you are not sure if you still need them or if you want to take them home.
You know the sorts of things I am talking about, stuff like port maps, pick up times, vouchers and more that you will likely throw away, but you are just not quite sure.
Those are the sort of things that if you don’t have somewhere to put them, they usually end up taking quite a lot of room up by the time you have visited a few ports, so that is why I recommend having a dedicated dump area.
This can be a bit of a shelf, a draw or just a countertop area but it is somewhere you can just empty out your pockets when you get back to your cabin and then not worry about it until later, without it all taking over.
