Wellbeing has grown into a key travel trend, with the wellness tourism market estimated to reach a record breaking value of $1.3 trillion in 2025. While this has been largely led by land-based hotels and resorts, cruise lines have also significantly expanded their onboard wellness offerings in recent years.

Earlier this year, Hilton reported sleep as the biggest travel trend of 2024, citing rest and recharge as the top reason people want to travel. As guests become more health conscious, it is no surprise that sleep tourism is also on the rise. HTF Market Intelligence predicts that the sleep tourism market is currently worth US$640.9 billion and is estimated to grow by nearly 8% and by over $400 billion between 2023 and 2028.

Norwegian Cruise Line recently expanded its wellbeing facilities with the maiden voyage of Norwegian Prima by introducing the first charcoal sauna at sea; the newly launched Queen Anne has the widest selection of fitness, beauty, thermal and spa facilities of any Cunard ship; and Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess unveiled a two-storey spa when she debuted this year.

The importance of sleep

Passengers are waking up to the benefits of a good night’s sleep. As we spend an estimated third of our lives sleeping, guests are choosing to invest in their sleep quality. Recent research has also indicated that good sleep is critical for bodily restoration, cognition, fat loss and the immune system. This, paired with the insight that fewer than three in 10 adults report their sleep is restorative, shows why many are hoping to bid goodnight to poor sleep. To combat the loss of sleep often associated with resting in a new environment such as a cruise cabin, designers are incorporating higher quality mattresses and bedding, soundproofing materials, and lighting and temperature room controls.

How to get a good night’s sleep, according to sleep science

Harvard Health identified eight key factors that affect sleep quality. These include regular exercise, sleeping in a quiet, dark, cool environment, establishing a bedtime ritual, and avoiding heavy meals, alcohol, and caffeine before bed.

In 2019, the American Society of Interior Designers conducted research into hospitality design and well-being in hotels. In an online survey of 2,500 travellers, ASID identified the most prevalent sleep disturbing factors as poor bedding and high temperatures. Other disturbing factors included external noise and too much light from windows.

While guests on a cruise ship often do not spend much time in their cabin, it is their place of respite to unwind and recover after busy days of onshore exploration and enjoying the onboard amenities a cruise ship has to offer. As the place where passengers lay their head at the end of each day, designers must consider how these spaces are designed to facilitate rest. To help guests achieve a good night’s sleep, there are many factors that cruise ship interior designers need to consider.

Lighting

According to sleep experts, lighting is key to improving sleep performance as it directly impacts melatonin, a sleep hormone. At night, dark rich orange or red light signals your body to produce melatonin. Whereas in the morning bright blue light suppresses the production of melatonin and encourages alertness for the day ahead.

Creative solutions

When creating cruise ship interiors designers must consider the unique lighting challenges of the space. Passengers staying in interior cabins will not have access to natural sunlight, so cruise ship interior designers need to get creative with lighting. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Voyager of the Seas stimulates the experience of having a balcony through an 80-inch screen streaming a real-time panorama from a camera mounted on the ship’s exterior. On Oasis of the Seas, some inside cabins have windows overlooking public spaces, including Central Park.

Disney Cruise Line recently unveiled new inside cabin designs featuring a veranda on board the upcoming Disney Adventure. These will overlook the central hub of the ship, the Disney Imagination Garden. This immersive, enchanted valley will be a vibrant, open-air garden set against a three-deck-tall, stunning storybook castle art piece. The space will include a state-of-the art theatrical stage that will bring beloved Disney stories to life, two quick-service eateries, an alluring bar and a selection of garden-view staterooms. 

When travelling to the far reaches of the Earth, expedition cruises can sail through destinations with 24-hour sunlight. This can pose a contrasting challenge in which guests are exposed to too much natural light. Here, blackout curtains and blinds are crucial.

In addition to these particular considerations, designers are improving lighting in staterooms through reducing in-room technology’s disruptive blue lighting. Designers are also rethinking the placement of technology so that device lights are not visible when guests are sleeping.

Sound

Reducing noise through design is key to improving a guest’s sleeping environment. Often referred to as floating cities at sea, cruise ships are always brimming with activity. Depending on where a passenger’s stateroom is located, they may be subject to surrounding noises from other passengers, the ships’ engine, or social spaces. These sounds, combined with the vessel’s constant vibrations, creates many noise challenges for designers to consider. A cruise ship interior designer’s job is in reducing these sounds within a cabin. To reduce noise disturbance, designers are opting for soundproofing carpets, heavy drapes, ceiling sound insulation, thicker doorways, and absorbent décor items and furnishings such as cushions and wall panels in staterooms.

Temperature

The temperature of a sleep environment can significantly impact sleep quality. The Sleep Foundation reports that the ideal bedroom temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius). Most cruise lines provide air conditioning controls in each stateroom via a thermostat. Virgin Voyages’ cabins all come equipped with a tablet that sailors can use to control the temperature in their stateroom using its air conditioning system.

Bedding

As many travellers prioritise rest and recharge, having high quality bedding is vital to a comfortable and restful trip. However, passengers all have varying tastes in mattress firmness, bed linen type, and pillow density (nearly 20% of global travellers admit to packing a preferred pillow to ensure a good night’s sleep!). Cruise lines must rise to the challenge of providing bedding to suit all needs and preferences.

MSC has partnered with Dorelan to create a sleeping experience both in their cabins and across their ships. This combines multi-sensory in-cabin amenities with fitness amenities and healthy food options. In cabins, MSC offers superlative bedding consisting of a premium firm mattress, a soft-touch topper, and two different pillow types. This allows passengers to immediately make their own choice of soft or firm comfort before exploring the many options of the Dorelan Pillow Menu.

Princess Cruises has invested in luxury bedding in their staterooms, offering a range of premium features. These include a plush two-inch thick pillow top and a nine-inch single-sided medium-firm mattress for enhanced support, with individually wrapped coils for less partner disturbance. This is topped with a European-inspired duvet and 100% luxurious Jacquard-woven cotton linens. Princess Cruises partnered with a sleep expert to develop this next-level bedding which provides a comfortable and restful night.

Beyond the bedroom

The key to a good night’s sleep also goes beyond the bedroom. There are plenty of other lifestyle factors that can impact sleep including regular exercise and a healthy diet. Cruise lines have expanded their wellness options outside of the cabin, including gyms, spas and healthier dining options. Some vessels, including the Virgin Voyages ships, feature health-focused dining venues, such as the meat-free Razzle Dazzle restaurant.

Razzle Dazzle, Virgin Voyages’ vegetarian-forward restaurant

MSC World America will debut with a dedicated Zen Area, a refreshing oasis of relaxation and rejuvenation. The recently launched Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris expedition vessels each feature a Nordic Spa. Here, passengers can unwind in an indoor heated pool surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, a badestamp (wood-sided hot tub), and a thermal suite including a sauna, snow grotto and hydrotherapy pool. Scenic Eclipse II set sail with an upgraded Senses Spa featuring a yoga studio, gym, salon, saunas and expanded steam rooms. Many existing vessels are also being refitted with upgraded or brand-new wellness facilities. Windstar Cruises’ three Wind Class vessels, Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Surf, will undergo a refit including an upgrade to their wellness facilities – The World Spa and gym.

More than a trend

Wellness is more than a trend. With such clear health benefits and a high predicted growth for the next few years, wellbeing and sleep tourism are here to stay. Over time, it will likely simply become more embedded in the design of cruise cabins.

Want more of this?

Check out the Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) Design Expo Europe blog for more design insights and the latest industry updates. CSI Design Expo Europe is a specialised conference and exhibition catered exclusively to the European cruise interior design industry, with a unique focus on Europe’s luxury ocean, river, and expedition cruising. The next event will be taking place on 4 – 5 December 2024 alongside the Sustainable Design Summit at Excel London.

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