What a cruise cabin looks like 130 years ago – now you can cruise like your great, great Grandad with HX Expeditions

• HX Expeditions has just launched its 1896 heritage cabin which you can experience.
• You can step back in time and relive what it’s like sailing on the high seas aboard MS Fridtjof Nansen.
• The 1896 cabin is decked up with more than 20 vintage artefacts such as a wooden writing desk, wooden bunk beds and even a wooden toilet seat.

If you had ever wondered what it was like to sail the high seas 130 years ago, now you can step back in time with HX Expeditions, one of the world’s oldest expedition companies.

Billed as the 1896 Cabin, you can experience what it was like to go on an expedition and relive the founding spirit of exploration more than 100 years ago.

The 1896 Cabin will have more than 20 distinct furniture pieces including bunk beds, a desk, a hidden bar in a barrel, wooden chests, chairs and stools. Even an old-fashioned wooden toilet seat has been installed. The cabin will also have handcrafted wooden interiors with ceiling beams, wooden walls and floors to evoke a 19th-century vibe. There is a feature fireplace which acts as the focal point of the cabin. Throughout the 28sq m cabin, vintage horns, framed artwork and expedition objects are on display.

HX Expeditions is offering guests the chance to experience the 1896 heritage Cabin onboard MS Fridtjof Nansen, the line’s first hybrid-battery powered expedition ship when she sails to some of the world’s most remote destinations including the Arctic and Antarctica in 2026.

Only one night per guest will be allowed to book and pay the upgrade cost of Euro 100 ($162) per person per night. A maximum of three guests per booking per sailing will be allowed.

The line said that 50 per cent of all profits from the heritage cabin will be donated to HX Foundation to support the line’s conservation, science and heritage initiatives.

The heritage cabin was designed by Aros Marine, one of  Europe’s leading ships-interior specialists in collaboration with HX Expeditions hotel operations team.

On 8 July, HX Expeditions will mark 130 years since it pioneered the world’s first expedition cruise. To celebrate this legacy, HX Expeditions will operate its fleet of five expedition ships and take guests to some of the most remote destinations in the world such as the Arctic, Antarctica and the Galapagos. The line sails to more than 250 destinations across 30 countries and is renowned for its polar expeditions, immersive voyages and transformative travel experience.

“This cabin was always meant to honour our origins and what our team and partners have delivered is extraordinary,” said Gebhard Rainer, CEO of HX Expeditions. “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.”

While guests can experience sleeping in the 1896 heritage cabin, the line will not be serving any special dish that dates back 130 years.

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