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Wave buh-bye to “Love Boat” design. The cruise industry is moving full speed ahead with new looks even boutique hotels will envy.
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By Tom Zeit
When was the last time you couldn't wait to see a new cruise ship, just to get design inspiration? Unless you were at the drawing board in the 1930s or needed to install a grand staircase in a mega hotel, cruise lines' interiors probably haven't been the go-to source for looks that thrill.
Costa Crociere SpA, Carnival Corp. & PLC's Italian subsidiary, is in the vanguard of cruise lines that will make you want to look again. Aiming to capture the mood and market of landlubbing boutique hotels, ships such as Costa's bold, bright Serena are serving notice that cutting-edge cruise design is no oxymoron.
It's too early to proclaim that the Serena's psychedelic colors and Euro chic furnishings will mark it as the seagoing equivalent of concepts such as New York's Morgans hotel or Blake's Hotel, the Hempel or One Aldwych in London. But that's Costa's intent. The Genoa-based line is playing up a design-led business model that it hopes will distance it from its existing competition and the more than 40 new ships that will launch worldwide by 2012.
The experiment comes at a time when the cruise industry is booming. There are 13 million passengers worldwide annually and sites such as CruiseCompete.com are reporting 25 percent year-over-year increases for the first four months of 2008. Costa can ride this swell in traditional cruise business while working to attract a new pool of the same young (and youthful) travelers who have made boutique hotels more profitable than their staid counterparts.
The Serena leaves bland and predictable design in dry dock. Miami-based naval architect Joseph Farcus wraps the 1,500-cabin flagship in eye-popping décor. From the spa and casino to the cinema and state rooms, the Serena serves up an opulent, Gaudí-esque feast of color, accented by curves and rich detail based on the theme of classical Roman and Greek mythology.
Each public space evokes a Roman god (the Jupiter Theater, the Apollo Grand Bar, the Pan Disco). Turning to the Greeks, the vast atrium of the ship, which functions as a welcoming area for arriving passengers, represents Mount Olympus, with the pantheon of the gods and majestic, costumed figures suspended overhead.
More than a Hotel
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