How is a Cruise Ship Designed?

Tailoring a ship

Cruise ship designers are faced with special challenges not found in traditional shipbuilding such as with tankers and cargo ships. Cruise ship builders take the position that they tailor a ship as the "haute couture" of the shipbuilding industry. As a result cruise liners are one-off, customized vessels with distinct character and personality. Designers must work not only with the owners to ensure that the design meets and exceeds expectations but also work with the shipyard, naval architects and engineers to ensure the vessel meets all safety and environmental regulations. Building a ship takes about 24 months but the design process often begins a year in advance and must past muster with the shipyard, architects and engineers before given the green light to build. All this with the principal idea that the ship is its own best lifeboat and that in the event of an emergency the passengers and crew remain on-board until the ship can return to port.

Design expertise

Some cruise lines prefer the interior décor to be unique if not flamboyant to emphasize the "fun factor" yet avoid repetitive designs from ship to ship. This style of entertainment architecture allows a ship to adopt a certain theme without blatantly copying décor already in use at another entertainment venue. The object is to handcraft a ship with artisans who specialize in unique features not found elsewhere. Designers, or architectural firms contracted for specific projects, often are not supplied with the name of the ship and must adhere to specific requirements on the number of berths and how much public space is allocated. The shipyard provides the design for the hull. Careful consideration is given to the height of mega-ships with more decks and cabins equipped with balconies, as well as the limitations of ports and terminals to handle modern vessels. Specific designers are selected based on their artistic expertise and the atmosphere they create. Stylists may be chosen for their nautical inclinations such as using stained woods, teak and brass found on the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth I, while others are selected for their work similar to that of Las Vegas casinos.

Reaching to the past

To convey a specific theme in dining rooms, for example, designers often reach back to old photographs of the legendary restaurants and nightclubs of the past in Chicago and New York City, or style an on-board casino using archival photos of an early 1960s casino's décor in Monaco. Carnival Cruise Lines, for example, emphasizes fun, parties and its casinos and gives its designers license to style dining rooms, public spaces and its casinos in the extreme, but not kitschy. Celebrity Cruises places an emphasis on gourmet dining. It designed one of its restaurant, the Olympic, and a wine cellar under the supervision of master chef Michel Roux. The wood paneling décor was inspired by the dining room of White Star Line's Olympic, the Titanic's sister ship. Adhering to the confines of nautical architecture, each vessel ultimately is given its own personality.

Resources

• Cruise ships