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1. Sovereign of the Seas. She was the first ship to use a central atrium in her design with elevators like a hotel. This design element has been common on nearly every new cruise ship since.
2. Royal Princess. She was the first to have large numbers of balcony staterooms. Today ships are designed with deck after deck of balconys- an idea that was almost impossible to imagine 15 years ago.
Future trend setters may include Voyager of the Seas. Time will tell how influential her new "royal promenade" idea and interior cabins with bay windows will be. She is definately new and original, but will she set a dominant trend in the future of cruise ship design? So far no other cruise line has ordered ships with a similar design.
ps. Silja Line(ferryes) had these promenades before Royal Caribean
The Norway offered NCL 'economies of scale' and proved that giant ships could operate profitably in the Caribbean and Europe. She started the trend that has given birth to Destiny, Grand and Voyager.
Lets also not forget that the QE2 was a hybrid, Ocean Liner meets Cruise ship.
Peter is right, voyager is not the first ship to have inside cabins with windows..she just has them on a greater scale. In the future I think we will see ships with no inside cabins and all external cabins having verandas.
[This message has been edited by Malcolm (edited 06-22-2000).]
Just wild(?) plans. http://intro.masa-yards.fi/viewimage.asp?name=E%5Fsuper%2520wide%5Fopen%2520atrium%2Ejpg
http://intro.masa-yards.fi/viewimage.asp?name=E%5Fsuperwide%5Faqua%2Ejpg
http://intro.masa-yards.fi/viewimage.asp?name=E%5Fpearl%2520of%2520miami%2Ejpg
The stern could once again become a thing of beauty!
I agree that the Norway was influential- but only for her size. She was the first mega-ship to enter the cruise market. But her actual design was that of an Atlantic liner- not a cruise ship. As for Carnival. Their ships really introduced the idea of the ship as a destination unto itself. They completely divorced the ship's interior design from the sea- and created Las Vegas style 'theme' ships. One may also argue that Carnival's Fantasy-class ships are influential designs simply because they built 8 of them- and are the backbone of the largest cruise fleet in the world.
I would like to add 2 more suggestions. First is Oriana because she was the frist ship designed and built specifically for the European cruise market. And SuperStar Leo. She was designed with the Asian market in mind- offering cabin layouts and public areas suited to Asian tastes. We are currently seeing cruising become and international business with ships created for very specific markets- not just a North America.
Oceanic was arguably the first cruise ship designed specifically for cruising, and pioneered a design with a pool deck high on top of the ship. And although other ships had magrodomes before the Oceanic, the magrodomes on Oceanic were unique. I would say that considering the layout of "the modern Cruise ship", the Oceanic is at the top of the list as far as being influential.
There are also some less obvious Asian touches. Like the artwork, a mahjong room, karaoke bars, and lion statues at the entrance way (to keep out bad spirits) and two pots (to keep profits from flowing off the ship)- as the designer puts it.
=All of this means that if SuperStar Leo were ever to sail the North American or European market the ship would require significant changes in design and layout of both public and private areas. She was clearly designed with Asia in mind- the first cruise ship to do so.
Aurora has a higher than average speed and good sea keeping ability, in order to rush British passengers from Southampton to the sunshine of the Mediterranean as quickly as possible.
I really like the idea of Cruising on a ship that offers a different 'cultural' experience. Many of the worlds Cruise ships offer an 'American' experience. The idea of cruising on a ship offering an 'Asian' experience sounds fun to me.
Skyej, you a right about 'sqaure ships: "A 2 per cent increase in accommodation on a 1400-berth ship, will lead to an $1-1.5 million increase in income, over the average life of a ship".
What you say is true up to a point. But the history of US influences in the UK seems littered with examples of initial condemnation followed somewhat later by mass acceptance.
All those features that have become successful in P&O's Princess ships are now making it to the P&O's UK and probably their other European Fleets. Attriums, balconies, alternate dining, 24-hour dining, Pizza places, sidewalk cafes etc etc.
The only thing that hasn't caught on is the huge casinos and even there they seem to be enlarging them. AURORA's seemed larger that ORIANA's to me.
When STAR PRINCESS became ARCADIA the biggest changes involved the Oval Pub and it was a great success, but AURORA'S Champion's bar would not be out of place in the US market.
Terry Donegan
Do not get me started on the mankind's greatest achievement of the state of the art in hybrid oceanliner/cruiseship design: Canberra and Rembrandterdam
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