In the cruise ship world cabins are the only private areas on the ship, the only place where individuals, couples or families can hope for some sort of domestic privacy. Market economies and logics, therefore, make it imperative that any wishes for privacy on the part “typical cruise passengers” should be limited to a bare minimum. Architects and industry professionals must succeed in shifting the life of the passengers towards the numerous public spaces and the infinite onboard entertainment opportunities, striving to ensure that passengers use their cabins exclusively as a place to rest, change clothes and refresh themselves in the feverish interval between one activity and another. Passenger cabins, then, are conceptually much more similar to hotel bedrooms than to homes. Nevertheless, and at the same time in apparent contrast with the above considerations, cabins or pax, are the first part of the package to be bought. Cruise passengers, as a rule, once they have selected the destination of their voyage, go on to select a cabin from the various available option. 

Within the overall environment on board, cabins are universally recognised as the “bricks of the ship”. Each “brick of the ship” is a kind of prefabricated container that is fitted out separately and only subsequently placed inside the hull under construction. The size of the cabins defines the composition and structure of the ship; cabins, in fact, are a modular and repetitive element, divided into various categories or respectitypes, except in certain particular situations that can be classed as exceptions that confirm the rule.

This paper aims to investigate the evolution of design, distribution and accessories in passenger cabin and also the latest design trends of pax relating them with the technical requirements of modularity and standardization of the typical design of large cruise ships.