First, they provide a focal point for the ship that gives orientation. The atrium is the central artery that connects the ship and gives people a sense of direction. It helps the flow of traffic. It fuctions much like a city plaza or "centrum" as RCI calls them.

Secondly, the open atrium gives a sense of spaciousness in what traditionally has been a closed, claustrophobic, environment. I think we take for granted the open spaces on modern cruise ships. Older ships had very few open spaces. I especially like RCI's use of open space and glass to create a very different onboard feeling than in ages past.

I’m not sure I agree.

First, they provide a focal point for the ship that gives orientation.

They make the middle of ships look like a shopping mall. The only time I ever go to the atrium is if I need to complain to the purser’s desk. I do not enjoy the bars that are in some atriums because I feel like I’m sitting in though fare.

Secondly, the open atrium gives a sense of spaciousness in what traditionally has been a closed, claustrophobic, environment.

I'm with Tom here, the only real purpose of giant Atrium in my opinion is the ‘wow’ factor, but this only lasts 30 seconds, followed by the ‘why’ factor.

The vast vertical space is not one I can use because I can't fly!

BTW, not all atriums need to be huge wastes of space. Princess and Celebrity have both stuck to limited sizes (3-4 decks). And even smaller ships like Europa and RSSC's ships use them for the reasons listed above.

I do like modest Atriums.

For a smaller atriums, I agree that Sun Class and Millennium Class have very nice lobbies.

[ 06-15-2005: Message edited by: Ernst ]

IMO, Millie class have the most elegant and
at the same time funstional atrium; their '' cousin''
at RCCL, Radiance class, are a close 2nd

IMO, Millie class have the most elegant and
at the same time funstional atrium; their '' cousin''
at RCCL, Radiance class, are a close 2nd

quote:

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Originally posted by debr:
I think the atruim of a cruise ship is one of the most important part of the ship.

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No disrespect, but I think they probably are the LEAST important part of a ship.

'Atriums' are just a modern fashion. Many great ships did not have Atriums as such. As already noted the Queen Mary 2 nearly did not have one, and the one she does have is quite modest for her size. It's allso very tasteful - a rare thing.

The original 'Queen Mary's' Lobby/First class reception is far more attractive than any Atrium in my opinion.

I prefer an attractive lobby than a gigantic vertical hole which I regard as a pure waste of space. As for 'spaciousness' I rather they use all of that wasted space and added to more functional public rooms or the cabins.

[ 06-27-2005: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

quote:

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mec1 wrote:
So Malcolm would you say that balconies, private bathrooms, television and air conditioning are also just modern fads?

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These listed are necessities, an atrium (especially a multistorey one) isn't.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mec1:
So Malcolm would you say that balconies, private bathrooms, television and air conditioning are also just modern fads?

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As I grow older I begin to realise that so much of our culture and behaviour is determined by fashion.

I must agree the improvements in ‘creature comforts’ (private toilets and air con) are unlikely to be just passing fads. However, I do not think Atriums are particularly important to many peoples cruise experience.

On a big mega-ship I often only find myself passing through the Atrium on rare occasions, anyway. I did not miss Atriums on Fred Olsen’s ships, the QE2 and the SS France to name a few.

Although many people enjoy private balconies and pay a premium fare for them, especially in Europe, I do not think they are particularly essential to one cruise experience. I do not opersonally think TV are that important. There are still of course small ships without TV's in every cabin, the Van Gogh springs to mind.