cabin crawl – Emma Cruises

If you've ever taken a cruise, or are considering your first you may have seen something called a 'cruise cabin crawl' mentioned. Cruise cabin crawls are becoming increasingly popular and many people take part in a cabin crawl on every cruise. In this article, we will look at what cruise cabin crawls are, how you can attend one, and what the most popular cabin crawls are. What is a Cruise Cabin Crawl? A cruise cabin crawl is when a group of passengers staying in different cabins organizes an event where they visit each other's cabins. It's usually used as a way to see various cabin grades on a cruise ship and often takes place early in the cruise. Many cabin crawls are for the purpose of simply visiting other cabins. Some can have a different focus and be around having a drink in each cabin/enjoying snacks and gifts with fellow guests. Who Organizes Cabin Crawls? Cruise cabin crawls are usually organized by the passengers and are mostly unofficial. In some situations, you may find that the cruise line will organize a similar event but it's primarily the guests that organize the cabin crawls. On new ships or media cruises, you may find that the cruise line organizes a cabin crawl as a way to show passengers new cabins. If you are organizing a cabin crawl on a cruise it's usually good manners to let the cruise line know about it, especially if you are planning on visiting premium areas like The Haven on Norwegian Cruise Line or the Yacht Club on MSC Cruises. The staff doesn't really appreciate having lots of guests going in and out of cabins without any warning, understandably so. Who Can Attend Cabin Crawls? On some cabin crawls you may only be able to attend if you are happy to have your cabin visited as part of the crawl. Of course, if there are multiple cabins of the same grade it's unlikely that the crawl will visit all of them. On most cabin crawls though all guests are able to attend and there aren't any specific requirements. As cabin calls are usually organized by fellow passengers it's really at their discretion who they want to allow on the cabin crawl. Some cabin crawls may limit the number of passengers as it's difficult to fit too many people in one cabin. It may be the case that the hosts of each cabin stay in their rooms so that not all members get to see each cabin at the same time but then the host doesn't get to see the other cabins which kind of defeats the point. Are Cabin Crawls on All Ships? You'll find cabin crawls on the majority of mainstream cruise lines and ships. The larger the ship the more chance you'll have a crawl with different cabin categories but you'll find cabin crawls even on the smallest of ships. Cabin crawls are very popular on the big American cruise lines like Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean. How do You Join a Cabin Crawl? There are a few ways that you can find and join cabin crawls: Ship Mate One of the most popular ways is using an app called ShipMate. ShipMate is an app that is used to plan cruises and it has a function where you are able to chat with people who will be on your upcoming cruise. To use shipmate you create a profile and add the cruise that you'll be going on onto your account. At this point, you'll be able to join what is called a 'roll call' which is basically just a conversation for people on the same cruise. Many people use ship mate roll calls to organize meetups and to plan which cabins will be shown by who. Cruise Critic Cruise Critic is a very popular cruising website that has similar functions to the shipmate app. You'll find 'roll calls' for most cruises on Cruise Critic and here you may find somebody organizing a cabin crawl. There is a US and UK version of the Cruise Critic website. If you're not having any luck finding a roll call for your cruise on the UK portion, try the US or vice versa. It's very common to have a Cruise Critic meet up on a cruise where passengers from the roll call meet up for a drink. This is often supported by the cruise line and will be on the daily schedule. Facebook Groups Facebook groups are another good way to find cabin crawls. Many specific itineraries will have a Facebook group in which people make friends ahead of their cruise. Some cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival have vastly more groups on Facebook than smaller lines like Fred Olsen or Cunard. We have our own Facebook group called Cruising Isn't Just For Old People. If you've not already joined, please do so, it would be lovely to have you in there. Friendship Groups/Meet-Ups You may find that certain groups of friends just organize their own cabin crawls. A YouTuber or Blogger who knows many people on a ship may be able to organize something like this on a small scale. I don't know about you but whenever I cruise with friends I always visit their cabins for a look around! Extra Perks of Cabin Crawls The majority of cabin crawls do focus on simply touring the cabins but you will find some which are focused more on having a drink in each cabin. On some cruise lines cabin crawls organized by some people can turn into what you may be familiar with as a 'pub crawl' or 'bar crawl'. On cabin crawls like this it's usually up to the host of each cabin to provide a drink and many will even provide snacks, room service, or gifts from home. Many people use cabin crawls as a rare opportunity to see inside suites and more expensive cabins than they'd usually be able to cruise in. It's like having a rich friend! Royal Suite Cabin - Marella Discovery Cabin Crawl Games I've even heard in some situations about cabin crawls that have an added gambling portion. I'm not sure that these would be approved by the cruise line but as they are mostly unofficial I'm sure that most go unchecked. One popular gambling game to play is that each person will be given a playing card when they get to each cabin. Whoever has the highest score at the end of the cabin crawl wins the cabin crawl. For cabin crawls like this to work the passengers usually have to put in a certain amount of money at the start in order to play the game and then the winner takes all of the money. You can join a cabin crawl LIVE with Tony from La Lida Loca below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHuvf-Oc1Wk To Conclude: Cabin crawls are events mostly organized my passengers where the guests are able to visit each others cabins. Some cabin crawls may have drinking portions although the majority do not. They are almost always organized prior to the cruise and all guests are free to attend.