PASSENGER CABINS ON CRUISE SHIPS: MODULARITY DESIGN AND COMFORT

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ISBN 978-88-940557-1-9 823

18

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_{International Conference on Ships and Shipping Research 2015,}

June 24

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_{– 26}

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_{, Lecco, Italy}

M. Altosole and A. Francescutto (Editors)

PASSENGER CABINS ON CRUISE SHIPS: MODULARITY, DESIGN AND

COMFORT

Maria Carola MOROZZO DELLA ROCCA

University of Genoa, Polytechnic School, Department of Science for Architecture, Genoa, Italy,

carolamorozzo@arch.unige.it

ABSTRACT

In the cruise ship world cabins are the only private areas on the ship, the only place where individuals, couples or families can hope for some sort of domestic privacy. Therefore, market economies and logics, make it imperative that any wishes for privacy on the part of “typical cruise passengers” should be limited to a bare minimum. Architects and industry professionals must succeed in shifting the life of the passengers towards the numerous public spaces and the infinite onboard entertainment opportunities, striving to ensure that passengers use their cabins exclusively as a place to rest, change clothes and refresh themselves in the feverish interval between one activity and another.

Passenger cabins are conceptually much more similar to hotel bedrooms than to homes.

Nevertheless, at the same time in apparent contrast with the above considerations are the first part of the package to be bought.

As a rule, cruise once they have selected the destination of their voyage go on to select a cabin from the various available options. Within the overall environment on board, cabins are universally recognized as the “bricks of the ship”. Each “brick of the ship” is a kind of prefabricated container that is fitted out separately and only subsequently placed inside the hull under construction. The size of the cabins defines the composition and structure of the ship. Cabins, in fact, are a modular and repetitive element, divided into various categories or respective types, except in certain particular situations that can be classed as exceptions that confirm the rule.

This paper aims to investigate the evolution of design, distribution and accessories in passenger cabin and also the latest design trends of pax relating them with the technical requirements of modularity and standardization of the typical design of large cruise ships.

1. INTRODUCTION: SCENARIO OF REFERENCE

The general rules of a cruise ship project are now an established fact, urban planning and distribution of general plans have reached a level of optimization that have not allowed sensitive innovations and development of the design of new units to happen over the years. However, analyzing the ships launched in the last decade, there have been found some innovations related primarily to two factors: one, the growth in size of ships and the number of passengers on board and two, an increasing openness to multiple categories of users. In the first case, for example, the comparison between the Costa Favolosa (2010) and Costa Diadema (2014), launched just four years later, shows how "all the numbers" of the ship are growing. Diadema is 16 meters longer, about 2 meters wider, and 17 meters higher; it can accommodate 1000 passengers more, and an increase of about 200 crew members more, compared to Favolosa . In the second case, however, it should be noted that the cruise traditionally understood for the "wealthy couple of middle-aged" no longer exists; the different shipping companies are adopting the slogan of "cruise for all" seeking to satisfy a much broader rise of utilities starting by young people, through the family, until the elderly and pensioners.

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In the case of private areas this resulted in some minor changes which nonetheless reflect a well-established distribution, introducing some planning innovations useful to satisfy guests that are very different. Among these is important to mention, as we shall see in the following pages, the increasing offer of different types of cabins starting from the concept of standard units up to suites and penthouses, as well as useful solutions for families with children. Therefore, if historically different private environments depended on a social-hierarchical division of classes that in the transition from the liner to the cruise ship has been progressively diminishing, today, precisely because of the increase of passengers onboard this "social" subdivision is returning with the aim of satisfying those categories of consumers who aspire to better-off one luxury cruise. Alongside the most prestigious cabins, amenities and prices that are not accessible to all, in the newer units also appear "exclusive club" for "privileged few" who actually reintroduce that ancient social hierarchy typical of the liners.

2. PRIVATE ROOMS ON BOARD SHIPS OF THE XXI CENTURY

The cabin or the “brick of the ship” is a kind of prefabricated container that is fitted out separately and only subsequently placed inside the hull under construction.

The analogy between passenger cabins and freight containers is not casual but is the result of the similar dimensions that identify both parallelepipeds, of the methods of preparation, construction and installation on board of the passenger cabins.

In the past, cabins were built “piece by piece” and “one after another” directly inside the ship under construction, and this took a considerable amount of time, energy and labor. Currently instead, prefabrication is a common use. It is a policy which, besides involving large parts of the hull and of the ship as a whole, has found its ideal application in the production of well-defined and repetitive elements such as the private areas for passengers and the crew.

The latest trend is for cabins to be built off site according to the logic of isolated or independent objects, but which are fully compatible with the structure of which they are to be a part of.

Cabins could be partially or full prefabricated. The partially prefabricated, usually called Kit, are made by single prefabricated elements assembled on site and on board, while the full prefabricated cabins, are transported in pieces to the shipyard, assembled on the ground in an area close to the ship under construction and, only when they are completed, are hoisted and positioned in the hull.

The prefabricated container is introduced into the ship from the outside, while the decks are still open, deck after deck, using the sides of the hull before the plating is added, using special cranes. The cabins are placed side by side, anchored to the deck and the internal engineering plant –supplies and/or drains– is connected to the ship's engineering plant systems.

This way of operating permits considerable optimization of costs and time when building new ships and, when refitting at a later date, reasonably simple maintenance, replacement and refurbishment of units that are by then obsolete or outdated. However, the use of fully prefabricated cabins does not exclude the kit option, the two types are often alternated or used side by side on the same ship.

Lastly, the possibility of using prefabricated elements can be taken to further lengths with regard to single passenger cabin modules since it is now a common practice to use pre-formed bathroom units that, by now are fitted into cabin containers which, when completed, are fitted inside the hull by an interlocking system that is anything but simple, somewhat similar to the well-known Russian “toy”, matryoshkas.

Going on to the design aspects connected with prefabrication, it must be stressed that, broadly speaking, there will be more than one type of kit or prefabricated cabin for each cruise ship. That is, there are no “standard ready-made cabins” on the market, sold and installed independently on any ship but, on the contrary, a prefabrication system that is gauged and adapted to the ship based on the “architectural” design of the cruise ship itself and to the combined wishes of the ship owners and of the shipyard.

Therefore, if passenger cabins are conceived as containers their dimensions generally vary from 2.6 to 3 meters in width and 6 to 7 meters in length. Inevitably cabins become long and narrow rectangles, limited with regard to layout and with floor plans developed in depth towards the “belly” of the ship with the short side parallel to the keel line. This position is more or less made obligatory by the need to maximize the number of cabins facing onto the ship’s sides

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while still complying with the regulations on minimum sizes. Cabins are accessed from a passageway inside the ship. Once inside the door there is a small entrance leading to the bathroom; beyond the entrance is the actual living and sleeping area furnished with transversal beds placed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship, plus a sofa or arm chairs, a coffee table and various other amenities.

Figure 1. Construction and assembly of prefabricated cabins.

The width of the cabin is strictly related to the length of the bed: in fact, a width of 2.6 meters is the minimum required to accommodate a single or double mattress 2 meters long and at the same time guarantee sufficient space to walk past it. There are specific circumstances, due to the position of the cabin within the ship, in which the prevalently rectangular shape of the “container” must be turned into a square shape, thus determining a new type of basic brick. This change in the module depends both on the position on the deck and on the method of grouping modules; in any case the dimensions always remain relatable to each other.

The manner in which cabins are grouped together depends to a great extent upon the area of the ship in which they are placed. Summing up, there are three distinctive areas of the hull: stern, bow and main body. In these three areas the way in which they are assembled can be considered to be serial and repetitive.

As a rule, the main body of the ship is divided into three bays running lengthwise served by two passageways parallel to the keel line. These bays feature fairly simple cabin composition schemes; in most cases rectangular cabins are lined long side to long side, repeated from stern to bow.

The bays are arranged in two matching lateral rows, equal to the depth of the standard cabins, respectively facing onto the exterior to the port or starboard of the hull, and a central row with variable depth, usually greater than the lateral rows, and housing the vertical connections (stair and lift wells) alternating with inside cabins and/or technical service facilities.

In these three cases, we can talk about linear, double linear and block cabin composition schemes.

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rows may feature other more complex compositions which prevalently depend upon the width of the hull and therefore on the useful width of the internal bay, on the number of passengers and on the shipping company’s standards. If the width of the row permits, there may be a double linear composition of cabins similar in type to the external rows. In this case, private areas will be alternated or separated from one another along the keel line by technical facilities. Alternatively the composition may be in blocks which, however, require a variation in the layout and/or size of the inside cabins as compared to the outside ones.

Lastly, a particular case, regarding large ships with a central public gallery and with views both towards the exterior and towards the interior of the hull, an isolated instance in which the central row is totally absent and the inside cabins, normally windowless, on the contrary have windows and small balconies overlooking the gallery.

The bow and stern areas represent repetitive variations with respect to the standard modularity: here the shape of the ship changes and consequently the layout of the private areas and their composition/succession patterns must also be changed and adapted. In these areas, optimization of space decreases and the topmost decks accommodate larger cabins than the average ones, which are characterized by more open plans and the composition schemes which vary from one shipping company to another.

The various types of private space essentially depend upon three aspects: the size, the position and the finish; aspects which, very often, coexist and contribute side by side to the definition of the cabin.

From the point of view of size, passenger cabins are divided into small, medium or standard, large or suites and lastly, following the most recent trends, may even become mini-apartments or apartments.

Figure 2. Layout schemes, furniture of balcony and window cabins.

Small passenger cabins vary in size from 10 to 15 square meters, standard ones with window or balcony from 16 to 20 square meters, on the other hand luxury cabins -junior suites or suites– go from 21 to 30 square meters, and to get in the newer ships to 40-50 square meters. Added to

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these are the cabins dedicated to guests with disabilities whose design, independent of the size of the cabins, meets the needs of this category of users.

However, if we consider the extreme limits too, there are shipping companies that bent on maximizing the available space, succeeding in obtaining mini cabins measuring only 9 square meters and there are large ships with luxury mini-apartments far larger than normal suites.

Figure 3. Layout schemes and furniture of suite cabins.

As an example, ships built by Fincantieri in the last ten years for the Costa Crociere shipping company (from Costa Magica launched in 2003 to Costa Diadema launched in 2014) include at least 4 large families of cabins: inside cabins measuring 15 square meters, outside window cabins measuring 17 square meters, outside balcony cabins measuring 17 square meters, and lastly suites (usually with balcony) measuring 28 square meters; while Princess Cruises offers, besides standard cabins, suites measuring almost 55 square meters, and finally among the possibilities offered by Crystal Cruises there is at least one penthouse with a veranda measuring over 100 square meters.

In the face of such well-established and designed environments for private life on board, the recent trend to launch increasingly bigger units in length as much as in width means that the minimum size of the different types of cabins on board ships in the most recent years have slightly increased. The simple comparison between the MSC Musica (2006) and MSC Preziosa (2013) shows that in the realization of the Preziosa the same types of cabins, also present on board the Musica, can have an increase in surface area ranging from 3 to 10 square meters equal to up 30% of the surface itself.

When, on the other hand, it is the position that defines the type of cabin, there are substantially three possible cases, excluding exceptions, that can be found: inside cabins, outside cabins with windows and outside cabins with balconies or verandas.

Inside cabins are generally located along the central row of the main body or in the bow or stern block compositions; their size is generally small, not very privileged, often used as “bait” by ship owners who, by sponsoring them with low prices, hope that after an initial contact with

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customers, they will succeed in selling them more attractive and obviously more costly cabins. Inside cabins, in short, do not arouse much interest… the current trend is undeniably for cabins overlooking the sea, if possible with a balcony or at least a large window. Composition aspects that, in addition to modifying the layout of internal areas, have repercussions on the exterior styling of the hull. Outside cabins, in fact, determine the movement of private areas towards the upper decks, while public areas are moved down to the level of the embarkation decks.

The private areas discussed this far refer almost exclusively to cabins which, due to their position or size, are designed solely for couples (husband and wife, girlfriend and boyfriend or two friends), therefore with the limit of two single beds that can be joined to form a double bed and, if necessary, increased up to four beds. Three and four-bedded cabins in reality do not differ from standard passenger cabins: in fact the extra beds are provided either by pulling down one or two bunk beds at the request of the passengers or, where possible, adding a traditional bed. These can be inserted into the same room conceived for a couple without the need for any special planning to solving inconsistencies and without creating any problems on using the space. Normally, a certain number of cabins have doors intercommunicating with the neighboring cabin. This solution (which in the case of ships MSC takes the name of Cab Super Family) makes it possible to comfortably accommodate a family of four, leaving sufficient space for freedom and the added bonus of having two bathrooms.

The trend of the contemporary design, on the other hand, is increasingly towards environments specially designed for families, sorts of mini-apartments, with more space and including two bathrooms, a number of beds higher than two and, above all, properly separated sleeping and living areas to guarantee the privacy required even within a family or the most well-established groups of friends. A trend recognizable in the ships of the American company for luxury cruises Crystal, is that on board the Crystal Serenity (both in the original version and in the refitting version of 2013) provides no less than 5 categories of cabin up to mini and medium apartments: the deluxe 21.5 square meters cabin with window, the deluxe 25.5 square meters cabin with veranda, the 38 square meters penthouse with veranda, the 51 square meters penthouse with veranda and, last but not least, the 127 square meters crystal penthouse with veranda.

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Penthouses, in particular, are in no way inferior to domestic apartments: the living and sleeping areas are separate and easily distinguished, the toilet facilities increase from one to two and become luxury bathrooms, often there is also a living-dining area with a classic round table and chairs, complementary to the traditional sitting room with sofas, armchairs and a coffee table; lastly the fixed furnishings turn into convenient walk-in closets with dressing rooms and some even have small service kitchens.

Finally, the third aspect for the classification of private areas into categories is the kind of finish, furnishings and amenities provided in the cabin. In this case too, the level of finish, the internal layout of the cabin and the amenities provided depend on the size category and, to some extent, whether it is an inside or outside cabin: when the surface area increases and standard cabins become suites or apartments, the finishes change too and become more luxurious and the amenities provided increase as well.

Figure 5. Cabin on Costa Favolosa ship.

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Figure 7. Balcony Cabin on MSC Preziosa ship.

Figure 8. MSC Yacht Club Deluxe Suite (for guests with disabilities and reduced mobility) on MSC Preziosa ship.

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The only real innovation of the last decade is the attempt to create exclusive private areas on board. The gradual increase in passenger numbers and categories of users has prompted ship companies and ship owners to fold to the old concept of typical class division of the twentieth century liners.

The concept, which is processed according to the fashions of the XXI century, involves and integrates these areas in spas or creates private clubs with restricted access. Reality that in fact, in a less obvious but with a result quite similar, reproduce a social separation as much as the old divisions into three classes.

Costa, for example, invented the cabins of well-being, within the prestigious Samsara Spa, located on the upper decks of the bow. For the first time on the ship Costa Concordia (2006), it was introduced a limited number of cabins equipped with amenities and superior to the rest of the ship, creating in effect a mini club. MSC, however, introduces onboard the MSC Fantasia (2008) VIP area named Yacht Club that can safely live its own life. The cabins allocated in the Yacht Club, which is also located in a privileged position in the bow on the upper decks, have nothing to envy, for equipment and finishes, to a luxury yacht and benefits offered to the guests even far outweigh the best cabins of the rest of the ship. It is a true VIP residential neighborhood, where guests can safely isolate themselves from the rest of the cruise, enjoy an exclusive treatment including butler and occasionally enjoy an independent lido separated from the common sun deck.

Figure 9. MSC Yacht Club Deluxe Suite on MSC Preziosa ship. 3. CONCLUSIONS

In summary, as shown in the present paper, the innovation of private spaces for the cruise ships takes place in a slow and gradual way following the urban distribution of the cruise ship type. The changes come, from one side, by the need to satisfy a wider and diversified audience and, from the other, by the desire to adapt to the fast social changes and to the habits of contemporary life.

Ship owners, then, try to create "families" of cabins that can satisfy very different lifestyles and needs.

This is the only way to ensure the opportunity to find the most comfortable private area or cabin in accordance to all user’s wishes inside the overall offer of the same cruise ship.

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REFERENCES

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Catalogs and magazines

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