Sharing a cabin/AKA How to be a great cabin mate?

[Realblonde474]

I'm taking a my first cruise without my husband AND with three ladies from work that I've known for over 10 years. And while I am looking forward to this little getaway I will admit I'm a bit nervous as I don't want to damage our friendship.

 

I haven't had a roommate since college (20 years ago), please give me some advice/tips on how to be a good cabin mate...thanks so much!

 

Donna

[LAngle]

This is a great thread: I'm cruising with an old friend in a few weeks.

 

I guess the first thing is to be courteous and not hog all the storage space. Discuss who gets what drawers/shelves BEFORE unpacking. Some people are even fussy about which bed the sleep in. Don't just grab what you want - communication will be key.

[Tminish]

I agree with communication being the key. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't feel obligated to do things with them. Yes, you are staying in the same cabin but that doesn't mean you have to do everything together. I would consider your trip a cheap solo way of cruising. The more in a cabin, the cheaper the price. Right?

Be considerate of the others. Try not to take too long of showers, don't hog the mirrors, don't use all of the outlets (since they are limited), don't make a lot of noise if you're up before everyone else, and if you do decide on doing everything together while on the ship, give everyone a chance to pick something. Maybe each person could get a day they can plan for the entire group. Just some suggestions. I hope that you have a wonderful trip!

I'll be interested to see what others say too! :D

[zoncom]

First, have your workmates cruised before? They see TV ads with people in penthouses in formal wear, drinking champagne, eating lobster. I think its your responsibility to tell them sq. footage of cabin, closet space(one bag only, no prom dresses) One bathroom(all toiletries kept in cosmetic bag),Bring makeup mirror to prevent hogging bath. Alert them to cocktail prices, excursion prices etc. You are not a cruise guide so tell them to go to library for cruises/ports books. They should know you can lose cruise deposit if they cancel(I bet one will cancel!) Who gets top berths? No guys in cabin. No drunks. No TV after.....PM.Early or late seating, Big table or dine by yourselves? Laundry hanging in bath ?Are they aware of miscellaneous cruise costs? Daily auto tips to their CCs? shore taxis? shore dining? If it were me, I would insist on 2 in cabin. Pricing will not be much more. I see this as a very stressful situation. Working with someone is so different than 24 hour socialization, tiny spaces and travel. Comments anyone?

Edited June 23, 2014 by zoncom

[Tminish]

First, have your workmates cruised before? They see TV ads with people in penthouses in formal wear, drinking champagne, eating lobster. I think its your responsibility to tell them sq. footage of cabin, closet space(one bag only, no prom dresses) One bathroom(all toiletries kept in cosmetic bag),Bring makeup mirror to prevent hogging bath. Alert them to cocktail prices, excursion prices etc. You are not a cruise guide so tell them to go to library for cruises/ports books. They should know you can lose cruise deposit if they cancel(I bet one will cancel!) Who gets top berths? No guys in cabin. No drunks. No TV after.....PM.Early or late seating, Big table or dine by yourselves? Laundry hanging in bath ?Are they aware of miscellaneous cruise costs? Daily auto tips to their CCs? shore taxis? shore dining? If it were me, I would insist on 2 in cabin. Pricing will not be much more. I see this as a very stressful situation. Working with someone is so different than 24 hour socialization, tiny spaces and travel. Comments anyone?

 

I could definitely see where you're coming from and how spending days with someone is totally different than spending hours. Lol. I cruise with my BFF. But we've been Bestfriends for 15 years. Maybe their relationship is the same. idk. But I can see where having 3 bodies in one cabin could be a disaster. But you can't go into it thinking that way. Otherwise it will turn out exactly how you planned. A horrible trip. Just go and have as much fun as possible. Depending on the cost I could see myself paying extra just to have my own space. But that's just me. Haha.

[KansasTexan]

I travel solo and with several different roommates. No matter who I travel with, we each have different days we want to get up early and have breakfast/see the sunrise/work out...or sleep in. Rather than disturb the other, we've learned to set out a set of clothes along with our sunglasses, sail and sign card, etc, the night before. Then when we wake the next morning, we get dressed quickly and slip out of the room, allowing our roommate to catch much needed vacation rest. We often leave a post it note on the bathroom mirror letting the other know where we are but no need to wake anyone up. It works for us.

[AmoMondo]

I could nt do that myself. A few years ago my workmates wanted to go for on don for a weekend rather than have a Christams night out. They were happy to be 4 in a room, 2 to a bed. I absolutely wSnt. The thought of sharing a bed with knew asnd enough but 4 women to one bathroom...heel no! I went but paid a lot extra to have a room to myself. I was happy to let them use my room fora drinks and nibbles session and go spread out a bit more during the day.

 

The thing was these women were workmates and not friends, so that is why it wouldn't have worked for me. We did however have a fabulous time with only a few activities we all did together and the rest of the time us doing our own thing or in pairs.

 

I've often shared with friends and that always work by being honest up front about everyone wants. If you want time to do stuff on your own, then explain thT.

 

The stress points are definitely where you get a bathroom hog or someone who is really messy and the others isn't. Had. Friend who rendered the entire sofa area and table unausable as she had so much of her stuff spread all over it. That drove me nuts. Especially when she told me I was just being anal, when I asked her to put stuff away.

[Lois R]

Do you know the women well? Have you sat down and discussed things?

Bathroom? Sleeptime? Do you know their habits? Do they snore? Are

they clingy type people? Do they have expectations of being with

you all the the time? And do you have expectations?

 

I have been cruising solo for years.....and living on my own for even

longer....having my own space is too much of a priority for me to give

it up.

 

I hope everything works out:)

Edited June 24, 2014 by Lois R

[Realblonde474]

These are great points to kick around. We are going to be two to a room and have already decided that if someone wants to go off on a shore excursion by themselves...no harm no foul.

 

One of the ladies I have worked with for over 10 years and she and I will be sharing one balcony cabin...and we are both morning people.

 

The other ladies have worked with this lady for a long time as well.

 

Two of us are experienced cruisers, two are not.

 

I believe there can be give and take on some things and others just have to be set. For example...I will be in flying the night before...end of discussion. I booked my room with Marriott points and invited anyone is wants to fly in early to join me (free bed) and if not, I will see them at the cruise port.

 

Other things, like when to dine (early or late or FLEX) I will remain open on regardless of my preference. You know, go along to get along.

 

I haven't travelled for pleasure without a spouse in other 20 years so this will be fun!

[Cruisercl]

I think the rooming together with workmates can work, I have done it and we had a GREAT time. We still laugh about things and it was over 10 years ago. :) The most in the room was three of us however.

 

We also knew each other personally for a bit too. We knew each others 'neatness' habits just by working with them. The considerate behavior was known too; that is not something that is not apparent on a day to day basis no matter what the situation.

 

It can work if budgets are tight and everyone is a bit flexible. Cruising with friends in the same cabin can be a blast!!!

[jdog99]

All the cabin sharing points have been well covered. As far as taking trips or doing activities on board, I have found that setting up several meeting times / places throughout the day works. For example, I will let my travel mates know that I will be at an activity at 11:00, another one at 2:00 and dinner at 6:00. That allows everyone the space to do what they want without wondering where I am or if/when they will spend time with me. This works extremely well when I travel with my teenage son. He has several checkpoints daily so he can just go have fun. I hate spending all morning negotiating where the entire group is going and then worrying over where everyone is. I go on cruises to relax and have fun.

Jim

[138east]

For communicating you can take advantage of the phone messaging system.

 

Don't forget about the facilities in the ladies locker room. There will be at least big showers and tons of space and towels, if not a sauna and steam room. Great place spread out and make a giant mess that's not in your cabin bathroom.

[maryann2]

I have shared three to a cabin and it worked well with a few ground rules. The comment showering in the Gym or spa is good. We actually had one of the OV rooms on the newer Carnival ships which has 2 bathrooms.

[Dancer Bob]

Don't forget to agree on mini-bar service.

[zoncom]

Get mini bar emptied. Share frig space. Put your initials on your bottles.

[wishIweretravelling]

I've cruised a number of times now with a friend (who I met on a cruise when I was going solo)--including a 72-night cruise. We did not start with any ground rules, but fell into a pattern that we eventually realized constituted unspoken ground rules.

 

We each have our individual "territories", even if they consist of little more than bed, nightstand, and specific drawers. We each can do whatever we wish with them--mess, tidy, something in between. We have common area where we put things, which one or the other of us will tidy from time to time. And we have "clear" common area, where nothing is put but our derrieres.

 

We consider each other. Going to take a shower or otherwise occupy the bathroom for a while? Ask the other if she needs to use the bathroom first. Want to turn on the TV? Ask the other. Simple courtesies go a long way.

 

We aren't attached at the hip. We do some things together (actually, quite a few things--one of the reasons we became friends was common interests), and some things separately. We usually manage to avoid being "over-served" at the same time, so there is almost always someone in the room with a clear head. (But not always. One evening we both over-imbibed with the horrific result being karaoke. Even though our one spoke ground rule was "friends don't let friends sing karaoke." Our fellow passengers' eardrums may never recover).

 

We laugh. A lot. Apologies to the people in the neighboring cabins, though we've had neighbors who responded by coming over to join the fun.

 

It may help that we both live alone. I think that when you do, you may be more conscious of being with someone else, and not accidentally fall into whatever pattern you may have with your spouse or roommate.

[Lois R]

I've cruised a number of times now with a friend (who I met on a cruise when I was going solo)--including a 72-night cruise. We did not start with any ground rules, but fell into a pattern that we eventually realized constituted unspoken ground rules.

 

We each have our individual "territories", even if they consist of little more than bed, nightstand, and specific drawers. We each can do whatever we wish with them--mess, tidy, something in between. We have common area where we put things, which one or the other of us will tidy from time to time. And we have "clear" common area, where nothing is put but our derrieres.

 

We consider each other. Going to take a shower or otherwise occupy the bathroom for a while? Ask the other if she needs to use the bathroom first. Want to turn on the TV? Ask the other. Simple courtesies go a long way.

 

We aren't attached at the hip. We do some things together (actually, quite a few things--one of the reasons we became friends was common interests), and some things separately. We usually manage to avoid being "over-served" at the same time, so there is almost always someone in the room with a clear head. (But not always. One evening we both over-imbibed with the horrific result being karaoke. Even though our one spoke ground rule was "friends don't let friends sing karaoke." Our fellow passengers' eardrums may never recover).

 

We laugh. A lot. Apologies to the people in the neighboring cabins, though we've had neighbors who responded by coming over to join the fun.

 

It may help that we both live alone. I think that when you do, you may be more conscious of being with someone else, and not accidentally fall into whatever pattern you may have with your spouse or roommate.

 

Hi, interesting story.....thank you for posting your experience:)

72 days together? To me, (just my thoughts) you must have been

very good friends.....I could never share a cabin with someone for

that long and I have lived alone almost my entire adult life.

Maybe you are a much more selfless person than I am.......but living

alone (to me) at 56? I would be hard pressed to ever share a cabin

again.....not even for a week in the Caribbean, so 72 nights? No way:eek:

I value my own space too much.......I realize it is all about priorities in life.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Lois R

[wishIweretravelling]

My friend and I are in the same age range as you, Lois. I think we both had our doubts--we'd only shared for a 3-nighter before the 72-night cruise (and the 3-nighter is a story unto itself). But there was so much to do and see during that cruise that our personal space never became a problem.

[Lois R]

Glad things worked out for you.:)....that is more than 2 months.

We all have our own habits and quirks.....glad those never came into

play for either of you.