If you’re new to cruising, you might be wondering why people decorate their cabin doors.
After all, you don’t do that at a hotel or guest house. But there are actually a few good reasons to decorate your cabin door on a cruise:
- Decorating your cabin door can help you find your room. Cruise ships are big, and it can be easy to get lost. If your cabin door is decorated, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find your way back to your room, even if you’ve had a few too many drinks at the onboard bar.
- Door decorations can make your room more festive. A decorated cabin door can add a touch of fun and personality to your room. It’s a great way to celebrate a special occasion or just show off your sense of style.
- It can help you meet new people. If your cabin door is decorated, it’s more likely that people will stop by to say hello. This is a great way to meet new friends and make memories that will last a lifetime.
Why Decorate Cabin Door?
1. Easy Room Spotting:
Cruise ships can be like mazes. The doors look similar, and the halls go on for what seems like an eternity. Decorations on your cabin door make finding your room much simpler.
2. Figuring Out Cruise Talk:
Cruise Lingo can be tricky. Like, is your room at the front or aft? Port or Starboard? Decorating your door helps you remember where to go, so you don’t end up walking in the wrong direction.
3. Stand Out in the Crowd:
Lots of doors, all looking the same. Decorating your door not only makes it look cool but also means you won’t have to guess which one is yours.
4. Save Time and Steps:
Imagine trying to find your room in a place with 200-300 brown doors on the same floor! Decorating helps you spot your room quicker, so you don’t waste time and end up with tired feet.
5. Help Others Find You:
Decorated doors aren’t just for you. They help your friends, family, and even new buddies find your room without getting lost.
Tip to find your door before you can decorate
6. It’s a Carnival Cruise Tradition
Decorating your cruise cabin door has become a cherished tradition, especially on the “Fun Ship.” It adds a vibrant and personalized touch, turning the experience of entering your cabin into a festive and memorable moment. Joining in on this tradition enhances the overall enjoyment of the cruise and fosters a sense of camaraderie among fellow passengers who share in the spirit of fun and creativity.
7. Know the Rules before you decorate your cabin door:
Before going crazy with decorations, check the cruise ship rules. Every cruise has its own do’s and don’ts for door bling. Stick to them, so you don’t get in trouble.
8. A Decorated Door Makes Everyone’s Life Easier:
Decorating your stateroom door isn’t just about making the door look cool. It helps everyone around you, especially kids and new friends, find you easily.
By putting a little flair on your door, you’re not just making things fun; you’re making your cruise adventure smoother for everyone!
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Safety First – Adhering to Cruise Guidelines
When sprucing up your cruise cabin door, it’s crucial to keep safety in mind. Cruise lines often have specific guidelines regarding door decorations to ensure the well-being of passengers and the integrity of the ship. Before going all out with your creative ideas, familiarize yourself with these guidelines to make sure your decorations comply with safety regulations.
Carnival Cruise rules for door decorations
Before you begin planning your cabin decorations, make sure you know the rules and are willing to follow them.
- Decorations must be made of flame retardant material. This is for safety reasons.
- Decorations must be placed on the door only, not on the surrounding frame or walls. This is to prevent damage to the ship.
- Decorations must not be attached with tape or glue. This can damage the door.
- You can use magnets or Command Strips to attach your decorations. These are safe and easy to remove.
- Decorations should not be too large or obstruct the doorknob or peephole. This could be a safety hazard.
- Decorations should not be offensive or inappropriate. This is to create a family-friendly environment.
Here are some additional tips for following the Carnival Cruise rules for door decorations:
- Read the rules carefully before you start decorating.
- Use a ruler to measure the size of your decorations so that they don’t obstruct the doorknob or peephole.
- Use clear Command Strips so that they don’t leave a residue on the door when you remove them.
- Be creative and have fun!
Making It Stick: Materials and Attachment Tips
Choosing the right materials for your door decorations is key to ensuring they last throughout the cruise.
Consider materials that are durable and won’t damage the door like magnets and command type fastnters like these found on Amazon: Magnets that hold 50#
And when your cruise is over, don’t throw your hooks away. Save them for next time, but make sure to have some Command adhesive strip refills.
Additionally, explore attachment methods that are secure yet gentle on the door surface and that are allowed by the cruise line rules. This way, your decorations stay in place without causing any unwanted issues.
Elevate Your Door Decoration with Interactive Personal Touches
Enhance your door decoration with interactive features that go beyond the ordinary. Think about adding a whiteboard for messages or a pocket to share cruise tips with fellow travelers.
If commemorating an anniversary, go the extra mile by crafting a large greeting card where fellow cruisers can extend their well-wishes.
These thoughtful touches not only make your door distinctive but also foster connections and shared experiences.
Personal tip: Embrace the unpredictability of whiteboards for creative and spontaneous messages from fellow cruisers or kids, but be mindful of potential inappropriate content by setting guidelines or monitoring periodically.
Seasonal and Theme Ideas – Keeping It Fresh
Don’t limit your creativity to a single design. Explore seasonal or themed decoration ideas for different cruise occasions.
Whether it’s a holiday cruise, a birthday celebration, or a tropical theme, changing up your door decor keeps things fresh and adds excitement to your cruise experience.
Stateroom door decorating ideas
Think about what you want to put on the door. Are you celebrating a milestone? Do you have a group sailing together and want to come up with a theme?
When you figure out the theme, next, make sure you know the rules. Most cruise lines don’t allow you to use tape, but you can use command strips or magnets.
Use What You Have
Why bother purchasing decorations for your cabin door if you don’t have to? Perhaps it’s not in the budget to go out and buy a bunch of door decorations that may get lost or stolen, or it’s a last-minute cruise.
Get creative with door decorating ideas by using items such as team pennants, small flags, ribbons, or laminated photos. Make your cabin door uniquely yours without breaking the bank! 🚪✨ #DIYDoorDecor
Tap into Kid’s Creativity
If you have kids or grandchildren, consider borrowing their plastic toys to create charming door decorations. Picture a vibrant blue ribbon adorned with lively yellow and red sand toys—a delightful touch!
Anything lightweight, not too bulky, and easy to tie or glue is fair game. Another budget-friendly option is to visit a dollar-type store and pick up bunches of small toys that can be transformed into imaginative door decor.
Don’t forget to explore items from home or what you have on hand; you’ll be surprised at the inventive decorations you can craft! 🎨🚪 #KidInspiredDecor
I always have a picture of my dogs. I need to find the ones I want to use and have laminated. I have seen people hang wreaths on their doors.
Take your wreath off your door at home or office door and wa-la! Instant door decor.
Make a custom wreath
Imagine a wreath made from flip-flops or seashells.
Or a long thick ribbon with plastic farm animal figures, Hot Wheels, or even Barbie dolls.
I can imagine when my husband was a young boy, he decorated with Barbie heads that he stole from his sisters, Eek!
When driving you can go crazy with door decorations
If driving to your cruise embarkation port, you can bring whatever you are willing to carry.
When flying, consider items that are smaller and easier to pack, like light weight foldable door hangings . These are easily found around holidays.
Think Santa, Christmas trees, gingerbread men, and The Grinch for Christmas.
Around Halloween, pumpkins, scary looking houses, and trick- or-treaters.
Large and bulky door decorations have a downside
Larger items might be difficult to hang on the door. Even if you initially get heavy items on the door, they may not stay there.
Budget-friendly door decorations
Door decorations don’t have to be expensive. For example, on every cruise, I have brought my WSU flag and hung it from our mailbox with a command hook.
Sometimes, we hang my Hubby’s Seahawks flag, depending on its football season or how poorly the Hawks are doing.
No matter which route you decide to go, don’t display anything that is one of a kind, has a monetary value, or sentimental value.
Even though people are friendly on a cruise or ship, it doesn’t mean that someone won’t steal items for themselves. Sad truth.
Use your creative skills to make door decorations
Get Crafty
The next way to come up with door decorations is to use your imagination.
Embellishing your cabin door is a great way to show other cruisers your cruising spirit. Get crafty and show your fun side.
If you have a Hobby Lobby or other craft store nearby, start by taking a walk down the sticker and craft paper section.
Maybe you will get some quick ideas there.
Sometimes just walking through Hobby Lobby turns the light bulb on in my creativity.
Look at the different themes of papers and colors. Grab anything that looks promising in your basket.
Door decoration materials:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Wood
- Plastic
- Craft foam
- Clay
- Glass
- Light metals
Laminate anything made of paper
If you use paper decorations, don’t forget to laminate paper items.
You can professionally laminate, use clear shelf paper (available at Dollar stores), or even cover items in clear packing tape.
Look for alternative materials:
Next, check out the wood and cardboard sections.
Small flat wood items are another consideration.
Pre-cut wood ornament size, think 4-leaf clover, fish, and mermaids, all waiting for you or your kids to personalize.
For wood, plastic, and metal no lamination is needed.
Premade letters and shapes
3 dementional letters of assorted sizes are cool too.
You can take a plain letter and give it personality.
I have hand-painted letters K and M that I sometimes hang on our doors. I embellished it with paint and glitter to resemble a mermaid.
How to hang 3-D letters as decorations:
Attach a string to the ornament, and hang it on a command hook.
Many choices are available at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Walmart craft section.
Here’s a craft project where I used wood letters to make a sign that spelled out Cruise. You can use this idea, but pick light weight letters made of paper,cardboard, or foam.
Fun foam
A figure traced onto a piece of craft foam is another idea. Craft foam comes in different colors, is lightweight, and is easy to work with.
You can also find pre made letters and shapes made of foam. These letters can be painted or embellished in any ways.
Just attach pieces with glue. You can decorate with markers, glitter, beads, or even metal.
A piece of ribbon or even a pull-top from an aluminum can can be glued to the back and used to hang from the door.
Door decorating for children
Can the kids decorate Cruise cabin doors?
Yes, the entire family can be involved in decorating your cabin door. Have the kids color pictures from a coloring book or use one of their art projects from school
Remember the Santa that your child made where his beard was made from cotten balls? Or the turkey made from your child’s hand print? These are all was to have the kids involved in decorating the cabin door.
Group or family door decorating ideas
Traveling with your family or as a group? Have each member do a coloring page or free printable. One year on a Christmas cruise, each member of the family colored different gingerbread houses, Christmas Trees, and Santa Claus.
We each colored them and then cut them out and laminated them. Although our group of 4 staterooms was not next to one another, you could tell we were together with similarly themed decorations.
Use coloring pages
Any coloring page will work. Just pick a topic and Google. Example: Jeep coloring pages. Zoo coloring pages. There are even coloring pages for wedding showers with bouquets and cakes. Kids or members of a bridal party could put together ornaments without much effort.
Fun with paper
Another idea for children or other group members is to cut out snowflakes for a winter cruise, make snowmen, or draw gingerbread people. Don’t forget to laminate!
Quick winter decoration ideas
Imagine a snowman. Trace circles onto the foam, and repeat. Add accessories such as a hat, eyes, and carrot nose. Cut out and glue together.
Attach a string or ribbon with glue, staples, or tape for hanging.
Whether you use paper and laminate, wood and decor, or craft foam sheets, you can get as creative as you want.
Alaska-themed door decoration
Do you need Alaska cruise door decoration ideas? Think about the animals you want to see or activities you want to try in Alaska. Maybe a large bingo board would be perfect?
Caribbean-themed door decorations
For Caribbean cruise door decorations, why not make your cruisers into pirates? Or hand draw if you are talented or coloring pages of colorful birds.
Maybe you fancy yourself as a mermaid? Coloring book pages of mermaids. Take it a step further and dress the part too!
Transporting decorations to the ship
Transporting items to ship: Place flat decorations in a paper or plastic folder to keep items together and prevent wrinkles.
Label the folder if you plan on storing it for the long term to reuse. This makes it easier to find when gathering items for the next cruise.
Let your decorations Tell a story.
My favorite door decorations to date, I thought outside the box, I told a story from my dogs’ point of view.
Whenever we cruise, our dogs have to stay home. I imagine that while we are gone, they both take off on a road trip driving a convertible.
On this road trip, they get into my car and drive from Washington State to Arizona to see their cousins for their annual dog poker tournament.
Think out of the box when getting ideas for your door decorations as I did with my dog in their imaginary story of going on a road trip to play in their annual poker tourney.
The dogs are a color copy of a photograph printed out and laminated. The car is craft foam.
I traced the outline of a car and cut it out. I glued different colors of foam onto the car for the bumper, lights, and license plate. I used a scrap of plastic from laminating another item for the windshield.
Reuse recycle old decorations
On our last cruise, I reused the laminated pictures of 2 of the dogs to make a birthday-themed door.
I made little party hats for the dogs, and added our grandson, with his own party hat.
I printed out a picture of a balloon and traced it onto different decorative scrapbook papers. Finally, I made a cruise ship to bring the theme together.
On our upcoming cruise on Carnival Panorama, I may use the Oh ship! It’s a Birthday Trip, for my Birthday.
Purchase decorations
Not everyone has the time or creativity to make their own decorations. That’s okay. There is a huge selection of cruise decorations.
You can even get decorations of a stork carrying a baby announcing it’s a boy!
These can be found on sites like Amazon.
Have door decorations delivered directly to your cabin
Cruise Cabin Decorations via the Hubb App or on Carnival’s Website.
For hassle-free door decorations, explore the convenience of the Hubb app provided by your cruise line.
Order cabin door and stateroom decorations directly, ensuring a professionally adorned space without the need to pack or worry about potential damage during travel.
It’s a seamless way to add a festive touch to your cruise experience without any extra stress.
Easily buy cruise decorations on Amazon
You also can purchase premade stock items to use as door decorations from places like Oriental Trading, eBay, and even the Dollar Store.
Depending on what you are looking for and how much room you have to spare in your luggage, places like the dollar store always have decorations that are tropical or holiday-related. Opt for lightweight wood or plastic items.
This funny cruise sign, Looking for my cabin can be found here on Amazon
Have someone crafty make custom decorations
Cruise door decorations can be found online.
To find places to purchase items try Google “door decorations Etsy”.
On Etsy, you can search for cruise door decorations. You can buy standard on-the-shelf decorations, premade kits, or go for personalized or custom cruise cabindecorations.
Some crafty Etsy shop owners will create your family’s personalized cruise door decorations, magnets, or even a vinyl banner.
Decorations can be funny, cute, or even serious. It’s up to you.
Disney Fish Extenders
This post is geared towards decorating cruise doors on a Carnival Cruise, but if you happen to need information on Disney Cruise Line and Fish Extenders, I’ve got you covered. I haven’t been on a Disney cruise yet, so I’ll let Jackie Galley of DCLFan website explain it to you.
Where to buy Disney Cruise Fish Extenders
If you are going on a Disney Cruise, they can give you ideas for fish extenders. like this 3 pocket fish extender on Amazon.
Still unsure about Fish Extenders, here’s a video that might answer some questions on Fish Extenders if you are going on a Diney Cruise:
Disney Cruise Line Fish Extenders l FAQs
Carnival Cruise Door size
What is the size of the doors on a Carnival Cruise?
The doors measure approximately 22″ wide x 80″ high. Carnival Cruise Line HC Accessible rooms are 32″ x 80″. (Only the width is different.)
Doors on Carnival may or may not be flat and may have wooden slats. When determining your layout, try not to cover the entire door, and note, that all decorations must be on the door and not a wall or frame around the door.
The doorknob or handle could be on either the left or right side. There is also a small security peephole.
What size banner should I order? If you want a vinyl banner that will mostly cover the door get 18″x 54″ or dimensions close to this size. Make sure you print your banner in portrait, not landscape. In other words hamburger, not hotdog.
I recently ordered a new banner from Vista Print.
Consider Copyrights
When creating your banner, it’s crucial to be mindful of copyright laws. Printing companies are bound by legal restrictions and cannot reproduce anything with trademarks. This means they are prohibited from printing items such as “The Jones Family Carnival Freedom Cruise.”
Additionally, printing pictures of a ship that displays its name requires a photo release. However, you might find more flexibility by opting for a more generic approach, such as “The Jones Family Caribbean Cruise”, especially if you include a picture of the ship in the background. If the photo was taken during a previous vacation, it may comply with copyright regulations.
Experienced Cruiser Tip: Keep your banner generic to ensure its reusability for future trips. This not only simplifies the printing process but also avoids potential copyright complications.
Final Destination: Your Cruise, Your Story
As you embark on your Carnival cruise adventure, remember that every detail contributes to the tale of your journey.
From safety-conscious creativity to interactive elements and ever-changing themes, your cabin door becomes a vibrant chapter in the shared story of the cruise community.
So, let your door narrate the joy of your voyage, welcoming both familiar faces and new friends alike.
Happy decorating, and here’s to a cruise filled with unforgettable memories!
Dive into Decor: Set Sail with Your Unique Touch!
Ready to make your Carnival cruise even more memorable? Grab your favorite decorations, unleash your creativity, and give your cabin door a personality of its own! Whether it’s a playful theme, an interactive element, or a seasonal surprise, let your imagination set sail. Share your unique door decor ideas with fellow cruisers and make your journey one for the books. So, what are you waiting for? Let the decorating adventure begin—anchors aweigh! ⚓🚢✨
Save the Sail! Pin
Access the Cruise Door Decor Guide – Step by Step 🚢🚪
Unlock the secrets to elevating your cruise experience with our step-by-step guide to door decorating! Dive into a sea of creative ideas, tips, and hacks to transform your cabin door into a personalized masterpiece. Sail through your cruise with style and flair! 🎨✨ #CruiseDecor #SailInStyle
FAQs for Cruise Door Decoration: Carnival Cruise 2023
Q1: Why do people decorate their cabin doors on a cruise?
A: Decorating cabin doors helps passengers find their rooms in the maze of hallways, adds a festive touch, and encourages social interaction.
Q2: How does a decorated door assist in finding your room?
A: Cruise ships have multiple floors and hallways. Decorations make your door stand out, serving as a visual marker for quick and easy identification.
Q3: Are there specific rules for cruise door decorations?
A: Yes, adhere to cruise line regulations. Decorations must be flame-retardant, placed only on the door, attached with magnets or Command Strips, and not obstructive or offensive.
Q4: Can children participate in decorating cruise cabin doors?
A: Absolutely! Kids can contribute by coloring pages, creating themed decorations, or adding their art projects to the door.
Q5: What are some budget-friendly door decoration ideas?
A: Utilize existing items like team pennants, small flags, ribbons, or laminated photos. Dollar-type stores offer affordable options such as small toys for DIY decorations.
Q6: Can you reuse cruise door decorations?
A: Yes, consider laminating paper items for reuse. Flat decorations can be stored in a labeled folder for future cruises.
Q7: Where can I purchase cruise door decorations?
A: Online platforms like Amazon, Oriental Trading, and even Dollar Stores offer a variety of cruise-friendly decorations. Etsy is great for personalized or custom options.
Q8: What’s the recommended size for a vinyl banner for a Carnival Cruise door?
A: Opt for dimensions around 18″ x 54″ or similar. Ensure the printing is in portrait format, and consider copyright laws when creating custom banners.
Q9: Are there specific considerations for Alaska or Caribbean-themed cruise door decorations?
A: Tailor decorations to the cruise destination. For Alaska, think of animals or activities, while for the Caribbean, consider pirates or colorful birds.
Q10: Any tips for keeping cruise door decorations lightweight and easy to transport?
A: Use materials like craft foam, plastic, or lightweight wood. Consider flat, foldable door hangings for easy packing, especially when flying to the embarkation port.