Passengers Can Sleep Like It's 1896 in This Old-Style Expedition Cruise Cabin
HX Expeditions is letting guests step back in time with a new immersive cabin experience that evokes the spirit of 19th-century expedition cruising. The line is marking almost 130 years of expedition sailing by offering a one-night stay in a cabin designed to look exactly as it would have in 1896 aboard the MS Fridtjof Nansen.
Forget luxury suites brimming with high-tech gadgets; this cabin eschews modern comforts such as soft furnishings and televisions. Instead, guests will find a porthole window, a stone-effect feature fireplace, a single bed, and bunkbeds that can accommodate up to three passengers. The cabin, crafted by designers Aros Marine, is furnished with wooden chests, chairs, stools, wardrobes, a desk, and a hidden bar cleverly concealed within a barrel.
The construction of this unique cabin required 309 working hours and utilised 140 pieces of wood sourced from a cabin in Germany to ensure authenticity. Even the toilet seat is an old-fashioned wooden design. The experience is available at an additional cost of €100 (£87) per person per night, with half of all profits donated to the HX Foundation charity, which supports endangered wildlife preservation, plastic waste reduction, and community initiatives.
All guests aboard the MS Fridtjof Nansen will have the opportunity to visit the cabin during the day through scheduled access, supplemented by talks from historians. Gebhard Rainer, chief executive of HX Expeditions, stated: “This cabin was always meant to honour our origins, and what our teams and partners have delivered is extraordinary. The 1896 Cabin has surpassed everything we first envisioned. We hope it gives guests a real sense of what life at sea was like 130 years ago. History, after all, is best remembered when lived.”
