What It Is Like To Stay in 182-square-foot Room Onboard World’s Largest Cruise Ship?

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  • The world’s largest cruise ship is Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas.
  • The cruise ship has 2,759 staterooms.
  • Rooms are cleverly designed with all amenities without taking much space.
  • Each room is about 182 square feet, with a 50-square-foot ocean-view balcony.
  • There are ample storage and closet space, as well as a sofa bed.

According to an article published in the Insider and authored by Sophie-Claire Hoeller, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas is the world’s largest cruise ship.

Queen of the seas

It’s about as long as 3 1/2 football fields and twice as high as the Washington Monument.

It also has a theater, a casino, a zip line, an ice-skating rink, an escape room, 23 restaurants (including a Starbucks), multiple pools and waterslides, and even a park. Not surprisingly, these things take up a lot of room, so when it comes to the ship’s 2,759 staterooms, they need to be space-efficient and practical; they’re small, but they feel big.

What is it like to live in a stateroom?

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

According to her own words, I recently spent a week in a 182-square-foot stateroom that had a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door leading out to a 50-square-foot balcony with an ocean view. Keep scrolling to see what a room aboard the world’s largest cruise ship is like.

The room was right at the end of a hallway, at the very front of the ship — or starboard forward, as they say in ship lingo.

A handy little map under my room number showed me exactly where I was in relation to the rest of the ship. But I still spent the first two days getting lost.

Ocean-view stateroom with a balcony

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

Some rooms have no windows at all. Others have balconies looking out onto the Central Park on the inside of the ship.

The room was about 182 square feet, with two twin beds that created a “Royal king.”

The bed was super comfy, and the bedding was smooth. That, paired with the soft rocking of the ship, had me sleeping like a baby every night.

Glass balcony with deck

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

The balcony was about 50 square feet. It had two comfortable deck chairs and a small coffee table.

I spent whatever time I had on this balcony, away from the about 6,000 other guests on the ship.

Pro tip: Bring your food from the buffet to your room and eat it there in peace. The railing was made of glass, for unobstructed views of the endless ocean.

Rooms

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

A floor-to-ceiling glass sliding door led out onto the balcony. Despite its small size, the room felt pretty spacious. It even had a sofa that could turn into a lie-flat bed. The room had big closets on either side of the bed, as well as a chest of drawers.

One closet was a mix of shelves and hanging space, while the other one was hanging room only. There were also drawers and clever little nooks on either side of the bed. There was honestly more closet space than I knew what to do with, and I definitely overpacked for the week.

Accompaniments

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

The room had a fridge. Since you can take food from the buffets to your room, this fridge comes in handy.

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

A hairdryer was in a drawer by the desk/vanity, not in the bathroom where I would have expected it, so I didn’t find it until the last day. With an estimated 1 million activities on the ship at any given moment, I didn’t turn the TV on once.

A desk with a chair that cleverly fits under it, like some sort of Russian nesting doll.

Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider
Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Insider

There were USB outlets, as well as American and European outlets. There was also a  bedside table was small but just big enough for a book. There was also a large mirror above the desk and a full-length mirror by the door.

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Source: Insider