A pullman bed is a cruise word you might not be familiar with. If you’ve cruised before you might have even seen one without knowing that’s what it’s called.

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What is a pullman bed?
A pullman bed is a bunk style bed in a cruise ship stateroom often used to accommodate the 3rd and 4th passenger in a stateroom.
A pullman bed flips up against the wall of a cruise ship cabin or is hidden in the ceiling when it’s not in use.
These pull-down beds or folding beds are a smart way to get an extra bed or two into the small space. The foldable beds that are tucked into the ceiling take up the least amount of space.
Your cabin steward will have the bed flipped down, made, and ready for use if there are more than two people staying in your cruise room.
The cruise ship deck plan legend will indicate whether the ship stateroom has 1 or 2 pullman beds or if it’s mini sofa beds that are used to accommodate the 3rd and 4th passengers. The deck plan will also indicate what the maximum number of people in a cabin room is as well as the bed type.
These bunks in cruise ship cabins are twin beds (single bed) and are intended for just one person.
Are there restriction for sleeping on a pullman bed?
These upper pullmans have both a weight limit and minimum age limits. The upper bed we saw on Royal Caribbean cruises had a warning sign that said no guests under 6 years old or over 300lbs (150kg) on the top bunk bed. Different cruise lines have different restrictions. Restrictions may even vary cruise ship to cruise ship.
As with most bunk beds, upper cruise ship beds have guard rails for added safety. Some however are quite small. Some cruise lines have an additional guard rail that you can request, however not all. If you are worried about younger children sleeping on this type of bed then the best choice may be to choose a stateroom with a sofa bed instead.
You access the upper bunk with a ladder. Pullmans are not suited for people with mobility issues.
In this picture you can see the pullman compartment in the ceiling. This was taken on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. As you can see, when it’s not in use, you can hardly tell it’s there.

What is a pullman bed on Royal Caribbean?
Here is a Royal Caribbean pullman that tucks into the ceiling. It accommodates the third passenger in the room. This is a balcony cabin on deck 7 of the Mariner of the Seas.

What is a pullman bed on Carnival Cruise Line?
Here is a pullman bed on the Carnival Vista, in an interior room. As you can see there is a railing as well as a ladder to access. The bed when not in use, would tuck away into the ceiling. This is where the 3rd person in the cabin would sleep.
With the twin beds separated rather than together, the room feels more spacious.

photo by Load the Luggage
Below is a different configuration of a pullman bed on a Carnival cruise ship. This one was our cabin on the Carnival Radiance, an interior cabin, room 2303. The ladder was at the end of the pullman bunk.
You can see in the picture, top right that there is a second pullman bed in this cabin. This would have been made up by the stateroom attendant if there if there was a forth person in our cabin.

If you are cruising with teens, you may want to consider connecting staterooms rather than one room with upper pullman beds. 6 Reasons to Choose Connecting Rooms When Cruising With Teens lists the benefits.
What is an upper pullman on a cruise ship?
An upper pullman is sometimes referred to as an upper berth or just a pullman. An upper pullman is a wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted bunk bed that stores away when it is not needed. It is used to sleep a third or 4th guest in a cruise ship stateroom.
Since an upper pullman is the same as a pullman bed, you can see images above.
Another cruise term to know is tender ports.
Happy cruise planning.