The little things matter on a cruise. Until a few years ago, it was general practice for family cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line, to offer a single American-style departure and a European departure on cruises.
Many ships didn't offer a single USB port in their cabins, and since traditional surge protectors aren't allowed (something newer cruise ships often don't realize), even a solo traveler can have trouble keeping their devices charged. In some cases, even relatively new ships have legacy technology that shows how difficult it can be to make changes.
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Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, for example, an Oasis-class ship that first set sail in 2009, still has the old-school chargers for Apple's original iPhone. They are actually two outdated chargers since Apple moved to Lightning chargers and recently adopted USB-C charging.
When Allure goes into dry dock later this year, watches with those old-school chargers will likely be swapped for USB and/or USB-C. But on a ship that has 2,745 cabins, that's no easy task.
Carnival Cruise Line has decided to take on an even bigger task by making a key change to the cabin of all of its ships.
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Image source: Pixabay.
Carnival adds key cabin safety feature
Cruise ship cabins, even most suites, are really small by traditional hotel room standards. A typical cabin, interior, or balcony is typically between 160 and 185 square feet, about half the size of an average hotel room.
Add in that up to four people could sleep in a cabin and moving around safely when the lights are on can be a challenge, let alone after dark. That's a Carnival Cruise Line thing. (CCL) has been boarding every ship in the fleet, according to a facebook post by its brand ambassador, John Heald.
“So during dry docking we added night lights to the ships. Some of you will have experienced this when you get up in the night, perhaps to use the bathroom, and a night light turns on automatically,” Heald posted.
Heald also explained why the cruise line has made this decision.
“This morning, while answering questions, I've had a few people say they don't like them and they find them annoying. Obviously, they're very important for safety and avoiding tripping hazards in the dark,” he added.
While you might think this wouldn't be a controversial topic, Heald's post garnered over 3,000 comments.
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Carnival passengers blend in with the night lights.
Many of the responses to Heald's post were very negative about motion-activated lights.
“I use electrical tape to cover any bright lights or reflective items in the room. If I want or need a night light, I would bring my own,” wrote Bill Brodie.
J. Todd Self sees the need but proposed a different solution.
“I don't like them. They always wake up my wife or me if she gets up. That being said, maybe consider a blue LED light which would illuminate enough to see, but the blue color wouldn't wake someone up,” he posted. .
Some passengers, however, like the new lights.
“Yes, the motion sensor light along the floor of Freedom was a nice surprise. It didn't stay on for long, but it kept us from tripping over the wires,” Merika Campbell wrote.
Other passengers were very enthusiastic and at the same time suggested an easy solution for passengers who don't like night lights.
“I loved it! Thank you Carnival for adding them. For those who don't like them, you can just roll up a towel and cover them since they are on the floor. I love that they are very dimmed and only come on when there is movement (my feet touch the floor) and backs away when I go back to bed,” shared Chris Gekeler.
Daniel Cotterell believed that the cruise line should offer passengers the option of not using the night lights.
“So the lights are great and should definitely be installed. But there should be an off button for those who don't need or want them, or find them particularly useful,” he wrote.
The cruise line has not shared when each ship will enter dry dock to add the lights.
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