The Luxury Cruises Making Waves

It’s hard to believe, but architects once lionised the modern cruise liner. “Our daring and masterly constructors of steamships produce palaces in comparison with which cathedrals are tiny things, and they throw them onto  the sea!” So wrote the great architect and polemicist Le Corbusier in his epoch-defining tract Towards a New Architecture (first published in the UK in 1927). Corbusier was obsessed with the functionalist elegance of the ocean liner, as he was with the automobile and the aeroplane, and generations of his disciples have often shaped buildings that appear akin to giant, ground-scraping liners.    

Somewhere in the past century, however, the liner lost its lustre. Vessels that were once streamlined for a mix of style and speed were overtaken by craft built solely for idle leisure. As a result, shipshape simplicity and artistic integrity went the way of the themed mall, with crushing scale more important than creative input. Consider a vessel like the ill-fated SS Andrea Doria, which plied the Atlantic for just three years from 1953 before sinking in a tragic collision. The ship’s creative director was the Italian architect Giulio Minoletti, who played a huge role in master-planning modern-day Milan; other design luminaries included no less than Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti. The ship was laden with bespoke mid-century treasures, including sculpted ceramic tiles by Romano Rui and Guido Gambone.  

Just like the earlier SS Normandie — with its Art Deco interiors by Pierre Patout – and the later QE2, where Dennis Lennon brought a swinging, space-age touch of late 60s Britain to the modern interiors, these ships reflected the highest aesthetic ideals of their era, with particular emphasis on the arts, crafts and spirit of their parent countries. The QE2, the last of these three floating gesamtkunstwerks (total works of art), launched into an era of uncertainty for the traditional liner operators. By the late 1950s, over half those making the Atlantic crossing chose to do it by plane; on  4 October 1958, the de Havilland Comet 4 inaugurated the first jet-powered transatlantic route between London and New York. 

All was not lost for travellers on the high seas. For those happy to eschew creature comforts, the big ships became a more cost-effective option than a pricey airline ticket, while lovers of luxury could still find grace and refinement in the upper decks, complete with sumptuous cabins, ballroom dancing and dressing for dinner. Nevertheless, some of the ineffable glamour of the inter-war period had all but disappeared.  

The modern cruising industry was created over time and through countless small innovations, but credit must go to Knut Kloster and Ted Arison’s Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), founded in 1966 to operate long-distance car ferries. Soon, NCL was ordering ships with no car-carrying facilities, instead filling the space with theatres and casinos. It was no longer about the destination but the journey. In 1979, the company made its big move, acquiring the legendary SS France (SS Normandie’s successor), spending an incredible $100 million on converting it into a playground at sea. 

The SS Norway, as she became, was on a scale hitherto unseen in the cruising industry. The culture swiftly escalated. A modern mass-market cruise liner is an amusement park, hotel, mall, theatre and beach club all in one – a hulking superstructure blistered with leisure-themed embellishments that would have horrified Le Corbusier. At the same time, just as cruising gathered pace, the superyacht industry was at the height of its gin palace era, with designers overdosing on overcooked interiors that strayed far from shipshape nautical trim and Art Deco elegance. The new breed of cruise behemoths followed suit.  

Now, the traffic is going the other way. Superyacht designers are being asked to turn their attention to the cruise liner. Consider NCL’s Aqua and Prima, and their sister ship, the recently launched Luna. Both feature the Haven, an eight-deck sanctuary at the rear of the vessel, designed by Italian architect Piero Lissoni and his team. The designer has translated the refined, crafted teak and polished chrome aesthetic of the classic superyacht into a much larger environment – scaling up the space while preserving the quality and atmosphere.  

The Haven can only be accessed via key card and is emphatically distinct from the rest of the ship. Comprising 107 suites – 10  of which have balconies with hot tubs – along with a restaurant, lounge, bar and sundeck with infinity pool, the Haven is exactly that,  an unshowy and authentically warm and welcoming modern retreat. The space is explicit about its “Art Deco inspirations and references to French decorative styles,” with carefully coordinated custom furniture, sage green walls, a veritable jungle of pot plants, and even a small library area – though this is not nearly as lavish as the libraries aboard Cunard’s ships. According to Lissoni’s office, “The Haven is a custom-designed refuge that puts the human dimension and the experience of the voyage at the very centre.” It signals the shift of the volume market towards upmarket offerings and reflects the increased desire for discretion and class.  

Established companies like Tillberg Design of Sweden (TDoS) are revisiting their roots. In TDoS’s case, its USP is a Scandinavian design ethos. Since its establishment in 1964, when the firm oversaw the interiors of the Swedish American Line’s MS Kungsholm – then a hybrid ocean liner and cruise ship – the Tillberg studio in the harbour town of Höganäs has straddled the worlds of compact luxury cruisers and Bahamas behemoths. Recent work includes the 177,882 GT, 4,300-passenger Sun Princess, and at the other end of the scale, the new Four Seasons 1, designed in collaboration with noted interior specialist Martin Brudnizki. Launched this March, Four Seasons 1 has fewer than 100 suites and an equal ratio of staff to passengers. At 34,000 GT, it’s a minnow compared to the giants, and points to the future of luxury cruising. 

That hasn’t stopped the big tourist lines from trying to raise their game without scaling down. The interiors of the suites, lounges and restaurants aboard TUI Cruises’ new Mein Schiff Flow and Mein Schiff Relax are a case in point. The German studio JOI-Design is responsible for the aesthetic, the firm’s first venture into large-scale cruise ships. Launched last April, the 4,000-passenger ships follow a familiar spatial demarcation, with the most exclusive suites having access to their own private venues.  

According to JOI, “the poetic vision was to create an idyllic seaside atmosphere inspired by the beautiful shapes found in nature and the ship’s name and core philosophy, ‘relax.’” This rather literal approach to colours and forms is nevertheless calming, classic and distinctly less OTT than many contemporary designs. Culminating in two 88-square-metre Grand Freedom Suites, this section of the vessel also offers the private X-Coast restaurant, X-Lounge and X-View areas, complete with Michelin-starred dining and a clear separation from the rest of the ship. Barbara Wiethoff of JOI-Design explains, “We designed the interiors of Mein Schiff Relax  as a harmonious blend of sophistication, functionality and natural inspiration, guided by an overarching philosophy of relaxation and simplicity.”  

This worlds-within-worlds approach is also in evidence in Patricia Urquiola’s work for Explora Journeys. Already experienced with ocean-going design – thanks to her studio’s Eden venue aboard the Celebrity Edge, designed in collaboration with Wilson Butler Architects – Urquiola dialled up the luxury and intimacy for Explora III’s Owner’s Residence Suite. Due to launch this summer, the LNG-powered ship is modest in scale (70,000 GT), but the palatial accommodation is anything but. Featuring separate living, dining and sleeping areas, a dedicated butler, Technogym fitness equipment, a Whirlpool-equipped balcony and contemporary furnishings by Moroso and Cassina, the Owner’s Residence is a bold reboot of the ostentation of bygone years.   

Cynics might wonder what the point is of having a boutique-style haven with a tacked-on Travelodge that’s barely ever as out of sight and mind as you might like, especially when you consider the substantial cost differences. That’s why the last word must go to Maxime d’Angeac, the French designer tasked with bringing the elegant ethos of early 20th-century travel to the high seas, courtesy of Orient Express. The storied company is readying two yachts for delivery this year, both built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire. As artistic director of the Orient Express, currently readying its revival as part of the Accor Group, d’Angeac has already revealed the train’s lavish interior. That same attention to detail – and historical awareness – is being channelled into the company’s ocean-going venture. 

“Our primary source of information was,  of course, the Orient Express itself, and the brand’s DNA, its heritage and the legend it has spawned were the starting point to learn everything there is to know about the Orient Express, and then to forget it all,” d’Angeac explains. “This was followed by years of research into that magical era – the early  20th century – which was aesthetically rich across all artistic fields. A reinvention devoid of any nostalgia.” 

Charged with designing and building “the most beautiful sailing yacht in the world,” d’Angeac and his team have delved into a traditional materials palette. “We have recertified a large number of materials so that they can be used again in shipbuilding, including types of varnish, wood thickness, dimensions of natural marble, types of foam and other materials that were no longer in use or IMO-certified,” the designer says. Maritime design requires many considerations, from fire safety and escape routes through to watertight surfaces and the banishment of  any vibrations or extraneous sounds. There’s another aspect of building to the exacting schedule of shipyards and passenger bookings. “Deadlines are non-negotiable,”  he notes.  

Ultimately, when the first passengers  take to the waves in one of the Orient Express Corinthian’s 54 unique suites (the inaugural season began in May), they will experience what d’Angeac calls “French craftsmanship  of the highest calibre.” “[The ship will be] an embodiment of the French art de vivre, impeccable comfort, a wealth of industrial innovations, the promotion of French talent across all these fields, and a connection to our history and heritage,” he concludes. The passengers of the great liners of the past would doubtless agree.