I Booked The Cheapest Cabin on a Luxury Cruise Ship

I recently went on a luxury cruise where I stayed in the cheapest and smallest cabin on the entire ship.

The decision to book this cabin type has affected more of the cruise than just the room itself, and this cabin has been so different from any I’ve ever stayed in before.

I found perks, quirks and a few annoying problems which even the most luxurious lines can’t avoid.

Normally, the cheapest rooms are very basic metal boxes with a bed at one end and a bathroom at the other.

There’s usually not much else: no window, no outside space, no luxuries.

Even on a luxury ship, that was pretty much what I was expecting. I just couldn’t understand how they could make the cheapest cabin really luxurious. I was hopeful though…

When I found an out-of-season sailing on Viking Star, which was within my budget for the first time ever, I booked the cheapest cabin without thinking twice about it.

I didn’t even consider upgrading because I couldn’t. The cheapest cabin was my chance to get onboard, and I was so excited about it all. I just hoped the luxury wouldn’t stop at my cabin door.

I did know that the cabin type affected more than just the actual room.

Booking this cabin type meant that I would be last to be able to book excursions and speciality meals, and I wondered if there were other perks I might miss out on.

Because I booked the cheapest cabin, I didn’t get to pick the location of my room. It wasn’t until I actually checked in for the cruise at the terminal in Italy that I found out what cabin I had. That was such a relief. 

I wasn’t surprised to see that the cabin was at one end of the ship. When you book the cheapest cabin and don’t pay to pick the location, you tend to end up with the leftover cabins.

The cabins at the ends of the ship are usually less desirable because they do feel more movement, and it is further to walk from the public spaces.

I wasn’t worried about the walking distance as the ship really isn’t very big, but I was concerned about the movement. Cruising in January is always a risk.

Before I’d even opened my cabin door, I found something luxurious on the door handle, a little cover.

It instantly made the simple act of opening the door feel grander, and the experience continued into the cabin.

It was such a good start, and I was looking forward to not getting static shocks for the week like I usually do on ships. 

Walking into the room, I first saw the massive bed with its lovely throw and matching pillows.

I loved the colours on the headboard, and it all felt light and bright. The Scandinavian design is one that I personally really love. It felt modern and relaxing.

Nothing was overwhelming, but it wasn’t boring either. The items in this cabin are available to buy and they aren’t cheap, the blanket will cost you $190 if you take it home.

Beyond the bed was a proper sofa, and on the other side was a desk.

First impressions certainly felt luxurious to me, and although the square footage wasn’t actually huge, coming in at around 25 square metres, it didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything at this point.

I didn’t know what extras the other cabins had, though.

The next cabin category up is called a Deluxe Veranda Stateroom; it looks similar in design but has a few extra perks.

On the top end of the scale are massive suites with multiple toilets. That would have come in handy in this cabin, but more about that later…

Beyond the curtains was the balcony. I’ve cruised in inside and oceanview cabins more than any other type, so this was a real treat.

The fact that this is the cheapest cabin onboard really blew my mind.

It’s not unusual on some cruise ships to have a third of the cabins inside with no windows or balconies at all. But Viking don’t have any inside cabins on any of their ships. 

It didn’t take long at all for our cabin steward to knock on our door to introduce himself to us.

He came into the cabin and took the time to explain everything. We really felt as though we’d had a tour, and it certainly was nice to already know which light switches operated which lights.

He showed us where things like the safe were and explained that there was a minibar in the desk. 

I usually don’t go anywhere near cruise ship minibars; I find they are incredibly expensive, and I just don’t need to eat or drink from here when I could just go out onto the ship to find something that’s included.

All of that changed on this cruise though, because everything in the minibar on the first day was available for us to eat and drink, completely included in the cruise fare.

There was no alcohol in the minibar, but some of the other cabin types do have some. 

In the higher cabin grades, they do get this refilled, but because we were in the cheapest type, we only had it stocked at the start. Still, that was something I never normally have, and I made sure to eat everything.

Our cabin steward showed us that there was a secret mirror inside the desk and that we had what are called “Vox Boxes” to use on our excursions. 

After explaining a little bit about how the housekeeping team works, he left, and our luggage arrived. We’d last seen our suitcases when we left them in the terminal with our luggage tags on them. 

We started to unpack and found bedside tables on each side, complete with little pull-out pieces to extend the space. Everything felt very solid and of good quality. 

To the side was the main wardrobe area with plenty of hangers and a few drawers down below.

I found robes and slippers in the wardrobe too, and as I was planning to go to the spa on this cruise, I knew I’d use them later. 

Around the side closer to the bathroom were more shelves, and we had plenty of space for all of our things. I definitely have had more storage space on other ships, but I’ve had far less on some other ships, too.

There was plenty of space for what we needed for the week. The bigger, more expensive cabins do have more storage space, of course, and they have things like shoe shining and free clothes pressing.

I definitely didn’t feel the need to have my shoes shined on this cruise. I don’t think I own any shoes that are shinable.

After unpacking, I put my suitcase under the bed and my phone on charge.

On each side of the bed were 2 USBs, a US and a European socket. This would have been plenty, but on the desk there were two more European and two more US sockets. 

The ship was built in 2015, so she’s still fairly new. The cabin did look like it. I didn’t see a scuff or mark anywhere, nothing was damaged, and I did get the impression that Viking take care to fix things really quickly if they break.

I saw a few people around the ship in the public area making sure that everything was perfect. The standard certainly is kept very high. 

Heading out onto the balcony, I looked around and saw just how far forward we were.

We were directly below the bridge and right above the “Viking Star” name on the side of the ship.

The balcony itself was a fairly good size, and we had two chairs and a table.

We were cruising in winter, so it definitely wasn’t sunbathing weather, but having a space to walk out to in the morning to see where we were docked was fantastic. 

Heading back inside, I was so excited to check out the bathroom. I’d heard great things about the underfloor heating and the magical mirror that never steams up.

First impressions were really good, but it would take a few days for the problems in here to show themselves.

I loved the lighting around the mirror, and it all felt really modern and spacious. There was a lot of room around the toilet, which isn’t always the case on cruise ships, and the shower looked big, too. 

On one of the shelves were toiletries, which we replaced whenever we used them.

The tissue box holder here is very expensive to buy, I have no idea why, but perhaps Viking are just trying to stop people from taking them home.

It’s a great idea to tell everybody how much the items cost if they are taken. The bathrobe is $75, the tissue box holder is $280, and the glass tumbler is $110! 

The anti-fog mirror really was fantastic, but the underfloor heating never worked.

My cabin neighbours said the same, so perhaps they were just turned off for our corridor, or they were broken. 

I didn’t ask my room steward about it so that’s totally on me, it didn’t feel like a big deal and it’s not something I’m used to so it wasn’t as though I was missing it. 

When we headed to bed on this first night, I found a nightlight with a little light that shone outside the bathroom door.

The button to turn this one on was one of the switches by the bed, and it’s the little things like that which really make a big difference. 

I slept incredibly well in the big bed, and we didn’t feel any movement at all. I hoped that that would be the case for the rest of the cruise, and it was.

I need not have worried about the location at the front, after all, we were incredibly lucky with the weather.

There was a bit of a noise issue caused by the location, but at this point, I didn’t know that. For some people, it would be a deal breaker. 

The views from the balcony were beautiful when we were sailing, although it wasn’t really “sit outside” weather.

I did brave putting on a dress to film these shots on the top deck, but it was around 10 °C here. It certainly wasn’t warm. 

Some days I’d wake up to even more than just the view, because Viking include room service all of the time.

We ordered it for breakfast one morning and for dinner another day.

There was plenty of space for us to sit on the sofa and eat with our plates piled up on the table in front of us.

The desk did get messy because there wasn’t what I like to call a “bits and bobs” drawer, but that was fine, it just meant that I had to make an effort to keep things tidy.

In higher cabin grades, there’s a coffee machine and extras like binoculars. I’m sure I could have asked for a kettle if I wanted to, but they aren’t guaranteed and are first-come, first-served basis. 

There were lamps all around the cabin and reading lights on both sides of the bed, too. These were so bright.

They were great, though, for reading the daily schedule, which arrived in our room every evening.

In the daily schedule, you’ll find all the information about what is happening the next day and when restaurants are open. 

There was also information here about our excursions, and because we had the cheapest room, we were the last to be able to book them.

It does depend on the cruise how far in advance you can book, but by the time we were able to book ours, the included tours were mostly in the afternoons.

It was clear that the excursions at the best time slots had already gone.

The afternoon suited me quite well, actually. We only ever did half-day excursions, and we had long days in port, so it never felt like a rush.

I knew that it would be the same for the dining reservations, and I hadn’t been able to book any of the speciality restaurants before I got onboard.

I did go along to the reservations desk and managed to book both restaurants, which was a relief because I really didn’t want to miss out just because I had the cheapest room

Being last to pick was okay, but it might be trickier if we were in a big group or really wanted a certain time or day. I always like to go with the flow when I cruise. 

One thing I wished would go with the flow more often was my toilet, okay, that was a strange sentence transition, but it’s true.

It was around now that our toilet stopped flushing; it wasn’t blocked or anything, the suction part just wasn’t suctioning. 

I phoned the reception desk, and they made a note and said that they’d send the maintenance team.

It took a couple of hours, but they were able to fix it without even coming into the cabin. I assume a switch somewhere had just flipped.

Not the end of the world, and it’s something that I’m very used to on cruises. I hoped that it wouldn’t happen again, but we wouldn’t have that much luck, sadly.

During the whole cruise, our cabin was cleaned twice a day. They’d make up our room for the day, I’d get into the bed during the day at some point, and then they’d turn it down again for nighttime. 

Our housekeeping team were fantastic, and they were such a visible presence in the corridors, and I knew that if I ever had a question, I could ask them. 

I could ask them things like “Why can I hear ABBA in my cabin?” and the answer was that we were right above the theatre.

That’s another reason why this cabin is the cheapest, I’m sure. The theatre shows didn’t go on late, and we mostly heard the rehearsals.

I did feel like I’d already heard the show when I went to the theatre in the evening though. For some people who really like peace and quiet, this wouldn’t be the right cabin. 

Our housekeeping team would fill up our water jug every day and leave us feedback forms.

So many feedback forms. I’ve never been on a cruise where the cruise line seemingly cared so much about the guests’ thoughts.

That was nice, although I did get overwhelmed with so many surveys, and I didn’t fill them all out. I am here on the internet giving my feedback in a lot of depth though, so I suppose I’m doing my bit.

The toilet broke on three days of the cruise, and it definitely was annoying, not so much because it broke, but because I could never trust it not to break, and so I didn’t ever like using it.

I’d often just pop to the public loos on my deck instead.

It always took a few hours for our toilet to be fixed and when we reported it late at night it wasn’t fixed until the morning – which didn’t feel very luxurious to me. Still, toilets are a common cruise ship problem. 

If it wasn’t for that, I would have been very comfortable here for a long time. We did miss out on a few perks and didn’t have the best location, but it still felt like having a mini suite on a more mainstream cruise line.

Have a closer look at my amazing cruise with Viking here:

Before You Go

Find out what surprised me about sailing with Viking here:

I Took a Luxury Cruise After Years on Mainstream Lines: Here’s What Surprised Me

Find out about the luxury touches onboard I hadn’t expected – or even thought of – here:

9 Tiny Luxury Touches I Noticed on My Last Cruise (You Won’t Find These in the Brochure)