Key Aspects:
- Cabin door decorators continue to be plagued by other passengers who steal their magnets.
- A recent victim onboard Sun Princess posted a note on their cabin door pleading for the offender to return their decorations.
- Other cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line, have also had to impose stricter door decorating policies.
Lately, cruise lines have had to crack down on cabin door decor and guest behavior related to the displays. But once again, magnet thieves are ruining the cruise experience for their fellow guests.
Unfortunately, some inconsiderate passengers think it is funny to steal, hide, or relocate cabin door magnets as a prank. However, this can be upsetting for their owners.
Most recently, the magnet drama unfolded onboard Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess near the end of a 21-night Mediterranean itinerary, which disembarked in Athens, Greece, on May 30, 2026.
In a last-ditch effort in the final hours of their voyage, one guest who had fallen victim to magnet thieves left a note on their stateroom’s door begging for their decorations to be returned. It’s unclear if their plea was successful.
“Whoever it was who decided it was ok to take 2 of our magnets, please return them,” the note, which is making waves on Facebook, reads.
“They are not yours and your grandma is not proud of you for taking what does not belong to you! Do the right thing and please return them. Thank you,” the message concluded.
Hopefully, the guests also reported the theft to their room steward. While the cruise lines won’t always actively search for missing magnets, crew members do usually want to help and room stewards might find them while working.
Magnet Thieves Remain At Large
Princess Cruises doesn’t necessarily encourage door decorating, but the brand allows magnets that do not require adhesives for guests looking to make their home away from home extra special.
The decorations must also be family-friendly, or PG-13 at worst on the appropriateness scale, and they cannot cover the peephole for safety reasons. When guests follow the rules, decorating their doors can be a bit of harmless fun.
Read Also: What You Need to Know on Cabin Cruise Door Decorations
However, it’s not just the note-writing cruiser that has had their fun ruined by mischievous passengers. Many other victims of magnet theft sounded off on social media.
“My parents also got a couple of theirs stolen off their door on the Sun in January. Thankfully only a ChatGPT image made into a magnet but still not ok,” one cruiser stated.
“We had 4 rooms on the Sun. Some with teens, we thought it would be a good idea to mark the doors with magnets, so they recognise them. In one day they were all gone,” a past passenger recalled.
“I was on the Sun last week and had a Canadian magnet on my door. Someone turned it upside down daily and when we went to leave it was gone,” another former guest said.
Others had issues with pranksters messing with their design or relocating it to different staterooms nearby, which caused unnecessary stress on their vacations.
And while these aren’t magnets, a third segment of cruisers said that rubber ducks and small gifts left for children or as part of gift exchanges in “mailboxes” just outside of their cabin doors had also been taken.
For context, the rubber ducks would be part of the cruising ducks phenomenon, which is a game where guests hide and seek the tiny toys around the ship.
Cruise Lines Crack Down on Door Decor
Just weeks ago in mid-May, Royal Caribbean was forced to lay down the law on proper etiquette pertaining to cabin door decor onboard Symphony of the Seas due to bad behavior.
Not only did the cruise line encourage cruisers to be respectful of each others’ property, but it also asserted that it was not liable for any decorations that went missing or became damaged.
More recently, Cruise Hive reported that Disney Cruise Line is implementing stricter door decoration policies as complaints about theft continue to circulate online.
“Just got back from the Disney Dream and while the trip was great, we had door magnets stolen from ours and a family member’s stateroom doors… was a bummer because they were custom ordered and our kids were excited to be giving away other magnets as gifts,” one recent guest posted on Reddit.
Disney’s policy change, however, was more about safety and protecting its ships from damage than guest behavior. Mainly, decorations are now limited to the cabin door only and guests are forbidden from decorating walls and ceilings.
Ultimately, cruise guests who choose to decorate their doors are doing so at their own risk. One can only help that messing with magnets is a trend that will soon go out of style.
