Would you ever consider bringing cleaning supplies to tidy up your cruise cabin?
One TikTok user, Niki’s Side of Cleantok, shows how she deep cleans her cruise ship cabin in a viral video. The creator has more than 3 million followers on her TikTok page, which focuses on cleaning, organizing, and self-care. Cleantok is a community of creators on TikTok that focuses on handy cleaning hacks.
“Let’s take 20 minutes to clean my cruise suite. Like I always say, I have the utmost respect for housekeeping. They have great work to do - and not much time, “ says Niki in her viral TikTok.
If you didn’t know, cruise ship cabins are serviced daily and receive deeper cleaning between sailings by cabin stewards. However, these cruise workers have many different cabins to upkeep every single day. Because of this, some cruisers prefer to do additional cleaning to ensure their cabins are up to their personal standards.
Having good hygiene on a cruise is a mindful practice to ensure you stay healthy throughout your sailing. Since cruise ships can be home to quick-spreading illnesses, a little bit of cleaning can go a long way.
However, many cruisers would consider cleaning on a cruise ship cabin to be unnecessary. Since cleaning is considered a chore for many, most people are uninterested in cleaning on their vacation. Likewise, some might not want to waste suitcase space with cleaning supplies.
As Niki details why she prefers to clean her cruise cabin, we see her unpack a small cosmetic bag with travel-sized cleaning supplies. Niki shares with viewers how she wants to do a little extra cleaning in her cabin for peace of mind during her 8-night cruise, which appears to be on a Royal Caribbean ship.
The viral TikTok has garnered more than 8 million views, with nearly 950k likes, 13.6k comments, and 50k shares. Niki shares how she will be sailing with her husband for their anniversary and how she truly enjoys her cruise cabin after spending 20 minutes deep cleaning the space.
We have included affiliate links to some of the products that Niki appears to be using in her viral TikTok. If you purchase through these links, our blog receives a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can also check out our Amazon storefront for other cruise-related products.
To start, Niki grabs a travel-sized sanitizing spray to disinfect areas around her cruise cabin
Speaking to her viewers, Niki shares how she often receives hateful comments regarding her cleaning tendencies. She says, “Some of you guys really hate cleanliness, but that’s okay. These videos are for my besties who get it.”
Before starting her cleaning, Niki grabs disposable cleaning gloves from SafeSkin to keep her hands protected throughout the video. Considering the level of cleaning that Niki displays in her viral TikTok, it’s probably a good idea for her to use sterile gloves.
Next, Nikki shows how she takes a travel-sized disinfectant spray, first to her cabin door handles, including the cabin’ main door and the bathroom door. Next, she sprays the cabin’s light switches, which are likely covered hotspots for germs due to how often the surfaces are touched.
Niki can also be seen cleaning a dirty phone and cabinet in her cruise cabin with disinfecting wipes
Another product that Niki uses to clean her cruise cabin is a small pack of disinfecting wipes. These wipes are very useful to have while cruising, as they are extremely versatile and can be used for a number of different places onboard.
After spraying the cabin handles, Niki starts to clean with disinfecting wipes around the cabin. She shows how she diligently cleans the cabin’s phone located on the nightstand next to her bed.
After wiping down the buttons on the phone, Niki shows viewers the surprising amount of gunk and dirt that her wipes cleaned off. She continues to clean the actual phone itself, followed by the cabin’s TV remote.
Continuing to clean the "high-touch surfaces," the TikTok video shows Niki pointing to an uncleanly cabinet in her cruise cabin. She takes the wipes to the cabinet’s surface and shows the residue on her disinfecting wipe. Again, there was a surprising amount of residue on the surface of the cabinet.
Read more: Your really dumb cruise ship cabin questions answered
Moving to the sleeping area, Niki looks for bedbugs and sprays a preventative on the mattress
After cleaning some of the cabin’s high-touch surfaces, Niki starts to clean the bedding area. First, she shares how she checked her cabin for bedbugs. Although not commonly found on cruise ships, bedbugs can be found anywhere. These pesky bugs can be a huge burden if left untreated - even worse, you can bring them home on your clothes or luggage.
Niki shows viewers how she takes off the cabin sheets to look at the mattress. She also pulls up the mattress itself to examine the bottom of the mattress.
“I didn’t find any [bedbugs], but I did find this spray that kills and prevents them for good measure,” shares Niki in the video. After spraying the mattress with bedbug spray, the video shows Niki taking a blue light sanitizing wand across the mattress. According to the online description, this wand uses UV light to kill 99% of germs.
Once the wand was used across the bed, Niki tells her viewers in the viral TikTok how she brings disposable sheets on her cruises. We see her replace the sheets on the cabin bed with the set she brought.
While you might not have considered disposable sheets before, a thin and compact set is easy to travel with and ensures you have clean bedding. This can be especially helpful for germ-conscious travelers or those concerned about the cleanliness of your bedding.
The TikTok shows Niki continuing to clean her cabin using a disinfectant spray and more wipes
Once the bed was cleaned and the disposable sheets were placed on the mattress, Niki then showed how she cleaned the cabin’s couch. Similar to a hotel room, a cruise cabin couch is used frequently by guests. Sailing after sailing, the couch is likely accumulating germs.
Using a disinfecting spray, Niki heavily sprays her couch from top to bottom. The disinfectant spray supposedly kills 99.9% of viruses, germs, mold, and mildew on surfaces. Staying healthy on vacation should always be a priority, so taking this extra cleaning step can be a great solution for those illness-prone travelers.
“I totally get that giving your room a clean on vacation is not for everyone, but as long as I know these rooms are not cleaned to my standards, I’m gonna keep doing it myself,” states Niki.
Before moving to the bathroom, the TikTok also shows her using another disinfecting wipe to clean her cabin’s vanity. Once the vanity is clean, Niki starts to unpack her belongings for her sailing.
Finally, Niki deep cleans her cabin’s bathroom
If there is one area that needs a deep clean in a cruise cabin, it’s the bathroom - for obvious reasons. Niki shows viewers how she spends time in the cabin bathroom doing some additional cleaning to ensure it's spick-and-span.
In the viral video, Niki grabs wipes from a travel-size pack of antibacterial wipes to clean the space. She begins by scrubbing down the bathroom sink, including faucets. Again, Niki shows an unexpected amount of residue on her wipes from cleaning these bathroom surfaces - especially considering the cabin is cleaned each day.
Taking more wipes, Niki cleans off the toilet - which is surely a source of bacteria and germs. She shows viewers how this includes disinfecting the flushing button, the toilet seat, handle, and lid. This is an area where it would be imperative for cleanliness to wear sterilizing gloves.
Finally, Niki grabs a portable brush and scrubs the floor of the cabin shower to complete the bathroom cleaning. She also shows how she packs a portable scrubber to clean the shower. However, the same antibacterial wipes could probably be used here too!
Read more: The one thing we all hate about cruises that no one talks about
Many followers commented how Niki’s cabin cleaning was worthwhile for peace of mind
While you might not have considered bringing cleaning supplies on vacation, many of the comments on Niki’s video were supportive, as they agreed that housekeepers are overwhelmed with their daily duties and there is nothing wrong with a little extra cleaning.
“Listen, 30 minutes of cleaning for a week’s vacation to have peace of mind that you’re not living with tons of germs. Absolutely worth it,” says the top comment from a user named Jamie. The comment has received over 30k likes and replies from many who agreed with her sentiment.
Another user agreed, commenting, “As a former housekeeper worker, you are 100% right for doing this. Everyone disagreeing is objectively wrong.”
Many TikTok users were shocked at the concept of disposable bedding (myself included) and traveling with a compact set of thin sheets. One user named Mindy commented, “Disposable bedding??! I need this in my life!!!” Others responded in agreement, “Right? I had never heard of disposable bedding before this video. You learn something new every day.”
However, not all viewers believe this type of cleaning would be feasible for them while on vacation. “I probably won’t ever do this. But I 100% get why you do and more power to you,” said one viewer.
Regardless, most of the comments were overwhelmingly positive and in agreement with Niki’s cleaning. Many cruisers were inspired by Niki's cleaning routine and shared how they would be packing cleaning products for their next cruise.
Allie Hubers
Allie Hubers has been cruising since she was a tiny toddler. What started as a yearly vacation with family quickly turned into a passion for travel, cruising and adventure. Allie's been on over 45 cruises all over the world. She even studied abroad on Semester at Sea, sailing the world on a ship while taking courses for college and visiting 4 continents.
