For seven days, my home on one of the biggest cruise ships in the world was an inside room.
I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas in 2023, and although she had lost the title of world's largest cruise ship to Wonder of the Seas, her Oasis Class charm was impressive and mind-boggling.
During my seven-day voyage from Miami, Florida, I visited St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's award-winning private island in The Bahamas.
Although the itinerary was appealing, I was more concerned with the onboard experience, having visited St. Thomas and St. Maarten countless times growing up.
From the Ultimate Abyss dry slide to Broadway-caliber productions, soaring zip line, jaw-dropping AquaTheater performances, and more, Symphony of the Seas definitely delivered nonstop thrills — and at a reasonable price.
The mega-ship has countless different room categories to pick from, from spacious multi-deck suites to ocean-view balconies. However, I went with the cheapest available option: a standard inside cabin.
The week-long cruise in a windowless interior stateroom on Deck 7 cost $1,400, including taxes, gratuities, and port fees.
Take a look inside the 149-square-foot space and see why, despite its cramped size, it was a comfortable retreat during a busy Caribbean cruise.
The cabin's layout made great use of a small space
Although my tiny cruise room was less than 150 square feet, it was one of the most contemporary-feeling cabins I had ever stayed in.
For starters, there was a large couch sandwiched between the room's two closets. Having this additional seating area was a major perk, as many inside cabins don’t offer anywhere to sit other than the bed and a small vanity chair/stool.
There was even more storage available in the built-in dresser next to the desk. The shelves and hangers in the closet made it easy to unpack and settle into my home away from home.
I utilized the dresser, too, which contained three empty — but deep — drawers, a fourth with a box of tissues and a room service information pamphlet, and a fifth that was home to the hairdryer, as well as a large cabinet with the stateroom's mini-fridge.
Moving on, Symphony of the Seas is a newer cruise ship, having set sail in 2018. As such, the cabin was outfitted with modern perks. For example, I had to insert my SeaPass card into a small key slot that powered on all the electricity within the cabin to preserve energy.
There was also an abundance of outlets for charging electronics. On older Royal Caribbean ships, you are lucky if you have more than two standard American outlets by the vanity. However, my room on Symphony of the Seas had four American and one European socket, as well as two USB ports.
Most of the outlets were concentrated at the desk and vanity area, but there was one American plug located beside the bed. This made charging my phone at night much easier since I didn't have to remember to move it before falling asleep.
Speaking of the bed, I could have requested that the two beds be pushed apart to create two twin-sized beds and make the room feel more spacious.
Instead, I opted to keep them together since I was traveling alone. Having extra room to stretch out was more important than a walkway between the beds, though I did sometimes notice the gap where the beds met.
However, even with the beds together, the cabin's layout was surprisingly functional — I never tripped over miscellaneous shoes or felt cramped during my 7 nights at sea.
The bathroom was tiny but modern
As expected, the bathroom inside my cruise stateroom was small; however, it was modern and clean.
There was a shocking amount of counter space, as well as three shelves to the right-hand side of the mirror. More storage was available underneath the sink, too.
On the back of the door were two hooks for wet towels, swimsuits, and hanging toiletry organizers.
Inside the shower, there was a soap dispenser that distributed Royal Caribbean's signature Salt + Breeze bath scent. I'm not a fan of this 2-in-1 product, so I always bring my own toiletries from home, including shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
I was disappointed that there was only one small ledge in the shower. If I were traveling with one more person, it would have been a tight squeeze to fit all of our products there.
Additionally, the shower's water pressure was neither awful nor great; it was just okay. I did have issues with the temperature that never got resolved, though.
In the mornings, it was nearly impossible to get any hot water. Sometimes, I had to wait 25 minutes for the water to heat up to lukewarm! In the evenings, I had the opposite problem: the temperature was scalding hot.
I did not choose my cabin's location
Because I booked the cheapest available rate, I could not pick my exact cruise room. Instead, Royal Caribbean randomly assigned a cabin to me closer to the sailing date.
If this sounds risky, that's because it is. You could end up in a less desirable location, like near the nightclub, far from elevators, or tucked away at the very front of the ship, where movement is more noticeable.
In my case, the latter proved true. My stateroom was located at the forward of Deck 7 on a "secret" hallway full of other interior cabins between the port and starboard sides of the ship. It felt like a maze when I was trying to locate my stateroom on embarkation day!
While the forward elevator bank was somewhat close, the aft elevators were far from where I was located.
Not having a window wasn't a dealbreaker
Initially, I was worried that the lack of natural sunlight would cause me to feel cramped, sleep in on accident, or that I would just miss waking up to a sprawling ocean view.
Although nothing beats watching the seafoam form against the hull of the ship as it glides through the ocean, my inside cabin was such a good deal that it more than made up for not having a view.
Sailing on one of the world's largest ships meant that I was rarely in my stateroom. Most of my time was spent exploring the ship, watching an original show, or enjoying the activities and dining options on board.
The room definitely served its purpose of being a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the Oasis Class neighborhoods — and a comfortable one at that.
