bring own beach towels?

[swannie]

First Carribbean cruise (RCL) and wondering if we should pack our own beach towels or can we borrow from the ship when going ashore?

[CruiserBruce]

I would ask this on the RCCL board. Most cruise lines allow you to borrow from the ship, particularly if on a ship's excursion, or the cruise line's private island.

[paul929207]

Usually, there are two in your cabin. When they are wet or dirty, leave tehm on the floor of your bathroom and they will be replaced.

[Putterdude]

No need to fill up your luggage with beach pool/beach towels they will be available on the ship.

[blondietink]

We were just on Carnival and the note on the towels stated that only the Carnival towels were allowed off the ship at ports of call. Next time we will leave our own towels at home. :cool:

[swannie]

We were just on Carnival and the note on the towels stated that only the Carnival towels were allowed off the ship at ports of call. Next time we will leave our own towels at home. :cool:

 

You mean you're not even ALLOWED to bring your own towels off the ship?? Why not?

[johneeo]

We were just on Carnival and the note on the towels stated that only the Carnival towels were allowed off the ship at ports of call. Next time we will leave our own towels at home. :cool:

 

I find that incredibly hard to believe.:eek:

 

If I take a beach towel on my cruise and I want to take it to the beach, I am going to take my beach towel.:mad:

[Happy ks]

I believe the person intended to state that only the Carnival beach towels were allowed off the ship, not the bath towels. That makes more sense, cruise lines do not care if you have your own towels. How would they even know what is in your beach bag? They don't search you (exception - food) when you get off in port.

 

We would not waste packing space on towels. Not to mention I would not want to have to have the towels laundered, nor would I want to pack dirty towels into the suitcase for the trip home.

[swannie]

that certainly makes more sense! Thank you everyone for your info. My Costco beach towels are going back tomorrow!

[momofmeg]

We paid $50 for a lost towel once-so yes, when driving to port we bring towels. We never launder them as we usually only do one beach excursion if that. There are towels on ship for the ship's pool by the pool. I do not mind packing dirty towels. They go in a new garbage bag I bring from home with dirty clothing, ( I dry them on the balcony) in the largest suitcase. The smaller carry on has whatever is still clean. Once home the suitcases get Lysoled and then Freebreezed, before they are put away.

[macksmom330]

You can borrow from the ship, no need to pack one! That's just extra space you'll be taking up for more shoes and clothes!!!!!

[momofmeg]

You can borrow from the ship, no need to pack one! That's just extra space you'll be taking up for more shoes and clothes!!!!!

 

True, but if you lose it as I stated above, you buy it-I know from experience.

I do not blame the lines for this policy. I am sure they did this because too many were taking them home as "free" souvenirs.

[macksmom330]

Very true momofmeg. I've never had this unfortunate experience! But if you are taking kids or prone to losing stuff than maybe you should :p

[cb at sea]

I can't fathom HOW you would "lose" a towel! Just use the ship's towels...that way, you can get clean, dry ones whenever you want.

[johneeo]

I can't fathom HOW you would "lose" a towel! Just use the ship's towels...that way, you can get clean, dry ones whenever you want.

 

Fathom this ...... people steal them.

[momofmeg]

I can't fathom HOW you would "lose" a towel! Just use the ship's towels...that way, you can get clean, dry ones whenever you want.

 

my husband's was stolen off the beach while he was swimming. came back his teeshirt twas there-towel was gone.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were just on Carnival and the note on the towels stated that only the Carnival towels were allowed off the ship at ports of call. Next time we will leave our own towels at home. :cool:

 

i have never heard of that before

[klauer]

I think that on every cruise ship I've been on, there's been a notice that you would be charged for missing beach towels. But on port days, many of the ships had big bins to toss your dirty towels when you boarded, and people left towels at the pool all the time. So I'm kind of surprised that anyone really got charged for missing towels -- that's really bad luck!

[MrsPete]

I'm sure people do steal the towels (not sure why -- I wouldn't want to hang logo towels in my bathroom), but I think the bigger problem was people who took -- maybe even purposefully -- towels off the ship for excursions, and then just abandoned them on shore rather than bring them back. You can't blame the cruise line for not wanting to absorb the cost of people's laziness in that case.

 

Don't bother to bring your own towels. They'll just take up space (which is important in your small cabin, even if you don't have to think about suitcase space for the airlines), and you don't want to pay to launder them.

 

The towel check-out program really isn't a problem. On the first day, check out a towel for each member of your party. NEVER RETURN IT 'til the last day. Trade it in for a fresh towel as often as needed -- we get fresh towels every time we're done at the pool so that we always have clean towels only in our room -- but never run your card through. The fewer times you put your number into the computer, the fewer the chances for a mistake. On the last night, return it and be sure it's checked in.

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

Fathom this ...... people steal them.

 

yes in grand turk the towel thief struck again.. $22 bucks a pop. i was able to convince them not to charge me, but people do steal towels among other things.

[Cya@Sea]

yes in grand turk the towel thief struck again.. $22 bucks a pop. i was able to convince them not to charge me, but people do steal towels among other things.

 

When cruising with my kids, I bring beach towels. Kids are kids and mine lose things. I am not paying the lost towel fee, It's not a price I want to pay. JMHO

[Morgsmom]

I agree that a LOT of cruisers leave their wet/sandy towels on the islands deliberately so that they do not have to drag them back. Also, there are lots of reports of locals who say that they will "return" :D the towels back to the ship for you as a courtesy.... Can't imagine how many cruise line towels are hanging from their clothing racks at home....

[BoardwalkBabe]

If we are bringing our snorkel gear, then we each bring one beach towel from home to wrap around the gear. We usually use towels from the ship unless they have one of those policies where you have to check the towels out. We don't want to have to pay for a towel that someone might take so we just bring our own. We drive to/from the ports so we aren't dealing with luggage restrictions.

[griffy116]

I don't even care if they are in a garbage bag, sand gets everywhere and sticks to the towels, then it gets into absolutely everything. JMO, but I keep up with the kids and towels because I'm not going to drag a sticky wet sandy beach towel into my luggage or my car after it has sat for days. After it's used the first time on a beach, it's full of sand. I've seen folks take these towels and hang them out on their balcony, where the sand blows all over the balconies nearby, which I wouldn't want to do. I am not going to be laundering them and so I would be stuck with a dirty beach towel all week. We've had some of our group buy beach towels on some of the islands, but again, after they used them they were gross and we were stuck with dragging them home. We are still sucking sand out of the back of the SUV from beach towels used in St. Maarten...but like I said, just my decision. I use the cruise line towels.

[momofmeg]

I don't even care if they are in a garbage bag, sand gets everywhere and sticks to the towels, then it gets into absolutely everything. JMO, but I keep up with the kids and towels because I'm not going to drag a sticky wet sandy beach towel into my luggage or my car after it has sat for days. After it's used the first time on a beach, it's full of sand. I've seen folks take these towels and hang them out on their balcony, where the sand blows all over the balconies nearby, which I wouldn't want to do. I am not going to be laundering them and so I would be stuck with a dirty beach towel all week. We've had some of our group buy beach towels on some of the islands, but again, after they used them they were gross and we were stuck with dragging them home. We are still sucking sand out of the back of the SUV from beach towels used in St. Maarten...but like I said, just my decision. I use the cruise line towels.

 

Well my balcony on ship has been covered with sand when I shook out my beach towels-I am sure the steward was not too happy-but no I have never brought sand home in my suitcase from my towels. Once I did not get it all the sand of a pair of sandels I had worn. I simply vacuumed out the suitcase. No big deal. Perhaps you need a better vacuum?

 

However, everyone has to make their own decision(weigh the pros and cons) as to whether they want to bring towels from home or not. I just see no reason for posting in a superior tone and nixing those who say they do-you can do what you want, and others can do what they want.