A German couple, Renate and her husband
Volker, were thrown off a Mein Schiff cruise for something they did in their
cabin that they thought was fine to do. They weren’t aware of the cabin rules
which, if broken, could see passengers like them, you and I disembarked, banned for life,
fined, or have our possessions confiscated. I’m Gary Bembridge, Welcome Aboard. Here’s
what we must not do in our cabins, including as you will see later what
Renate and Volker got wrong. But first, you will get disembarked and banned
for life if you to do what Nick Naydev did. He jumped off his Royal Caribbean balcony into
the ocean in Nassau for fun, and to show off to his travelling companions, who filmed it. He, and
those friends, are banned for life from cruising. A female passenger on Allure of the Seas was even banned for climbing onto her
balcony handrail to pose for photographs. Climbing and standing on your cabin
balcony railings while sailing is dangerous. People going overboard a ship are rarely found. If you fall onto the
dockside in port, you are unlikely to survive. If travelling with children, make sure they are not left alone on
the balcony and understand the risk. And while we’re out on the balcony there some
other things that can get you into trouble. With few exceptions, like some German lines, you are not allowed to smoke or vape
on your balcony, or cabin either. If your neighbours complain about you doing this
on the balcony, and you do not stop when warned, you can be thrown off. Friends saw this happen
to neighbours on a recent Caribbean cruise. If you smoke or vape in your cabin, lines will
charge fees of $250 upwards to clean the room. As an aside, if you do sneakily smoke
on the balcony don’t throw the match or cigarette butt over the side. They can get
sucked back into the ship and cause a fire. A fire on the Star Princess in 2006
was blamed on this. One man died, 11 were injured and over 100 cabins
were seriously damaged by fire. Still out of the balcony there
is mor you should not do, which is where we return to
Renate and her husband Volker. They were thrown off their Caribbean
cruise after making love very loudly with their balcony door open. In what the cruise
line called “a security-related incident”. This raises a few cabin do nots. First, if you do want to have sex on the
balcony or sunbath in the nude, consider cruise lines have CCTV covering the exterior and
so balconies. So, your efforts may be recorded. The barriers between balconies often have
gaps making it unavoidable, or certainly easy, for your neighbours to spectate. Second, noise on the balcony that
disturbs neighbours the lines frown upon. If you blast music through those wireless
speakers you packed, or play a musical instrument, and they get complaints,
those will be confiscated. Renate and Volker’s noise disturbed but also
broke another cabin rule, which is to keep the balcony door closed. I know some cruisers like
to jam it open to hear the ocean when sleeping. It plays havoc with the air-conditioning and energy use, but if sailing and the cabin
door is opened by someone entering or leaving it creates a wind tunnel effect that
blows things all around the cabin. Talking of issues in the cabin, here are what
get most people get into hot water - literally. That kettle you packed you
cannot use. You can't use anything with a heating element in
your cabin unless provided by the line. Some lines sailing out of
the UK do provide kettles or coffee makers. But you cannot plug in
anything with a heating element you brought. This includes irons, baby bottle warmers,
electric blankets, and hot plates. Most lines allow personal hair dryers, even
though they provide them, and now curling tongs. But how you plug them in
is also a potential problem You cannot use an extension cord with a
surge protector, as it could damage a ship electrical system which works differently
to those on land. It will be confiscated, usually when your luggage is screened at boarding. When you leave the cabin, you cannot
leave things like cameras, phones, iPads, toothbrushes, and so on to charge. I have occasionally forgotten and found that
cabin stewards are required to unplug those, as they are seen as a fire risk. And
fire is what lines fear the most at sea. This fear of fire is also why cannot light
candles, incense burners or anything with a flame. The smoke alarms in cabins are
set to be highly sensitive, and so it could rain on
your parade even if you did. If you want something to create that ambience, take some battery operator tea lights, which
is what cruise lines use in their restaurants. Before you dig into the minibar take care. A few years back, assuming all drinks
on the ship were covered by my top range drinks’ package, I used the minibar. Luckily,
I spotted charges appearing for everything, including sodas. The prices per
item are, like hotel mini-bars high. If you have a drink package check if this
is included. I didn’t find any that are. This is important as more lines have drinks’
packages within fares, like Celebrity “Always Included”, Princess Plus, Holland America
“Have It All” and Norwegian “Free at Sea”. If you are in a suite, like when I was
in Cunard Queens Grill, or on one of the Ultra-Luxury lines like Seabourn,
drinks in the minibar may be included. One watch-out is also water. Some lines include
bottled water in the cabin and some not. So, check to avoid unexpected costs. If you take items from your cabin on
disembarkation, like umbrellas, bathrobes, binoculars, and so on, expect a generous
charge to appear on your credit card for them. The lines give you the option of buying those
and it's a cheaper to do it that way first. What about things like toiletries? Here I am guilty. While many lines are scrapping the
miniature bottles in favour of the large installed refillable pump dispensers, some do
have fancy brand name in individual small bottles. I slowly stash away those if they are a
fancy brand like L'Occitane or Milton Brown, which I love, and if they get replenished,
I figure it’s safe to take those home. Though the next item you are
likely to be charged for. Cabin walls, and most doors, are metal and you can stick things to them
with magnets without worrying. If you use sticky tape or other adhesives to stick
things on the wall or put-up door decorations and damage them, you could be charged for repairs. Post-it notes to leave notes for your
Cabin Steward or travelling companions and do not damage the walls. One watch-out on door decorations
is that almost all lines, except for Norwegian Cruise Line at
time of recording, allow them. Though they must be made of non-flammable
materials. Again, that fear of fires. Once in the bathroom, there are
a few things you should not do. Having been on a few cruises where toilets stopped working thanks to fellow passengers,
it is frustrating as easily avoided. Never flush anything other than the
supplied toilet tissue down the toilet. The toilets work on a suction system
and are easily blocked. Products like wipes and feminine hygiene products are the
most common causes of problems like we had. Instead wrap them in toilet tissue or
the supplied bags and use the small rubbish bin in all cruise bathrooms. You’ll find a retractable washing line in the
bathroom, in the shower or above the bath. This is because you shouldn't hang
things out to dry on your balcony, where they can easily get blown off into the ocean and, in addition to losing it, it is bad
for marine life and protecting the ocean. It’s also happened to me, and others
I know, where I’ve stepped out of the bathroom stark-bollock naked to find the
cabin steward cleaning or doing turndown. I now pop the “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door in
the morning or when showering and getting ready. Also, as you step out the bathroom consider
you could find another ship docked close by, and people looking in. This is
more of an issue on a river cruise where the ship will be two
or three feet away only. If you have late-night parties or are
noisy in your cabin and disturb neighbours, the line’s security is likely to
shut it down. Do it repeatedly, and lines are known to throw cruisers off. But there is another consideration. Loud music and TVs do carry through the
walls, as they are not that soundproof. On a recent Seabourn cruise the next-door
cabin were avid late-night and very early morning full volume TV watchers which carried
into our cabin clearly. It was annoying and out a dampener on our enjoyment of our cabin, so do
consider the impact noise can have on others. This brings me on to one that people have told me
they disagree with when I suggested it previously. I try to not make a lot of mess in my
cabin. Cabin stewards have a lot of work and cabins to clean and care for. Many lines
have increased how many they must cover. They are on six- or nine-month contracts
working seven days a week, long hours, and while it is their job, making it a
bit easier seems a great thing to do. If they can spend less time cleaning
up, it means more time to do those extra touches and sort our
issues or needs for us too. If you found that interesting and want to know
mistakes to avoid when choosing your cabin, watch this video starting with the biggest
mistake cruisers make. See you over there.
