Dear Cruisin' Susan, 

I heard that we aren't supposed to use tape to hang door decorations. My daughter will be celebrating her birthday on board and I would like to decorate our door with wrapping paper, streamers and ribbon. How am I supposed to hang these things without tape?

 — Befuddled

Dear Befuddled,

You are right that the cruise lines do not allow tape on the doors. The reason? It can damage the door. When you take the tape off, it often brings some of the door's paint with it. Read below for my "door-friendly" suggestions.

 — Cruisin' Susan

Before you leave on your cruise it is nice to know whether your particular cruise ship has metal or non-metallic cabin doors. If the stateroom door is metallic, then most of your decorations can be hung with magnets. If not, or if you are hanging streamers, ribbons or other decorations that don't hang well with magnets, I would use reusable adhesive putty or self-sticking removable hooks and clips. If you don't know in advance what kind of stateroom doors are on your particular ship, I suggest that you make them magnetic, but also bring some reusable adhesive putty, just in case.

Let's Make a List! Here is a list of which ships have metallic or non-metallic doors. These are ships that either I've been on personally or have been given the information by readers like you. If you have information about a ship not listed here, please send it to cruisinsusan@cruisedoordecorations.com. With your help we can make a comprehensive list for future cruise door decorators!

Free Magnets. If your junk mail status is anything like mine, I’ll bet that you get refrigerator advertising magnets in the mail all the time. Reduce, reuse, recycle! Attach these to the back of most kinds of signs or other flat decorations with craft glue or a hot glue gun.

If you don't have enough free magnets, you can purchase some fairly inexpensively at your local craft store. Get the small round kind and glue them on the back of your signs and decorations with a glue gun or get the ones that come with adhesive on the back. Alternatively, there is such a thing as magnet tape with sticky on one side and magnet on the other.

Magnetic Printer Paper. For your custom computer designs, you can print directly on special magnetic paper. This is my preferred method. It is important to note that printable magnet sheets are available with two different finishes. 

Glossy Finish: The finish feels and looks smooth and shiny. Best for 100% digital creations.
Pro: Looks slick and professional. Great for signs. 
Con: Image can scratch since it is set “on” the paper and not “soaked into” the paper. When using this kind of magnet paper I recommend using a finishing spray. Not an ideal surface for drawing, or for pasting photos and other graphics.(For more about finishing spray, see Step 4.) 

Matte Finish: The finish feels and looks like paper. Best for creations where you will be cutting, pasting or drawing onto a printed or pasted background.
Pro: Image print quality on this finish is top notch and durable.
Con: Does not look as slick and professional as a glossy finish magnet.

Magnetic Clips and Hooks. A clip or hook on the front with a strong magnet on back. Available is sizes from small to large, you can use them to hang just about anything.

This is a remarkable product. To use it, pull off the amount needed, roll it in your fingers until soft, and apply to the back of your decoration. Then lightly press your decoration to the surface of the door and it should stay put. When the cruise is over you can easily remove the decorations from the door and peel the putty off from the back of the decorations. The putty comes off clean, saving both the decoration and the door.

WARNING! Adhesive putty is very hard to get out of carpeting, so be careful not to drop any!

There are two main varieties of adhesive putty:

Poster Putty. Use this kind to hang signs, streamers, photos, ribbons, or other paper products.

Museum Putty. Use this kind to hang heavier objects, such as t-shirts or dry erase boards. I do not recommend this kind for paper because it has such a good hold that it can rip paper when you remove it!

These clips and hooks mount easily, remove cleanly, and hold firmly until you want to take them down. To remove, pull the adhesive tab down and it will come right off the door. They are reusable if you purchase replacement adhesive.  Important: Do not confuse these removable hooks and clips with the non-removable adhesive kind!

Passporter.Com. From my favorite Disney vacation planning community, two helpful discussions one called magnetic door signs and one called Door Decs. These threads tell about different methods for hanging decorations and about what kind of magnets to use, if you will be making magnets.

Pack Them. One last, and very important, door decoration prep "to do." Pack them as soon as you're finished making them. After all that hard work it would be a shame to forget them at home!

Take Pictures. On your cruise, take plenty of pictures of your decorated door.

Have Fun. Relax! Have a great and memorable cruise!

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Go Back to Step 1 – Get Ideas

Go Back to Step 2 – Get Materials

Go Back to Step 3 – Find Graphics

Go Back to Step 4 – Put It Together