If you’ve spent any time in a cruise planning Facebook group, you’ve probably seen this question pop up:
“Are the walls on the cruise ship magnetic?”
It usually appears somewhere between “Can I bring a power strip?” and “Do I really have to dress in formal wear?”
For the Sun Princess, the answer is simple: yes. Well, for the magnetic walls anyway. We can tackle those othe questions in another post.
In the cabin I’ve stayed in aboard the Sun Princess, not only have the walls been magnetic, but the ceiling has been magnetic too. And once you realize this, a few small magnetic hooks suddenly become one of the most useful things you can pack. You notice I said cabin, and not cabins, plural. My wife and I have sailed on the Sun Princess may times, and have a couple of upcoming cruises planned around the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. But, each time we have stayed in the exact same cabin. But, I believe that most of the rooms have the same or similar make-up as the cabin we call our home when we are on board.
What I Use Magnetic Hooks For
I bring a set of small but surprisingly strong magnetic hooks that I bought on Amazon. They take up practically no room in a suitcase, and I usually put a few of them on the wall near the cabin door.
That’s where I hang things I don’t want to spend ten minutes searching for every time I leave the room:
- My hat
- Sunglasses
- My Princess Medallion
- Other little things I want to grab on the way out
Cruise cabins aren’t exactly known for having acres of storage space, so being able to turn an otherwise useless wall into storage is pretty handy.
And then there’s the ceiling.
Yes, you can hang things from the ceiling.
This sounds slightly ridiculous until you’ve come back from the pool or beach with a soaking-wet rash guard and nowhere particularly good to put it. Instead of crowding up what is almost certainly a small bathroom, hang that shirt from the ceiling!
With a strong enough magnetic hook, you can hang wet swimwear, a rash guard or even something heavier like a wetsuit from the ceiling and let it dry without draping wet clothing across half the furniture in your cabin.
Suddenly your stateroom looks a little like a very tiny sporting-goods store, but it works.
But Wait, There’s More!
Not necessarily.
Yes, there is another little hack for you if you are trying to keep your cruise cabin neat and organized. As you can see in the picture above, I also take along about 5 or 6 magnetic paper clips. The Sun Princess still delivers their Princess Patter in paper form, and this is perfect for keeping them off the valuable real estate that is your desk. Also fantastic for keeping tender embarkation passes, excursion tickets and other paper items safe and locatable. These have a really tight grip, and an open balcony door won’t let the wind blow them where you will never find them.
Are All The Walls Magnetic?
I’ve found that certain areas of the cabin may not be magnetic, particularly some surfaces in the bathroom. The materials and wall coverings can vary depending on exactly where you try to place the magnet.
But throughout the main cabin areas on the Sun Princess, I’ve had very good luck with both the walls and ceiling.
Magnetic hooks are one of those cruise accessories that sound completely unnecessary until you actually use them.
Then you wonder why you ever cruised without them.
They weigh almost nothing, take up virtually no suitcase space and give you extra places to hang things in a cabin where convenient storage is always at a premium.
So if you’re headed aboard the Sun Princess and wondering whether it’s worth packing magnetic hooks, my answer is:
Absolutely.
Just make sure you buy reasonably strong ones.
Because hanging your sunglasses on the wall is useful.
Having your wet swimsuit unexpectedly drop from the ceiling onto your head at 2:00 in the morning is considerably less useful.
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