For my very first cruise, I knew I wanted to start big.
I booked a 7-night sailing on Wonder of the Seas, one of Royal Carribean's Oasis Class ships and the current largest cruise ship in the world. This title, however, will be taken by Icon of the Seas at the end of the month.
For the length of this cruise, I stayed with my sister in a 172-square-foot inside cabin.
When we booked a month before the cruise, we opted for a guarantee stateroom. This ensured a cheaper price but meant we were giving up the ability to choose our exact room.
The total price was $2,674.76, about $382 per night for two people for a week.
A few weeks before the cruise, I saw that we had been assigned room number 7112, a windowless cabin at the very forward part of the ship
Our interior stateroom's location left us pretty much in the middle of the ship’s 18 decks but in close enough proximity to walk down to shops on Deck 5.
When we arrived onboard, we saw just how small the room really was. It spanned only 172 square feet. However, the organization felt just spacious enough for our needs. The room was also clean and modern.
Directly facing the door, the room held two twin beds, separated per our request. Next to each bed was a small nightstand with a lamp, a charging station, and two selves at the bottom.
We found that this bedside charging station was large and close enough for all our electronics. I had packed two power strips, but we never used them.
I used the bedside shelves for my nighttime snacks but wished that the nightstand had just a little more space on top; it was barely wide enough to hold my water bottle and phone at the same time.
My sister took the left bed, which had a telephone on top of the nightstand. She was able to shove it into one of the shelves for some more surface space.
In front of the left bed was a small armchair in the corner, where my sister stacked most of her items. Opposite that faced a desk with vanity lights with drawers underneath.
The desk chair was comfortable, and the mirror was large with a bright ring light. We really appreciated this for our hair and makeup routines.
Read more: Royal Caribbean cabin and suite categories guide
The dresser beside the vanity provided counter space as well as five drawers, which I used for all the items I didn’t keep inside my suitcase.
We discovered that the TV above the dresser could be pulled out of its position in the wall to face the bed, a convenient way to save space until we needed it.
The TV had only a few channels, such as channel 7, which provided departure information on the last day. I was able to use Chromecast, however, to stream from my phone to the TV when we wanted to watch our favorite shows.
My sister and I found that the closet next to the dresser also had plenty of storage space. We didn’t even use all the shelves inside the closet, although we did use all the hanging space for our jackets and dresses.
A safe was located inside the closet, but it was too small for my laptop, and I didn’t have any other valuables I wanted to store in there. We never ended up using it.
All the cabin’s lights were located next to the bathroom door. The cabin had a card power switch, which needed a card inside it to turn on the electricity. I’ve noticed this before in hotel rooms—apparently, it saves energy.
On our first day, a card was already placed there, but I noticed it was gone the next day when our cabin steward, Merlin, came. When I asked Merlin about it, she gave us a dummy card to keep. I knew that we would forget our SeaPasses if we left them there!
Merlin, by the way, was wonderful and cleaned the room every day, quickly replacing anything we needed!
Before my trip, I saw people online write that they needed a nightlight for the dark room, but the bathroom light underneath the other switches had a small glow that emitted when the light was switched off. This served to guide us to the bathroom in the dark and also to easily inform us if the light was still on.
Everyone has different tastes, but I found that this bathroom light was all the nighttime guide I needed.
Much like the stateroom, the bathroom was small but functional
The clear shower door opened up the space visually, and three large shelves provided all needed storage. Above the sink, a blue flower pattern livened up the space.
As someone who loves my long, hot showers, I can confidently say the water pressure and temperature were perfect and adjustable. We also appreciated the shower’s built-in clothesline to dry our swimsuits.
I wasn’t able to find a single outlet inside the bathroom (only a “shaver’s only” socket), so I did have to use the hair dryer in front of the vanity. This was definitely inconvenient when I was trying to get ready without waking up my roommate.
Before the sailing, I read online that many people disliked the provided hand soap and 2-in-1 shower soap. I had no problems with the hand soap bar for washing my hands, but I did opt to use my own body soap during the trip.
We also ordered the complimentary room service breakfast on two out of the seven mornings, and while it was convenient to have breakfast in bed, I struggled to find enough table and counter space for all our food
Although we had to stack plates or even eat on the bed, when we had to wake up early on port days to meet up with our shore excursions, the room service became very convenient.
Instead of pushing through the crowds at the Windjammer, we could get a little extra time sleeping and eat right in our room!
One aspect of inside cabins that people often mention is the lack of windows
As someone who loves natural light, I did find myself spending time outside of the cabin to get some sun.
But when we were ready to go to sleep, I appreciated the pitch-black room for my first cruise. I slept so soundly in the dark that I had to start setting alarms to make myself wake up at all!
As a first-time cruiser, I also wasn’t sure if I would experience any seasickness, but when I saw we were located at the very front of the ship, I knew to prepare ahead.
Most people try to avoid cabins at the front or back of the ship, as those locations can make you more susceptible to seasickness. And after my experience in this cabin, I could see why.
As soon as the ship set sail, I started feeling nauseous and unsteady. The small cabin felt like it was rocking dramatically, leaving me dizzy. While Dramamine helped, I always felt best when I got out of the room and headed midship.
Loud noises were another unexpected disadvantage from the cabin’s location. We heard loud bangs and clangs most hours of the night and day, especially when the sailing was more windy.
Although my sister and I could never quite tell what was making those noises, we assumed it was a combination of the waves, the lifeboats, and the ship’s anchor.
Thankfully, I am a sound sleeper, but cruisers who are more sensitive to nighttime noise may want to avoid such a forward room.
Read more: Best rooms on a cruise ship: Deck, location, & category
In the end, my sister and I were active enough around the ship that we didn’t mind the smaller room
Wonder of the Seas is so huge that we really did spend most of our time exploring the neighborhoods.
Because of that, the stateroom was the perfect small, dark place to come back and sleep. I would definitely recommend this inside cabin to anyone who sleeps soundly and plans to be out of their cabin for most of the day.
