To design a vessel with residences onboard differs quite a bit from work on a cruise ship, summed up Nahal Kadora, Senior Designer at Tillberg Design of Sweden (TDoS).
“The initial approach is similar, with some of the same facilities onboard, but the operational aspect is somewhat different,” she explained. On a cruise, people spend a limited amount of time onboard, mostly about a week or two. On a residential cruise vessel, such as the projected Narrative of Storylines that TDoS has been involved with, the time can be a lot longer.
The ship and its facilities, including the residences themselves, need to accommodate the fact that people using them are more active on some days wile on others, they want a more relaxed pace, quite as they would do at a land based home.
Perhaps the most striking difference between a cruise cabin and accommodation on a residential cruise ship is the Residential Lounge with a kitchen that forms part of the private quarters on the last-named ship type. “You can enjoy a home cooked meal together with friends,” Kadora said.
“People can also invite friends and family for a stay onboard,” she continued, adding that the residents themselves would be part of a community of people who live onboard. As modern technology allows it, many people will probably also work for part of the time they spend on a residential cruise ship, so it is not just a pure leisure pad," Kadora pointed out.
A residential cruise ship will also need to provide a range of facilities for people to keep fit – Narrative is projected to feature not just gym, spa and fitness facilities, but also a marina that can be used when the vessel is e.g. at anchor offshore. Again, as the residents are expect to have varied preferences and lifestyles, the vessel has to cater for a broad range of tastes and interests. This also goes for the entertainment onboard: a range of public rooms that can be used for this purpose will also be provided.
Concern for the environment is a matter that many people share these days and Narrative is planned to feature a 5,400sq ft kitchen garden, where e.g. vegetables are planned to be grown – pesticide free. As Kadora pointed out, interest in locally produced food is also a major trend all over the world these days and Storylines plans to be the first passenger shipping company to start producing food onboard.
You can read more about Narrative and a number of other residential cruise ship projects in the next issue of CruiseBusiness.com magazine, which has been just published.
