Cruise lines do a lot with a little when it comes to the bathrooms in the passenger cabins.
An interior, ocean-view or balcony cabin usually features a toilet, a tiny sink, some open shelves, towel racks, and usually a couple of hangers on the door. There’s also a shower, which on older ships tends to feel like a waterslide launch tube.
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They were very small. Sometimes they had a curtain and on other ships they had closing glass doors. Newer ships have better-designed showers that make the space feel a little bigger, but it’s still a very small area, which explains why the overall bathroom, not just the shower, has a drain.
If you book a suite, that traditionally means you get a tub. That can be a plus for families traveling with young children, so they don’t have to make do with an inflatable tub in the shower or some other workaround.
Some passengers, of course, do like to take a bath, but even in a suite the tubs are usually fairly modest.
Carnival, however, has made a bathroom change on its newer ships and one passenger was not happy at all.
Brand Ambassador John Heald fielded the question and explained what the cruise line had done.
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Cruise ship cabins have very modest bathrooms.
Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me
Carnival has taken some tubs away
Heald recently received the following question from a Carnival passenger.
“Can you explain why the suites on the newer Carnival ships do not have bathtubs? We are on the Vista now and in a Havana suite and there is no bathtub. I know all older ships have bathtubs in the suites. One of the biggest reasons anyone would book a suite is for the bathtub. Why has Carnival stopped this luxury?” the poster asked.
Heald politely explained why Carnival decided to stop putting bathtubs in its suites.
“We have stopped putting bathtubs in the suites on the newer ships. This is mostly because we utilized the space with a large walk-in shower, some have that Cleveland, Ohio rainforest effect in them,” he said.
Heald, for reasons perhaps only he fully understands, often uses Cleveland, Ohio as a punchline.
“I do understand why some people love baths and many will say ‘John, showers make people cleaner than baths.’ And you may be correct and certainly, a shower is brilliant for the bodywork but not so good for the umm, undercarriage,” he added.
Heald finishes with a joke (spelling error almost certainly intentional).
“Anyway, the good old bathtub is slowly disappearing from our ships just like something else. Yep, the bidet is gone as well, consigned to the anals of history,” he added.
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Carnival passengers mixed on bathtubs
Many passengers who responded seemed concerned about using a bathtub in a cruise ship cabin.
“I love a long, hot bubble bath…in my own bathtub. I don’t want to 1. Make it harder on stewards than it already is by having to clean the tub and 2. I just don’t trust the cleanliness of any bathtub besides my own to soak in it,” said Rachael Watkins.
Some people wanted a tub because they don’t have to clean it.
“I prefer bathtubs on a ship because it means I don’t have to do the cleaning. Part of the value of having a suite is having a bathtub with whirlpool jets. The suite isn’t just about having extra space, it’s about luxurious add-ons too,” wrote Danielle Chiu.
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Others want a tub for practical reasons.
“It’s not about being cleaner. It’s about soaking,” wrote Kenny Walker. “Before I book a hotel I call them to make sure there’s a bathtub. Then, after a day of sightseeing, I can soak in the tub to take the pain out of my hips and knees.
“When I’m done I’ll drain the tub, take a proper shower, and go to bed, and sleep like a baby. Without that soak, I’ll be in agony all night and worthless the next day “
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