hospitalitystyle.com

(Spring 2010) posted on Mon Apr 12, 2010 EDT

Bold design concepts and innovative execution make the new wave of cruise ships thoroughly ‘see-worthy.’

Tweet

By Matthew Hall

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

During the past decade, more than 120 major new cruise ships began plying the seas and waterways around the globe, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). And there are more to come: CLIA's 25 member companies, which include virtually all the industry's major lines, have 26 new ships on order between 2010 and 2012.

To attract passengers in the face of that ever-growing competition, cruise ship operators are upping the design ante on their newest vessels, seeking to offer environments and amenities equal to or even greater than land-based hotels and resorts. As a result, some of the hottest design trends in the hospitality field can now be found on the high seas.

What follows is a look at the takeaways land-lubbing designers might want to borrow from three new ships, ranging from the exclusive (the 12-passenger Panthalassa luxury yacht) to the massive (the 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas) to the iconic (the soon-to-launch Queen Elizabeth, the third Cunard vessel to bear that royal's name).

Panthalassa

While ships such as the Oasis of the Seas are all about theater, at the other end of the luxury spectrum are such charter vessels as the three-deck Panthalassa, which measures 184 feet in length and carries up to 12 passengers (and a crew of 10). The Panthalassa stresses elegant exclusivity beginning with its main saloon deck. Designers from Foster + Partners delivered a high-end residential feel with an off-white color palette, teak furniture and granite table surfaces.

The innovation lies not only in the look, but the R&D required to make high-style furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) work on a ship. To accomplish the latter goal, the saloon deck's lounge, bar, library and boardroom are all equipped with electrically operated glazed screens that can be opened to create a single common area. The idea is to appeal to both couples desiring privacy and small groups looking for a more social experience, notes David Nelson, the London-based firm's senior partner and head of design.

The deck below the main saloon houses the yacht's six dual-occupancy passenger cabins, outfitted with leather wall paneling, silk rugs, chrome-framed portholes and gold-and-black marble tiles in the shower areas. Connecting both decks to the ship's topside is an oval staircase surrounded by light-reflecting acrylic rods that mirror daylight back into the living areas.

Oasis of the Seas

With its 16 decks soaring some 200-plus feet above the waves, the exterior of Royal Caribbean International's (RCI) Oasis of the Seas resembles a huge floating layer cake On board the 1,200-ft.-long vessel, RCI's newbuilding and fleet design group teamed with 57 architecture and design firms to take a page straight out of Vegas. The outsized environment they created is fitted out with a number of “industry firsts on a level and scale the world has never seen before,” boasts RCI president and ceo Adam Goldstein. Among those innovations are two-story loft suites; the first moving bar at sea; seven themed neighborhoods (including an urban park and an old-time amusement boardwalk); and an aqua theater featuring a fountain show that rivals anything found on Sin City's fabled Strip.

All those amenities take advantage of the ship's impressive girth and pronounced vertical profile. For example, the Oasis' skyscraper-like stack of passenger decks included enough room for RCI's in-house team to create 28 two-story suites, each of which houses an upper-level bedroom that overlooks a living area. The views rival any high-end resort thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. Similarly, the ship's Rising Tide Bar, by London-based Atkins Global, is basically an oval-shaped, open-top elevator that lets passengers tip back a drink as they slowly traverse the three levels between the topside Central Park complex and the Royal Promenade retail complex below. And the aqua theater, by Wilson Butler Architects of Boston, includes a 12-row-high amphitheater that can seat up to 600 in the ship's stern.

Queen Elizabeth

The third Cunard Line ship to bear the Queen Elizabeth (QE) name will set sail this fall bearing an art-deco design that harkens back to the halcyon days of its first-generation forebear, which launched in 1938. “The new ship will reference her predecessor in interior grandeur, décor and style,” said Cunard president Carol Marlow. To make that stately statement, Cunard's in-house team, lead by vice president of interior design Teresa Anderson, created public rooms on the QE that feature elegant double- and triple-height ceilings, rich wood paneling, mosaics, gleaming chandeliers and marbles flooring. (Designers had not taken the wraps off the ship's passenger cabins as of press time.)

Must-see venues on board the 2,000-passenger ship will include the Britannia Restaurant, with its two-tiered dining room and sweeping entrance staircase, and the Garden Lounge, which is home to a vaulted glass ceiling inspired by London's famed Kew Gardens.