Forget luxury suites full of high-tech gadgets – an expedition cruise line is inviting guests to sleep in a cabin from 1896.
HX Expeditions is marking almost 130 years of expedition sailing with an immersive cabin experience aboard MS Fridtjof Nansen.
Inspired by a 19th-century expedition cruise, guests can spend one-night during sailings this year in the cabin, designed to look like it is 1896.
Passengers won’t find many soft furnishings or a television. In fact, there is just a porthole window, a stone-effect feature fireplace, a single bed and bunkbeds to sleep up to three guests.
Crafted by designers Aros Marine, the cabin is decorated with furniture pieces including wooden chests, chairs, stools, wardrobes, a desk and a hidden bar in a barrel.
It took 309 working hours to build and comprises 140 pieces of wood, sourced from a cabin in Germany to provide a sense of authenticity. There is even an old-fashioned wooden toilet seat.
The experience is available on top of the cruise fare for €100 (£87) per night per person. Half of all profits will be donated to the HX Foundation charity, which aims to preserve endangered wildlife, battle plastic waste and contribute to community initiatives.
All guests on board MS Fridtjof Nansen will also be able to visit the cabin during the day, with scheduled access offered, supplemented by talks from historians.
Gebhard Rainer, chief executive of HX Expeditions, said: “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.”
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