DIY room divider

Has anyone else brought their own room dividers?

On disney, we really liked the room divider curtain. We tried carnival and were dismayed to find out (from cruisecritic) that the rooms lack dividers. But since cabin walls and ceilings are steel, we found that it's pretty easy to put up temporary curtains using inexpensive magnets. total cost was < $80, and it's fully reusable for all future cruises

What you need:

a) At least four, and preferably seven, 30 lb handle magnets, ~ $2 each at harbor freight (item 67156).

* you want the handle magnets, because it makes it easy to loop the rope through. It also makes it possible to reasonably remove the magnet. I also tried a 60lb magnet w/o a handle and almost couldn't get it off the ceiling...

* the magnets are really strong if you apply force directly away from the surface, but not too strong if you pull along the surface. The way we had it, there's rope tension pulling sideways, and gravity from the curtains pulling downwards. So the magnet on the corner, for example, was prone to getting dragged down because I attached it to a vertical surface rather than a horizontal surface. Having another magnet nearby attached to the horizontal surface would've helped.

* be sure to tear a bit of paper to put between the magnet and the ceiling. This prevents the magnet from leaving red paint marks, and it barely affects the attach strength.

b) Inexpensive rope. I happened to get mine at harbor freight too. < $5.

* As I recall, I cut about 14 feet, which ended up being a little short. Probably should've cut 16-20 ft, since it's better to be too long than too short.

* After cutting poly rope, melt the end together w/ a lighter or matchstick so that it doesn't unravel.

c) drapes. You want 84" tall drapes, and we bought three 40" panels. This was a last minute buy at target, so we spent more here than we needed to. < $60 (maybe less than $30)

* an opaque shower curtain, sheets, or converted tablecloths might also work w/ more effort

d) one clothespin

* This is really handy for threading the rope through the curtains.

* It can also help in forming a knot that can be easily untied. Or not -- we aren't very good w/ knots.

As you can see from the pictures, we attached the curtains right around the bunk beds. This was on the Carnival Magic (and no, they don't provide bed rails either).

Warnings:

* don't forget to put a sheet of paper between the magnet and the ceiling to avoid leaving a red mark

* caution, a child pulling down on the curtain can dislodge the magnet. The magnet can fall down and strike someone, particularly if they're on the top bunk.

* hence, secure the curtains when not in use.

* keep little fingers away from strong magnets. 30lb magnets are probably not too dangerous because at a (tiny) finger spacing, it's substantially less than 30 lb of force. But the stronger 60+ lb magnets can be crush hazards for little fingers.

I wanted to say thank you to the cruisecritic community! We started cruising one year ago and have found cruisecritic to be very helpful. This DIY curtain worked out well for us and I hope this post helps others! On the other hand, if you've figured out a better/easier way to do it, please share :)

We don't need them but that was pretty inventive McGyver. (hope you know who Mcgyver is).

We don't need them but that was pretty inventive McGyver. (hope you know who Mcgyver is).

Thanks. Growing up, that was one of my favorite shows

Very clever!

How long did it take you to assemble the (temporary) curtains once you were in your cabin?

Very creative and thanks for sharing this.

Keith

Very clever!!

I'm curious about two things........ :)

* Did you steward have a comment about the curtain and

* Did you drive to the port or did you fly? Seems this could add some weight and bulk to your suitcase.

Very clever and thanks for sharing. The idea might come in handy for some folks.

Seems like a lot of work, money and extra luggage.

Such a thing is not necessary for us, but if that's how you like to sleep then glad it was a success.

as far as hints and tips go: If someone only wanted a curtain on the bottom bunk, you could simply hang a sheet from under the mattress on the top bunk. ;)

How long did it take you to assemble the (temporary) curtains once you were in your cabin?

about 5-10 minutes, w/ most of that spent threading the rope through the curtains.

I'm curious about two things........ :)

 

* Did you steward have a comment about the curtain and

 

* Did you drive to the port or did you fly? Seems this could add some weight and bulk to your suitcase.

 

No comments from the steward. When the kids were out of bed, we'd pull the curtains up and bunch them on the top bunk so that our toddler couldn't get at it.

The magnets/rope are pretty compact. The curtains take up space -- maybe the equivalent of 4-5 pairs of pants. Weight-wise, it didn't seem like much. 2 magnets weigh roughly the same as a can of coke, and the drapes aren't too heavy. I just checked and similar drapes on amazon list at 2.2lb shipping weight per drape. In terms of bulk & weight, the bed rail was way worse. (We drove to the port.)

I admire your creativity, but that's just way too much work for me when I'm on vacation.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

If I had to go through all that to cruise - I would not cruise. However, if it works for you and you are willing to carry all that stuff, I guess that one can not criticize.

DON

about 5-10 minutes, w/ most of that spent threading the rope through the curtains.

 

 

 

No comments from the steward. When the kids were out of bed, we'd pull the curtains up and bunch them on the top bunk so that our toddler couldn't get at it.

 

The magnets/rope are pretty compact. The curtains take up space -- maybe the equivalent of 4-5 pairs of pants. Weight-wise, it didn't seem like much. 2 magnets weigh roughly the same as a can of coke, and the drapes aren't too heavy. I just checked and similar drapes on amazon list at 2.2lb shipping weight per drape. In terms of bulk & weight, the bed rail was way worse. (We drove to the port.)

Thanks for the responses.

I appreciate it. :)

We bring a shower curtain, use it to close the closest area on Princess ships which are wide open. We simply loop cloths hangers in the shower curtain hook wholes and hang the curtain to cover our clothes.

I think folks who don't see the use for this are folks who aren't cruising with small children anymore :). I am totally impressed with your ingenuity! Nice job!

We bring a shower curtain, use it to close the closest area on Princess ships which are wide open. We simply loop cloths hangers in the shower curtain hook wholes and hang the curtain to cover our clothes.

Why do you close the closet area and why do you cover your clothes? The open closet is one of my favorite things on Princess, it's like having a walk in closet where one of us dresses without getting in the other's way.

Great idea ....

Cool idea! I love when people find clever solutions. Thanks for sharing.

I hope the magnets aren't strong enough to disturb credit cards or computers of the people on the other side of your walls/ceiling. I'm assuming the ship's structure would be enough to block magnetic interference.

Quite creative :D ... but seems like lots of trouble ....:rolleyes:

LuLu

~~~~~

I think folks who don't see the use for this are folks who aren't cruising with small children anymore :). I am totally impressed with your ingenuity! Nice job!

I'm one of these people, but since I'm hoping to be able to cruise with children one day I'm honestly curious, why would you do this? Is it so you can still use the light in the cabin when the kids are sleeping?

I hope the magnets aren't strong enough to disturb credit cards or computers of the people on the other side of your walls/ceiling. I'm assuming the ship's structure would be enough to block magnetic interference.

yup, a steel plate does a pretty good job at blocking magnetic fields. Just be careful not to put *your* credit cards next to the magnets!

references:

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=shielding-materials

http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magshield.htm

I'm one of these people, but since I'm hoping to be able to cruise with children one day I'm honestly curious, why would you do this? Is it so you can still use the light in the cabin when the kids are sleeping?

In the case of my young kids, who are used to sleeping in their own room at night, it's twofold: 1) b/c our toddler would be so distracted by seeing us, he'd either have a hard time falling asleep, or he'd try climbing over to us. 2) so that we can keep our lights on and continue reading.

I think it's safe to say that you'd know ahead of time if you'd want a room divider, and I'd wager that demographic is most likely to be those travelling w/ kids younger than 6.

Regarding effort level, in general this didn't seem like a whole lot of effort, outside of acquiring materials in the first place, and that was mostly about finding where to get strong inexpensive magnets w/ handles (harborfreight.com). But again, given how our young kids are, we were pretty motivated (!)

Reading back on my post, I think I made it sound harder than it is. The short summary is:

1) get curtains, rope, and strong magnets.

2) use magnets to hang up the curtains

The rest of it is "just" details, tips, and warnings.

I think folks who don't see the use for this are folks who aren't cruising with small children anymore :). I am totally impressed with your ingenuity! Nice job!

Exactly! This is a great idea for those cruising with small children, ITA that having a way to separate the sleeping areas at bedtime makes for a more enjoyable cruise for everyone. This ensemble likely weighs no more than our car seat :)

I just ran into this thread via Search and must say that I am impressed!

We are travelling with our 2.5yo daughter in 2 weeks. While she is amazingly well behaved and a great sleeper I've been concerned about the close quarters.

The thought of a DIY room divider has been swimming around in my head for a while but I've been unsure of how to execute. You have shown me the way.

Are the ceilings of all ships steel? It's hilarious to think but, in all my cruises, I'm not sure I recall giving much attention to the material the walls were made of?

You are my hero. Disney spoiled us with the dividers too.

Heading to harbor freight tomorrow.😊

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Just a word of caution from one who has purchased these magnets for industrial use aboard ships. Magnets like these are considered to be dangerous goods, and are not allowed to be shipped by air, as the magnets can affect the plane's instruments (I've had much smaller magnets ordered, and when shipped, they were separated from the remainder of the order and shipped by surface freight. So, not sure how TSA would deal with these.

We just got off RCCL's Freedom of the Seas and our cabin had a curtain at the end of the bed you could close. We had no bunks but its probably in those cabins also.