Most cruise lines put guests' cabin numbers right on their on-board account cards (which double as room keys).
Margaritaville at Sea prints the last three digits of the cabin number on the card, while Royal Caribbean puts the room number but not the deck (floor), just to name a couple of examples.
Carnival, on the other hand, does not. The only information you’ll find on a Carnival Sail and Sign Card is the ship’s name and sailing date, the guest’s name and VIFP Club number, their assigned dining time and location, the assigned muster station, and the guest’s folio (account) number. There is no information about the room location whatsoever.
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To be clear, this is done for security reasons, and as a frequent Carnival cruiser, I’m glad they do it. Think of it this way. If you lose your card and someone else finds it, having your cabin number on the card would tell them exactly which door that card opens.
After all, when you stay at a hotel, your room-key card typically doesn’t have your room number printed on it, and for the same reason.
Of course, most people who might find your card are honest and just trying to enjoy their vacation. However, it does create an additional security risk, and Carnival chooses to avoid it.
The other side of this is that it can make it more difficult to remember your cabin location, especially during the first day or two of the cruise. With Royal Caribbean, for example, you just have to remember which deck you’re on and you can get your room location from the card.
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Image source: Carnival Corp.
How do Carnival guests remember where they’re staying?
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald recently ran an informal poll on Facebook in response to a follower’s question about this very topic. And he gave four choices to the question “How do you remember what cabin you are in?”
- A. I just remember it, I remember the number and where the cabin is, that’s all really.
- B. I write the cabin number down on a piece of paper or carry my boarding pass with me when I leave the room every time.
- C. I leave a cabin door decoration or marker so I know that is my room
- D. I knock on every cabin door until someone recognizes me.
"Please answer with A, B, C or D or whichever applies to you," he asked.
Two answers were the clear winners. Not surprisingly, the first answer was by far the most common response. (To be fair, Heald’s followers are mostly people who have sailed on Carnival before and know they’ll need to remember their rooms.)
One common variation is that the cabin number is fairly easy to remember, but remembering where the room is located can be the challenge. According to Heald follower Sylvia Davis Broughton, “I just remember the number but I always get mixed up on which way to go when I get off the elevator.”
The second most popular answer was C, putting a personalized decoration on your cabin door to serve as a landmark. “I love to decorate my door so I can see it coming down the hallway,” said Catherine Dunkin.
Other ways to remember your cabin
In addition to Heald’s four choices, some commenters had other suggestions that cruisers might find helpful. Several people suggested taking a photo of the room number after dropping your things off, and in full disclosure, I do this very thing when I cruise.
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Dot Beard Libertore commented that her phone has a screensaver that reads “if found, return to room XXXX,” which serves two purposes.
Others have different variations of that, such as using a picture of your luggage tag as your phone’s screensaver. And some cruisers suggest simply choosing a cabin with an easy-to-remember number when you book the cruise.
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The bottom line is that there isn’t any perfect way to keep track of where your cabin is – it depends on your memory sharpness, sense of direction, desire to decorate, and more.
By the time you’ve been on the ship for a few days, it tends to get much easier to remember. But on that first day, when there’s so much going on, you might be surprised how easy it can be to get turned around.
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