One of the major projects included in this ship is a large renovation of a pool area. This is the first time that I designed a pool which involved me learning many technical components and creating a space that is both engaging and fun. This was in particular a very challenging space to design mainly due to the time constraints. The pool project was initially started by a different company and the client wasn’t happy with their design and handed it over to my team and myself. The client wanted the concept for the pool area to be carribean which was a challenge to achieve without looking thematic and cheesey.
The ship is currently undergoing a major renovation and intending to become a 3 day weekend cruise in 2019. The reasoning behind doing a short weekend cruise is to attract a younger clientele that may not have the resources for a long 7 – 10 day cruise which an older clientele tends to use. Thus Royal Carribean is opening their doors to a bigger market. With that said, there are several spaces that have been modernized to provide that younger clientele with aesthetically modern and hip spaces.
2018 was a whirlwind of a year as there was a heavy load of work. One ship which there was much renovations was Royal Carribean’s Navigator of the Seas. Navigator of the Seas was a ship that I worked on in 2013. We did a considerable amount of work that time which included several restaurants, a main dining room and a lounge.
Another major project my team and myself did was a blow dry bar. Blo Dry bars are very popular in that they allow one to prepare their hair in the event they go out to some special event. My team and myself designed one with the concept of creating a space that felt like it was in an urban area like New York City. The design of exterior and interior draws inspiration from something you might see in Soho or the West Village. Recognizing that the ship is meant for a young clientele, our team felt that this would be a good seller. Royal Carribean was initially hesitant of having such a space in that it would compete with a beauty salon already in place. However the direct contact on this project worked on our behalf to really push the idea to the major players at Royal Carribean and now it will be a reality.
Lastly my team and myself worked on a seafood restaurant called ‘Hooked’. It is recreaying another firm’s design into one of our own. The firm, EoA who are also based in Miami did this design on Symphony of the Seas and the client asked us to do a version of it. It was shame because it would be replacing an already completed design of ours which is ‘Sabor’ a Mexican inspired restaurant. Although personally not too happy of design since not technically our own, the client still appreciated.
In the end, we pleased the client with our design proposals and we look forward to the end result. Construction begins in January 2019 and Navigator of the Seas will begin embarking on cruises in February of 2019 from Miami.
