Comparing Norwegian's oldest and newest interior cabins

Interior cabins are typically the most affordable staterooms that you can book on a cruise ship. These no-frills staterooms might not be super spacious, but you will have everything you need for a comfortable stay. Over the years, interior cabins have evolved to be much more functional and stylish thanks to improved designs.

I just returned from a four-night sailing on Norwegian Viva, which is the newest cruise ship from Norwegian Cruise Line. This modern, stylish cruise ship is the second in the cruise line’s Prima Class. Norwegian Viva made her highly-awaited debut in the summer of 2023 and recently made her way to North America for a Caribbean winter season.

Earlier this year, I flew to Europe on a whirlwind trip to embark on a two-night repositioning cruise from Málaga, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on Norwegian Sun. This was one of the oldest cruise ships in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet, although we did not spend much time onboard during our short cruise.

Norwegian Sun entered service in 2001, which proceeds the brand-new Norwegian Viva by nearly 22 years. At double occupancy, Norwegian Viva can hold 3,009 passengers, whereas Norwegian Sun is much smaller, holding only 1,936 passengers. However, Norwegian Sun was recently refurnished in 2021 to upgrade the public spaces and staterooms.

During both of these itineraries, I booked an inside stateroom to save money, as these rooms were the cheapest cabins to book. It was eye-opening to see the transformation of Norwegian’s inside cabins over the span of two decades!

Here’s how one of the oldest and cheapest inside cabins in Norwegian’s fleet compares to the newest inside cabin on Norwegian Viva.

Both of these cheap, inside cabins left positive first impressions

(Interior cabin on Norwegian Sun)

When boarding the Norwegian Sun, I had low expectations for the ship’s overall condition. Older inside cabins usually lack modern design, decor, and functionality. As such, I did not have high hopes for our cheap cabin on Norwegian Sun during our two-night sailing. We paid $454 for two people to sail in an inside cabin guarantee, meaning we did not get a cabin assigned until right before the sail date.

When we boarded this ship in Spain, I was surprised to see the condition of our inside cabin - in a good way! First, the room felt surprisingly spacious for being just 147 square feet. The beds were separated upon arrival since I was traveling with my friend. Separating the beds created more space in the small space, which we appreciated.

Read more: I sailed on some of Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest and oldest ships: Here’s what its like to cruise on new ships vs. older

(Interior cabin on Norwegian Sun)

At first glance, it was evident that Norwegian Cruise Line had recently refurbished the cabin. The inside cabin appeared to be in good condition with recent upgrades, such as the addition of extra outlets, a new carpet, and a television on the vanity. Based on the cabin alone, it would be hard to guess that the stateroom was 22 years old. Understandably, the cabin had many design elements from the early 2000s. The room especially felt more dim with darker woodwork and accents.

Of course, I had entirely different expectations when boarding Norwegian Viva. As the latest ship to debut for the cruise line, I knew our cabin would have a more modern design. I was eager to compare this inside cabin to our experience on Norwegian Sun. This time, I would be cruising with two other guests, meaning we'd have to utilize the pullman bed. 

(Inside cabin on Norwegian Viva)

Again, we had booked an interior cabin guarantee and did not receive an assignment for the stateroom until right before the cruise. We ended up being assigned cabin 13167, which was located on Deck 13. This cabin was supposedly 160 square feet, which is slightly larger than the inside cabin on Norwegian Sun.

With three of us sailing in a small inside cabin, I was worried the space would feel more cramped. As we boarded the ship in Miami and made our way to the cabin, I was immediately wowed by the inside cabin’s airy design with bright colors and light woodwork. The room was well-lit, making it feel less dark and cramped than most inside cabins.

As I looked around the room, I was a little surprised to see a large stain on the carpet near the cabin’s entrance. While this is not the first time I’ve seen a stained carpet on a cruise ship, it is a little more surprising considering the ship is only a few months old. We found other stains in the room as well. If the carpet is already being stained this easily, I can only imagine it will not last the test of time.

One of the biggest differences when comparing the two inside cabins was the size and design of the bathroom

(Bathroom on Norwegian Sun)

While the cabin on Norwegian Sun gave a positive first impression, the inside cabin’s bathroom was the worst part of the stateroom experience. To start, I was shocked to find the cabin was a very bright shade of lime green!

Considering the cabin had been refurbished, I figured the cruise line would also prioritize upgrading the bathroom. This was clearly not the case, unfortunately. The bathroom was very small in size, leaving little space for a large shower. Instead, we found a capsule-shaped shower with a very clingy shower curtain.

(Sink inside Norwegian Sun)

We also found that the shower’s lip was too low, which created some standing water in the bathroom after showering. Two nights was too many having to use this dreadful shower, to say the least!

Comparatively, the bathroom on Norwegian Viva was probably 50% larger in size. The aesthetics were totally opposite with splashes of blue as an accent wall against the grey wall. I loved the exposed shelving and extra counter space for storage. The mirror was even an anti-fog mirror, so the reflection was never fogged!

(Norwegian Viva interior cabin bathroom)

The best part of the bathroom was the luxurious shower! Our inside cabin on Norwegian Viva featured a walk-in shower with a glass door. It was probably triple the size of the shower on Norwegian Sun. 

I cannot emphasize enough how much we appreciated having more space in the shower; this was a huge difference in the stateroom experience.

(Shower for Norwegian Viva interior cabin)

It’s clear that Norwegian Cruise Line has allocated more bathroom space when designing inside cabins. With more space in the bathroom, the cruise line could design a more functional, spacious shower. This is one of my least favorite aspects of the cruise cabin experience on an older ship, so I was pleased to see this drastic improvement in design.

Read more: Things you'll notice when cruising on the newest cruise ship

With more space allocated to the bathroom, the newer inside cabin lacked communal seating

(Inside cabin on Norwegian Viva)

Although inside cabins are small regardless, I do appreciate when these staterooms have additional seating. I’ve noticed that newer inside cabins seem to design staterooms with larger bathrooms, which means sacrificing communal space.

For example, our inside cabin on Norwegian Sun had a small loveseat that we could use for seating. This meant that we did not need to sit on our beds while in the cabin since we had additional seating. I would venture to guess this loveseat area in our older cabin is where Norwegian Cruise Line found space to expand the bathroom for newer inside cabins.

(Loveseat on Norwegian Sun)

Because of this design improvement, Norwegian Viva’s inside cabins did not have any additional seating in the cabin. We either had to sit on our beds or sit on the small vanity ottoman. This was a little more problematic considering we had three people cruising together. With the bunk bed exposed from the ceiling to accommodate the third guest, only one of the beds was comfortable to sit on during the cruise.

This was one of my least favorite aspects of Viva’s inside cabin. While I much prefer using the space to have a larger bathroom, it was difficult when all three of us wanted to sit somewhere in the cabin together. We often had two people sitting on one bed and the third person using the ottoman.

Both inside cabins had ample storage for us to unpack thanks to closet space, drawers, and shelving

(Closet space on Norwegian Viva)

I hate living out of a suitcase, so I always unpack my clothes on the first day of a cruise. Regardless of how long the cruise is, I find this helps keep the small inside cabin more organized and less cluttered. With such a small space, it’s best to utilize the storage options.

I found that the newest inside cabin on Norwegian Viva had more space for storage compared to the oldest cabin on Norwegian Sun; however, we had plenty of space for unpacking on both cruises.

(Closet on Norwegian Sun)

Storage for our inside cabin on Norwegian Sun included one large closet to share and three drawers under the vanity. The closet also included hangers for us to use. Since we were traveling with just a backpack to Europe, we did not have much to unpack. In fact, I even used this opportunity to do laundry in the bathroom sink while onboard!

On the other hand, we found more storage available when cruising on Norwegian Viva. Even with the three of us traveling together, we had enough space to comfortably unpack for our four-night sailing. There was not one, not two, but three closet spaces to use on the ship!

(Closet drawers on Norwegian Viva)

The first closet was exposed, followed by two more standard closets. Inside the closets, guests could also use pull-out baskets for additional space. Under the TV, we also had a few more large drawers and exposed shelves to use. We opted to store our suitcases under the beds to ensure the space stayed as tidy as possible.

Norwegian Viva’s inside stateroom had many outlets to use for charging, but Norwegian Sun also had modern upgrades

(Lamps on Norwegian Sun)

When sailing on an older cruise ship, it’s not uncommon to find only one or two outlets to use throughout your cruise. While this is a minor detail, having to rotate who can use the outlets to charge devices can be annoying. Newer cruise ships have often incorporated multiple outlets and USB ports to solve this problem.

Since Norwegian Sun had just undergone refurbishment in 2021, there were obvious upgrades in the cabin that I noticed. One example was the addition of lamps near each bed that provided USB charging ports. Again, this is a small detail but it was appreciated! I love having my phone on the nightstand each night, so having a charging port by the bedside was perfect.

(Outlets on Norwegian Viva)

Similarly, Norwegian Viva had many charging outlets to use throughout the inside cabin. I was even pleased to find that the lamps on each nightstand had both USB-A and USB-C ports! 

This feels quite progressive, as USB-C ports are only now just becoming more common. Moreover, there were multiple European outlets, US outlets, and USB plugs on the vanities.

Read more: Why smart cruisers bring a European power adapter on a cruise ship

Both of these inside cabins have their own pros and cons, but each provided a comfortable stay during my Norwegian cruises

(Norwegian Viva inside cabin with the pullman bed down)

I’ve never had an issue sailing in an inside cabin, and these cruises with Norwegian Cruise Line were no exception. Interior staterooms have everything I need for a comfortable stay, even without the frills of a higher-end cabin. I never spend too much time in my cabin, anyway.

Being able to sail on Norwegian’s newest ship after recently sailing on one of the cruise line’s oldest ships provided the unique opportunity to see the changes made to a standard inside cabin over 22 years. While both inside cabins provided pleasant stays during my cruises, each had their own pros and cons.

(Vanity on Norwegian Sun)

Over the span of two decades, it was apparent that Norwegian Cruise Line has redesigned its interior staterooms to accommodate the changing needs of cruisers. Most cruise lines have designed cabins to have more bathroom space to build larger showers. This was exactly the case on Norwegian Viva. I am happy to say goodbye to the capsule shower and clingy shower curtain!

Additionally, I preferred the brighter design of Norwegian Viva and appreciated having more storage space in the cabin. I did miss having additional seating for the communal space, however. We found it a struggle to sit comfortably in the cabin together when all three of us were in the stateroom at the same time.

(Inside cabin on Norwegian Viva)

It was also hard not to love the very modern design of our inside cabin onboard Norwegian Viva. I loved the white, grey, and blue color palette that the cruise line incorporated. The inside cabin felt luxurious compared to most inside cabins thanks to the cruise line’s attention to detail.

On the other hand, Norwegian Sun’s inside cabin had more seating in the communal space thanks to a small loveseat, but the darker woodwork and lime-green colored bathroom really dated the cabin. I would be happy to never shower in that cramped bathroom ever again!

An inside cabin is the perfect choice for travelers looking for an affordable option when booking a cruise. I wouldn’t hesitate to book another inside cabin with Norwegian Cruise Line.