How cruising became an indulgent hotel experience

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This was published 9 years ago

How cruising became an indulgent hotel experience

By Brian Johnston
Viking Star’s winter garden.

Viking Star’s winter garden.

Ever-bigger ships packed with activities and experience, brassy, all-singing, all-dancing Broadway-style musicals and celebrity-chef restaurants. These are trends that have characterised the cruise-industry in recent times. Yet away from the mega-sized ships, the bling, ice-rinks at sea and surf simulators, a far more considered trend has emerged.

Cruise lines, of course, have always competed against each other for business, yet only recently have they seemed to realise that they're also competing with hotels on terra-firma for the tourist dollar. Just as we've seen the rise and rise of boutique hotels over the last decade, we're now seeing steady growth in boutique cruise ships.

Small and mid-size ships are doing well, with the likes of Ponant, Regent, Oceania and Windstar launching new vessels. Viking, until now a river-cruise company, is also getting in on the action with the launch of Viking Star later this year, the first of three new ocean-going ships for the company that is deliberately turning its stern on the mega-ship trend.

Atrium Bowl in  P&O Cruises' Britannia.

Atrium Bowl in P&O Cruises' Britannia.

Certainly, there's plenty about the design and ethos of these new ships that appears directly inspired by their on-land rivals. The big growth of branded hotels in the 1980s was built on the premise of homogenous design and predictability. Now hotels are looking to create a point of difference in every property, and are moving away from impersonality to more boutique experiences. International travellers have acquired an appreciation of style from their landlubber hotel stays, and it seems they're now looking for the same while at sea. Cruise companies are taking notice. The result?

Goodbye dull old ships with standardised cabins, a single main restaurant and corridor decor more suitable for a Kafka novel than a cheerful holiday afloat. Hello light, space, colour and design considerations that wouldn't look out of place in a Westin or Sofitel So. Indeed, Regent's Seven Seas Explorer, set to launch in mid-2016, is unleashing interior designers ICRAVE, best known for work on W Hotels and New York's ultra-chic Hotel Gansevoort.

Seabourn has contracted Adam D. Tihany, famous for prestigious hotel designs from the Mandarin Oriental Geneva and Westin Chosun Seoul to the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, to create indoor and outdoor areas of its new ship, Seabourn Encore. Tihany is also working on Holland America's new MS Koningsdam, due for delivery in early 2016.

The spa and pool on board the Viking Star.

The spa and pool on board the Viking Star.

Many ships are striving to be less ship-like and more hotel-like, notably with the appearance of sophisticated on-board spas and a wider choice of dining venues. The day of the buffet is over, while signature and celebrity restaurants, open kitchens and ethnic eateries now appearing on ships everywhere. Restaurants are no longer just practical places to eat, but destinations in themselves: stylish exhibition spaces, you might say, for the art of cooking.

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But in cabin design alone, there has been a revolution. Ship's cabins were long infamous for their phone-booth dimensions, tiny windows and bathrooms that required contortionist's skills from their occupants. Now, many scarcely look like cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows replacing portholes and hotel designers brought in to make cabins scarcely distinguishable from on-shore accommodations.

You just need to look at artist's impressions of P&O Cruises' new Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, which will be based in Australia from the end of this year, to see the boutique hotel similarities in the colour palette of its restaurants and its chic and arty reception desk. The latter reflects a general move in hotels towards entrance lobbies that deliver a statement about your hotel's character, design ambitions and wow factor.

Glamour on Pacific Aria.

Glamour on Pacific Aria.Credit: Pacific Jewel

Hotels have always had a sometimes wide (sometimes confusing) choice of room categories. Cruise ships have begun following suit, with a growing band of hypo-allergenic rooms, suites, single rooms and family rooms. MS Koningsdam, for example, will feature Holland America's first purpose-built family staterooms, which will be able to accommodate five people and have two bathrooms.

Meanwhile, Azura became the first P&O ship to offer solo staterooms in 2010, and the newly launched Britannia will have more single cabins than any other cruise ship. Norwegian Epic now offers 128 studios which, although very compact and all inside cabins, at least allow single travellers to avoid those pesky supplements for twin cabins – and also gives them access to a dedicated lounge area. In truth, this is an area in which hotels, not known for their single rooms, may actually learn something from their floating counterparts.

Two-storey cabins are emerging as well. Queen Mary 2 has novel two-floor duplex suites with upstairs master bedrooms and bathroom, but you don't have to be a well-heeled Cunarder, since Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have also introduced two-level loft suites. The upstairs master bathroom features luxe touches such as his-and-her shower heads, fog-free mirrors, and limestone mosaic tile detailing.

 Seabourn Odyssey's Atrium.

Seabourn Odyssey's Atrium.Credit: Michel Verdure

Overall, suites have got a whole lot sweeter. In the old days, a suite was a fairly similar, if upsized, version of a standard cabin. These days, the fanciest suites (Oceania, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent) cannot imitate hotel suites in size, but certainly do in luxury and amenities, which might range from butler service to your own piano.

When Regent's Seven Seas Explorer debuts next year, it will offer a two-bedroom suite in marble and wood, with an outdoor, glass-enclosed sitting area. It will feature the furnishings you'd expect to see in some of the best hotel suites, including a Steinway piano, media centre and king-size bed. And in a first at sea, it will also have an in-room spa retreat with full sauna, multi-jet shower, hot tub and heated ceramic loungers.

Spas have been the big value-added success story for hotels over the last decade and more, and cruise ships are getting in on the wallow not just with on-board spas, but spa suites too. The ill-fated Costa Concordia was the first to have spa cabins, and many other Costa Cruises ships still do, with special amenities and private access to the adjacent spa and complimentary treatments. Many other companies have followed, including Carnival, Holland America and Celebrity, which even has its own specialty restaurant for its AquaClass staterooms.

Cruise lines have borrowed the executive or club room concept from hotels, too, with their latest ship within a ship concepts. Lead by MSC's Fantasia-class ships and Norwegian, ships are now rolling out exclusive areas that offer more space, more amenities and a sense of exclusivity for higher-paying passengers.

MSC Yacht Club has a dedicated lounge, deck and pool complex, butler service and a private restaurant. Norwegian's The Haven has its own pools, hot tubs and 24-hour butler and concierge service; on Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Breakaway there's also a dedicated restaurant and bar. Disney dips its toes in the idea on a couple of its ships (Dream and Fantasy), where concierge-class passengers have their own lounge, bar and sun deck.

Overall, the cabins on cruise ships are getting more luxurious and slightly bigger, and not only on small-sized ships. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas offer its most luxurious accommodations so far, starting with cabin sizes an average nine per cent larger than those on the company's Oasis-class ships. Interestingly though, just as in hotels, the luxury is generally no longer showy, preferring instead to focus on top-quality simplicity, a relaxing environment and service rather than bling.

Changes are being felt in increasingly attractive bathrooms, such as those on Crystal Serenity, which feature walk-in showers and televisions. There has been an acknowledgment that holidaymakers want something more than they can get at home: rain showers, double sinks, towels soft as marshmallows and large as bed sheets. And in another trend we saw in hotels some years ago, some suites on Norwegian Epic have sinks moved out of the bathroom and into the main space. Bathroom walls (somewhat controversially) are of frosted glass and only semi-private.

Space will always be the ultimate luxury on a ship, but it's the details that are really making cabins more hotel-like: video on demand, plush bathrobes, Nintendo Wii consoles, USB ports, iPod docking stations and more use of natural products such as stone, wood and greenery in the decor (Crystal Symphony even has a living wall, though in a public space). Silversea uses hugely expensive Pratesi bed linen, Disney has Frette-branded feather duvets, and MSC Yacht Club soothes with a memory-foam mattress and a pillow menu. These days when you cruise, the comforts of hotels come with you.

CRUISE SHIP DESIGN

NOW AND THEN

Who wants to remember modern cruising's early days, when good design was almost unheard of, and ship's cabins were more like submariner's berths than hotel rooms? How things have changed.

THEN: Inside cabins were useless for cat-swinging, windowless, and had as much character as a sheep in sheep's clothing.

NOW: Virtual portholes on Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy play real-time video of the ocean, at least giving the illusion of windows (and maybe allowing you to find Nemo). You can stickybeak over the action-packed interior promenade of some Royal Caribbean ships from its inside cabins.

THEN: Pull-out sofa-beds, bunk beds and possibly even hammocks created so-called family rooms, apparently designed for families of sardines.

NOW: Staterooms are now specifically designed for the extended family, such as Disney's adjoining staterooms with bathroom-and-a-half. Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend, based in Australia, offer a big range of interconnecting cabins.

THEN: A quick cycle in a dingy gym and an invigorating fitness class with a madwoman in spandex, followed by a "massage" from a former Russian wrestler.

NOW: Herbal teas, aromatherapy steam baths and a journey to the Temple of Peace (Costa), dedicated spa suites (Celebrity) and a "men's barbering concept"on Windstar, which we think might just be a haircut.

THEN: Little soaps in plastic packages you had to rip open with your teeth, and shampoos that reeked of enough chemicals to agitate Erin Brockovich.

NOW: The delights of Molton Brown products and Ferragamo designer soaps (Seabourn), the pretty smell of Provence in high summer from L'Occitane (Viking) and an absolutely fabulous selection from Bulgari (Silversea).

THEN: Service meant you had to find the reception desk, fill in a form and wait three days for a new light bulb to illuminate your cabin.

NOW: Many cruise lines, even budget options such as Costa and P&O, have butler service, at least in some cabin categories. Silversea leads: its butlers can organise cocktail parties, scented baths and, yes, even light bulbs.

NEW STREAMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

It isn't only ocean vessels that are undergoing a design overhaul. River-cruise ships have also been acquiring more luxury and design features, while hotel amenities such as designer toiletries, wifi, butlers and bathrobes are now commonplace.

TO DINE FOR

APT's boutique 74-suite MS AmaDolce, which launches next year in Bordeaux, will have five dining options, a sun deck with heated whirlpool, and a beauty salon. Promotional material specifically compares it to a five-star hotel.

SET IN STONE

Avalon's new Suite Ships have two dedicated suite decks, a club lounge and bar, and a hair salon and fitness room. Bathrooms, fitted with marble, granite tiles and modern fittings, offer a completely different look to the regular pre-form, plastic-moulded cabins that were once the norm on river ships.

SPACE ODYSSEY

Despite the big space restraints on river vessels, especially in Europe, suites are more common across many cruise lines. Among them, Scenic Tours' new Scenic Jasper and Scenic Opal claim the largest suites on the Rhine and Danube at 44 square metres. Its new 2016 Mekong ship Scenic Spirit will have a whopping 80-square-metre Royal Panorama suite, the world's largest on any river.

IN THE FRAME

When Uniworld launched SS Catherine last year, it was the company's largest ship but carried just 159 passengers. It features a heated swimming pool, hand-crafted beds, deluxe bathrooms and artworks that reflect the destination (southern France) in which it operates. Curated art and a sense of locality are big hotel trends at the moment.

NORDIC AND NICE

Viking's glass-enclosed Longship vessels feature sleek, minimalist Scandinavian design that provides airy, light-filled public areas. Decor in white and muted browns, and sophisticated evening lighting, create the feel of a boutique hotel.

THE NEXT FIVE HOTEL-INSPIRED CRUISE TRENDS

Hotels are constantly changing, following the moods of fashion and the ever-evolving whims of its customers. Here are some hotel trends we feel sure you'll be seeing a lot more of soon – and which are already making an appearance on cruise ships, too.

THE BIG CHILL

Hotels are no longer confining their wellness areas just to gyms or spas, but also supplying "de-stress spaces" in which to practice yoga and relax, as well as introducing healthy dining options in restaurants. Celebrity Century has private nutritional consults and on-board lectures and workshops on wellness.

ROOMS TO BREATH

Hotels are also moving the concept into guestrooms with the likes of energising lighting, special shower water and hypo-allergenic suites. The upmarket cruise ship, Crystal Symphony, already has 48 such suites with medical-grade air purifiers that promise a chemical and odour-free indoor environment. Cruise lines are sure to follow.

CHOSEN CALLING

You used to have to call reception or housekeeping to do just about anything in a hotel. Now the front desk check-in may become a thing of the past – think individual check-in consoles like at airports – and you'll increasingly be able to book hotel services and dining online.

HIGH SEAS, HIGH TECH

Technology interfaces will be available around public areas, and guestrooms will feature smart TVs. It's already happening on the high seas too: Norwegian Epic has 10,000 wireless access points on board, while Royal Caribbean's tech-laden Quantum of the Seas has online check-in and a smartphone app for booking shore excursions, spa treatments and restaurants. Incidentally, Quantum also has mesmerising robotic bartenders in its Bionic Bar.

GREEN OCEANS

Sustainability and eco-friendliness have been buzzwords for a while, but the trend will only keep growing. Cruise ships already have a big focus here with Norwegian having introduced energy-efficient scrubbing technology on its new ships to reduce sulphur emissions, while P&O's new Britannia is its greenest ship yet.

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