I Tried a Controversial Cruise Cabin With a Bizarre Bed

Normally, when you stay in a cruise ship cabin, you know what you’re going to get. There’s a bed, a bathroom and, if you’re lucky, some kind of chair or a sofa.

Cabins don’t usually vary a lot – but I’ve just disembarked a cruise where the cabins were purposely designed by people who had no cruise ship design experience at all.

The result of that is that the rooms have little quirks and issues that are unlike anything I’ve seen on a ship before.

Some differences are small, but others completely change how the room works, including a bed unlike anything I’ve had on another cruise ship.

I’ve spent 10 days onboard trying to work out why the cruise line made these decisions in the first place, and I wanted to find out what had changed based on guest feedback.

I knew that Virgin had promised some updates.

Reviews for the cabins really vary a lot, so I didn’t know what to expect.

One person even described the room as a cross between a budget motel and a ferry, and one reviewer said that they were in the military and slept better at work than on the ship!

Not all were bad, though. There were plenty that said that the cabin was stylish, trendy and cool.

I hoped that we wouldn’t have any issues sleeping on this cruise, but I knew I could have problems with the location and perhaps too much noise or movement.

Virgin do have a party reputation, and I didn’t pay to pick the specific room, so I wasn’t sure where I’d be.

I could have been assigned a cabin anywhere, above the main nightclub, right at the front, right at the back, under the tiny pool.

The only thing I knew was that I had booked a Sea Terrace, which is what Virgin call their standard balcony rooms.

As soon as my cabin number was assigned, I went straight to the website to have a look at the deck plans.

I found my cabin, which was cabin number 10102 Z, towards the back of deck 10.

I was relieved to see that there were cabins all around us and that we weren’t right at the back or right at the front, where you usually do feel more movement.

This cruise was going up to Iceland, so bad weather wouldn’t be that unusual. We had a lot of sea to cross. I do get seasick on occasion, so I hoped it would be fine.

Usually cabin numbers don’t have letters in them, but Virgin have “A” cabins on one side and “Z” cabins on the other. Virgin have really tried to do everything differently.

Z is your Britishism of the week – we say “zed”, not “zee”.

We were given a boarding time of 2:30 pm, which meant that when we boarded the ship our cabin was already ready for us. It was easy to know which side to go to because we knew we were Z.

Wandering down the corridor, it was clear that this ship wasn’t like most others. The carpet was bright, and the corridor lights changed throughout the cruise.

Even the way that I opened the cabin door was different. On a Virgin cruise, you’re given a wristband like this.

It’s simply called The Band, and this is what you use to scan on and off the ship. It’s also used to charge anything to your cabin account, and it’s how you open your cabin door.

As soon as I opened the door, I was very impressed with all of the colours and the furniture.

The room felt spacious and bright. I liked the wood and the cushions on the bed. A lot of people describe these cabins as though they look like they were designed by IKEA, but I don’t see that as a bad thing.

I love IKEA. I’d let IKEA design my house if they wanted to.

The design certainly isn’t traditional, but there are enough ships in the world already like that.

To the left was the wardrobe area, with the bathroom door on the right.

I had read lots of reviews about there not being enough storage space and the bathroom being tiny.

I knew that they couldn’t have changed the bathroom size since I was last on a Virgin ship, but I was hopeful that they’d have added more storage.

Heading further into the room, I found the bed. This was already set up as a bed when we entered, and that is one thing that Virgin have changed recently.

When Virgin first launched, the bed was made up as a sofa every day, and the plan was for the housekeeping team to turn it back into a bed every night.

That left a lot of people confused, and I was interested to see how that worked later in the cruise. I would turn this into a sofa. 

I noticed immediately that we had a chair to the side, a big mirror and this box that stuck out into the room.

This is the part that becomes a sofa. The side of the bed basically swings around to make the L shape.

Looking at this, I predicted one thing. I’d end up with a few bruises before the end of the cruise by banging into this platform, and I was absolutely right there.

I hoped that the bed would be comfortable enough and that other features of the room would make up for this.

The part of the room that I was most excited about was the balcony, because I knew that out there was a hammock.

The vast majority of cabins onboard have a big red hammock like this, and I didn’t waste any time getting into it.

At first it is a little bit difficult to get into and out of, but it didn’t take me long to work it out. You can stretch out fully in this hammock and lie back, completely supported from head to toe.

I did swing around and bang my head on the door a few times, but I knew I’d be spending a lot of time here. Especially when sailing into and out of port.

Our balcony itself was a really good size, and it was angled backwards towards the aft of the ship.

That meant that we couldn’t really see where we were sailing to, but we had the most amazing view of where we had been.

We could see the other cabins from here, but our balcony was really protected and no other people could see us.

The hammock was definitely the best spot on the balcony, but there were also two chairs and a small table.

I was cruising on this cruise with friends and I wanted to invite them around to try the hammock and my sofa when it was in “sofa mode”. I didn’t know how to request that yet though.

Heading back into the room, I decided to check if our bags had arrived. When I opened the door I found them there waiting for me, which was great.

I was very curious whether there would be enough storage for our stuff, given that I didn’t see any bedside tables or any bits-and-bobs drawers.

The wardrobe had quite a lot of hanging space and two big baskets.

I usually pack my clothes into packing cubes, so I just put one into the basket down here. I decided to put my jumpers up on the top behind the bar, and I hung up my dresses and my coat.

Inside the cupboard there were a few shelves and some little drawers. The drawers at the top were so tiny they just about fit socks in them, but it was nice to have them there.

I’m pretty sure that these have been added since the ship launched, and the same goes for the baskets too. In the wardrobe area, we had our life jackets and a safe.

I don’t think this is a bad amount of storage for a wardrobe, but it was the other little storage spots that I missed.

Like somewhere to put chargers, wires and all kinds of general things. Opposite the chair, there was the minibar fridge and two little shelves down the side, where I’d put things when I tried to tidy up.

The table was where I planned to do most of my work, but it didn’t really work out like that.

The stool wasn’t very comfortable for long periods, so I’d sit in the chair or work from the hammock.

There were lots of plug sockets here and more on the far side of the bed. On my side there weren’t any sockets, just because of how the bed turns into a sofa.

I put my phone on charge on the desk and headed into the bathroom to explore.

I’d read a lot of reviews about this bathroom being small, and that is the understatement of the year.

I’ve been cruising since I was 11, and I’ve never found a bathroom quite this small – even if I were 11, it would be small…

I could literally wash my feet in the shower while sitting on the toilet if I wanted to.

I didn’t ever do that of course, but I did spend quite a lot of time in here over the 10 days.

The toilet itself was great. Virgin have even made the cruise ship toilet different from other ships. It’s bigger and a longer shape.

The actual shower room wasn’t the smallest I’ve ever had, but I am only 5 foot 7, and even then I bumped my elbows on the edges while trying to wash my hair.

The shower was powerful, though. It always worked and maintained the heat well. It was a good quality bathroom; the design is just too small.

That said though, I recently cruised on Norwegian Epic, and that cabin doesn’t have a separate bathroom at all, so I was just happy to have a bathroom door.

Have a look at that weird bathroom arrangement in the video below:

The shower has shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, and there are towels that are replaced whenever you want them to be.

Virgin used to have black soap in their bathrooms, but I’m very happy to report they don’t anymore.

That’s one of those things that just makes me think, why? Soap is white for a reason. I’m guessing Virgin found out why too.

There wasn’t anything particularly new or exciting in the bathroom, but the way that the do not disturb worked was great. You just press a button, and it lights up on the outside of the room.

The cabin did feel quite high-tech. It was minimalistic in design but not in features. When we opened our cabin door, the curtains would automatically open, or the lights would come on.

The lights were controlled either by the switches or by the tablet that was on the table. We could also control the TV from the tablet and I saw a button in here that I knew I’d have to try during the cruise, the sofa button.

As we headed to bed, we pressed the close curtain button, which closed those for us. I put my phone on charge on the desk and got into bed.

I found the bed really comfortable, but I have heard from some people that they found it too firm or too low to the ground.

I always find beds are very subjective, but Virgin do have another layer they can add to the beds to make them softer if people request it.

As I lay there, I was wondering if I could really tell that this was a sofa bed if I didn’t know that it was.

I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t. The box sticking out into the room was a giveaway, but apart from that this was as comfortable as any other bed.

The lights above the bed were helpful, they were just little manual lights.

I was curious what would happen if I pressed the sofa button. I pressed it, went to breakfast and when I came back, the room had been transformed.

I immediately texted my friends and told them to come round so that we could get the full effect.

I had to put all of the bedding into the wardrobe area and move my suitcase out of the way. I pulled the curtain and hoped they’d just not notice that bit.

The wooden table had been turned on its side, which worked well. In the drawer under the bed was more bedding and a few more towels.

Having the bed like this did mean that there was more room in the cabin, and I do see what Virgin were going for here. It was good fun.

I do think the room would be better if this was just a normal bed, but considering that it does already exist, it isn’t bad.

We had a drink from the two water jugs that were refilled daily, then decided to head out.

I did miss having a kettle in the room, but most of the American cruise lines don’t do that, and it wasn’t far to go to the buffet.

Being on deck 10 was great. The main areas in the middle of the ship were down on decks 6 and 7. The buffet and the outside spaces were on deck 15, so we never had to go too far at once.

Speaking to other people onboard, I didn’t find anybody else who had their bed changed into a sofa. Some people didn’t know it was an option, and some people just didn’t see the point.

I was a little bewildered and confused by Virgin’s cabin layout when the cruise line first launched.

Matters weren’t helped by the fact that things ( like the tablet to control the lighting) were missing. I spent ages hunting for the light switch, which was hidden in the wardrobe!

When I put out my video, it caused a bit of a stir – and really launched my YouTube career.

I am delighted to say that Virgin has taken on board many of the criticisms aimed at it and has now changed things for the better!

Have a look at that original video that Virgin weren’t keen on below.

As the cruise went on, I realised that even though this was a very lively ship, our cabin was really quiet.

If we were out on the balcony, we could hear the people next to us talking, but apart from that, I never heard a sneeze or anything from another guest while in the room.

We didn’t feel a lot of movement here either. There were a few nights where I definitely could tell that we were moving, but overall we were really lucky with the weather on this cruise, and I think really lucky with this cabin.

I always leave it down to luck and save the money by not picking my cabin’s location, but I don’t necessarily recommend that you do that.

I do it mostly for my videos, honestly, and I like to review a range of cabins and issues, and by not picking my room, I get that.

I’ve had every kind of cabin issue over the years. I’ve been below nightclubs, massively overlooked, I’ve slept in bunk beds – you name it, all in the name of research.

If you do want to avoid those bad cabins, and ones with interesting quirks that no cruise line will tell you about, a good travel agent is worth their weight in gold.

They’ll be able to share other guests’ experiences with you and suggest options you might not have considered.

If you don’t already have an agent you know and love, you can get in contact with me and my team through my app, The Cruise Globe, or on my website.

We booked some amazing cruises while I was working on this ship that I’m very envious of.

We booked a solo cruiser on Virgin and were able to tell them that having their bed like this is an option. They could have a bed and a sofa at the same time. Thank you to Claire for sharing this picture.

If you are sharing this cruise with a friend, you do have to decide if you want to sleep feet to feet, or head to head, or head to feet – because they don’t split properly apart like two twin beds usually would. They just go into this L shape.

I loved lying in bed and watching movies on the TV. I actually watched a new film that is out in the cinemas at the moment, which would definitely cost money to watch on another line.

I really made sure I got my money’s worth out of this cruise.

For the cruise, I paid £ 2,479 ($ 3,300). That was for 10 nights and included all my gratuities, WiFi and soft drinks. I could have saved £420 ($560) by booking an inside cabin, but I couldn’t resist that hammock!

If we were cruising somewhere other than Iceland, I might have saved that money, but waking up to the fantastic views made it so worth it. 

On some cruises, there isn’t much to see outside anyway, particularly if you’re travelling in winter and visiting mostly industrial ports.

To have a closer look at my cabin on Valiant Lady, watch this video below:

Before You Go

When I sailed on Cunard’s new ship, Queen Anne, I booked the cheapest inside cabin – as we weren’t sailing anywhere with picturesque views. Find out whether I got good value for money here:

I Stayed In The Smallest Cabin on a BRAND NEW Cruise Ship

Lots of people like to collect ship models of every ship they sail on, but what do you do if you are missing a model? Find out where to find them here:

Missed The Cruise Ship Model Onboard? Here’s Where To Find One