I have recently returned from hosting a group of clients aboard one of the top-rated cruise ships in the world: Silversea's Silver Ray, sister of the new-generation Silver Nova.
One of our port calls, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, was canceled due to high waves and a tender ride that might have been too rough. But we enjoyed three ports and some luxurious time at sea in salons, and sipping on comfortable beverages in a living room setting. It really was rather easy to relax.
What struck me about this cruise was the almost immediate impact this ship had on our group. It was the first time that a ship's design was the primary topic of conversation on our first evening.
One of our clients is a well-known architect, and he was interested in whether the naval architect for the vessel had worked on more standard ship designs.
Standard, the Ray is not. It is the first asymmetrical ship I have ever sailed.
Mark my words, there will be more.
The ship is deliberately off-center. I walked around the main decks with our architect friend and kept hearing "wows." The ship breaks with what has long been considered normal cruise-ship symmetry. Its major architectural features are deliberately not located midship.
The pool deck, for example, features a pool on the starboard side of the ship, allowing for dramatic sea views. The elevators are glass-walled and placed on the outer starboard side of the vessel, so there are full ocean views each time a guest goes for a ride.
The unique modern design meant that restaurants and bars were often half-hidden off to the side, where you might not expect to find them.
Unlike traditional cruise ships, which typically have cabins forward and public spaces aft, the Ray uses a horizontal layout, with suites spanning four decks and public spaces on the upper decks featuring higher ceilings and glass wherever you turn.
We all felt that the ship had more light than we had ever experienced at sea.
There were so many onboard discussions within our group about the ship's design that it brought me back, for a few moments, to another time and place in my life.
I was working in sales at Princess Cruises. We were having a sales meeting on Maui, where the Hyatt Regency had recently opened; we were staying down the road.
Our company president said he wanted to try the sushi restaurant in the Hyatt Regency and asked me to join him for dinner. He told me he thought that I might be the only person on staff who actually enjoyed dining on raw fish.
It was a nice dinner, but he was clearly distracted from the moment we entered the hotel. He left the table once or twice to look around. As we were leaving, he wanted to stop at the manager's office.
The manager wasn't there that evening, but an assistant manager was.
"Who was the architect of this property, and particularly your atrium lobby?" our company president asked.
About a year later, Princess Cruises announced it was designing the first cruise ship with a large, multistory atrium. It was a dramatic, light-filled space inspired by grand hotels. The architect was Renzo Piano, the famed Italian architect. He had never designed a ship's interior before. The Royal Princess was launched in 1984, to great acclaim.
That soaring atrium lobby, the one our president, Joe Watters, envisioned when he first entered the Hyatt Regency on Maui, became the design DNA for Princess Cruises and influenced the entire modern cruise industry.
I contributed absolutely nothing to that historic event. But the sushi was quite good.