Rookie mistake made- help please

[blueskadoo]

Hey cruisers! My husband is on a solo cruise this week, and I, his loving wife, failed him. I did not pack him an old key card to

put in the light switch, and he’s a fairly forgetful fellow himself, so I see him locking himself out and leaving his key in the room. What kinds of items can be used as a substitute or is there something he can go buy from the fun shops? He’s already on board so he can’t pull apart the car. It’s his first solo, so we are used to me having the purse that holds all (which has about 15 old cards that would be perfect of course!) but I want to help him stay cool! Thanks. 

[EngIceDave]

I saw this in the movie Apollo 13 where they dumped a bag of stuff out

[jk928]

Does he have a business card he can use?

[EngIceDave]

ID type card, like club ID

Medical cards?

[pc2425]

We used the room stewards business cards that he left in the room.  We put 2 together in the slot and it worked great.

[sailingships]

7 minutes ago, blueskadoo said:

Hey cruisers! My husband is on a solo cruise this week, and I, his loving wife, failed him. I did not pack him an old key card to

put in the light switch, and he’s a fairly forgetful fellow himself, so I see him locking himself out and leaving his key in the room. What kinds of items can be used as a substitute or is there something he can go buy from the fun shops? He’s already on board so he can’t pull apart the car. It’s his first solo, so we are used to me having the purse that holds all (which has about 15 old cards that would be perfect of course!) but I want to help him stay cool! Thanks. 

Tell him a folded up ship map works fine. Thats what i did on the MG a couple of weeks ago.

[Bowman1]

Just have him go to Guest Services and get another card

[Old Fart Cruisers]

Try folding a few crisp new $100 bills together.  He can use a magnet to hold them on the outside of the door when he is out of the cabin.  That way they will be handy as soon as he opens the door, and he won't have to be looking around in an unlit room to find it.

[Gma&Gpa]

I'm at a loss of what you are all talking about on this thread?  Is this something they use on the newer ships?  And what does it do?

 

[Earthworm Jim]

10 minutes ago, Gma&Gpa said:

I'm at a loss of what you are all talking about on this thread?  Is this something they use on the newer ships?  And what does it do?

 

 

Instead of a light switch, they have a slot as you enter the cabin. The premise is you put your Sign and Sail card in when you enter to turn on the lights, and take it back out when you leave to turn them back off. I assume to save electricity.

 

The trouble is, everyone is afraid they'll forget their card that way, so few people are willing to put their actual sign and sail card in the slot.

[LadyBuchman]

just get new card from Guest Services to replace the one he will loose (tee Hee).  Have him ask confirm if credit info moved over...happened to me over a wine delivery I couldn't have until credit info moved to new card!

[Gma&Gpa]

Thanks for the clarification.   Have ALL ships changed to that method, or just the newer ones.  I just want to make sure we are all prepared.  We've cruised quite a few times, but this is the first I heard of that.

[EngIceDave]

Most hotels in Europe do this as well. It's an energy saving thing. 

[Earthworm Jim]

6 minutes ago, Gma&Gpa said:

Thanks for the clarification.   Have ALL ships changed to that method, or just the newer ones.  I just want to make sure we are all prepared.  We've cruised quite a few times, but this is the first I heard of that.

 

A lot of them have it, but I don't know if it's all of them. Chances are you have something in your wallet that would work fine. Your membership card for a grocery or drug store for example. A library card. An old gift card.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Earthworm Jim

[EngIceDave]

How about just saying I lost my key?

 

They have his photo, they make a new key

[shipgeeks]

So....If you put a "thing" in the slot so you won't forget to take your card....where do you put your card?  If it's on the desk/coffee table/counter/yesterday's pocket, aren't you even more likely to forget it?

[CJinFLA00]

Funny, I was I the magic 2 weeks ago. The room steward left a card in there on day 1. It was still there when we left the last day. Go figure. 

[KmomChicago]

10 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Instead of a light switch, they have a slot as you enter the cabin. The premise is you put your Sign and Sail card in when you enter to turn on the lights, and take it back out when you leave to turn them back off. I assume to save electricity.

 

The trouble is, everyone is afraid they'll forget their card that way, so few people are willing to put their actual sign and sail card in the slot.

 There are light switches as well right next to the key slot.  They don't work unless the card is inserted.

 

And on my recent Mardi Gras cruise, I definitely did NOT use my Walgreens/Duane Reade loyalty card for this purpose. I also did NOT use my Indiana Beach annual pass. Nope.

 

(Before you get snide, we did not leave the card inserted any time we left the room; we just didn't want to take the keys off the lanyards while inside).

[Earthworm Jim]

15 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 There are light switches as well right next to the key slot.  They don't work unless the card is inserted.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I had forgotten the details.

 

6 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I definitely did NOT use my Walgreens/Duane Reade loyalty card for this purpose.

 

OK, I'll bite. Why not? What's someone going to do, steal your card so they can get 50 cents off a 12 pack of Pepsi next time Walgreens has a sale? As far as I know, there isn't any personal information linked to them. Maybe your address, but that wouldn't be on the card.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Earthworm Jim

[KmomChicago]

8 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Thanks for the clarification. I had forgotten the details.

 

I definitely did NOT use my Walgreens/Duane Reade loyalty card for this purpose.

 

OK, I'll bite. Why not? What's someone going to do, steal your card so they can get 50 cents off a 12 pack of Pepsi next time Walgreens has a sale? As far as I know, there isn't any personal information linked to them. Maybe your address, but that wouldn't be on the card.

 We left the card sitting on the desk in the room when we left so it was handy to grab as soon as we walked in, but we didn't leave it in the slot when we left the room because the intent is for there to be no card in the slot when people are not in the room.

 

I'm not worried about anyone stealing my loyalty card or my Indiana Beach annual pass, which has my picture on it and is only good weekends for a few more weeks and not likely to fall into the hands of a room steward who could make any use of it.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and that all was sarcasm.  I have plenty of old dumb cards in my wallet and those were the 2 I pulled out and in fact we did use them.

Edited August 28, 2021 by KmomChicago

[Badfinger]

Our last cruise I just use a folded up piece of paper.  Lets not overthink this.  And frankly if you husband cannot figure this out...my guess is he will be having some more challenges ahead.