It didn’t take long to realize that Carnival Cruise Line’s newest and largest ship, the Carnival Dream, represents a notable departure from the line’s other vessels.

Joe Farcus, Carnival’s chief interior architect, explained that the 130,000-ton, 3,646-passenger ship’s size gave the designers impetus to create more deck space for passengers.

"We know that the Carnival guest loves open-deck spacing," Farcus said. "It’s a law of physics that the bigger the ship gets by tonnage, the amount of open-deck space goes down."

The area on the Dream that most stood out was Ocean Plaza, a Deck 5 indoor/outdoor cafe and entertainment area that opens up to the Lanai, an open-deck promenade that encircles the Dream and juts out to offer sunny seating areas and hot tubs that cantilever over the ship’s sides.

"It’s a whole new dimension we don’t have on our other ships," Farcus said.

Roberta Jacoby, Carnival’s senior vice president for hotel operations, called Ocean Plaza "the hub and epicenter of the ship."

On the night of the ship’s inaugural ceremonies in New York, agents and Carnival VIPs swarmed around the indoor seating, set around a dance floor and stage where musicians perform.

There’s a coffee bar that also serves milkshakes, and a martini-and-mojito bar.

It is also home to the FunHub, where 12 computers offer free access to Carnival’s new onboard social network.

Ocean Plaza’s seating area continues outside, on the other side of a glass wall, where the Lanai begins.

Farcus said that having the Lanai accessible from both sides of Ocean Plaza was designed to make it easier for people to move from the port side of the ship to the starboard side.

It was rainy and cold on the night of the naming, so the outdoor seating was empty. But a few people were enjoying the hot tubs.

Farcus said that Carnival has never tried to fill the space on Carnival ships with gimmicky amenities that are not actually used by many passengers just, he said, to "create headlines."

"Space on a ship is so precious," Farcus said. "If you have one thing you can’t have another."

Another unique feature on the Dream is the Cove balcony cabins on Deck 2, which sit as close to the water level as any balcony cabin should. The balconies are more enclosed than regular ones, and Carnival described them as exceptional values.

Farcus said it took some crafty structural engineering to build balconies so close to the waterline.

"It adds a whole new dimension for people who choose balcony cabins," he said.