7 5 venues on Carnival Sunrise will be very exciting for our guests.” Successfully transforming Carnival Triumph into Carnival Sunrise was a lengthy and complex process. “Our team had been planning this complicated conversion for several years, working closely with architects, engineers and our internal departments to understand their operational needs,” says McCabe. “Bringing this project to life took a complete team effort, with numerous Carnival departments collaborating together to ensure that everything was completed on time and on budget and, most importantly, that guests would enjoy their cruise experience once onboard.” Carnival also joined forces with multiple third-party designers, outfitters and suppliers to complete the project. “To support the incredible efforts of the ship’s crew, we partnered with more than 3,000 subcontractors who helped us with all facets of the project and make Carnival Sunrise a success,” comments McCabe. While Carnival wanted to update the ship’s décor and venues, its team was wary of following current interior design trends too closely. “We’re not designing boutique spaces that can easily be changed and updated at short intervals, so we can’t follow current design trends – and nor do we want to because this would mean we’d never be leading innovation in the cruise industry,” explains Petu Kummala, Carnival’s senior director of Interior Design and Architecture. “While we do closely monitor what’s going on in the hospitality industry and listen attentively to our guests, we must develop innovative concepts and features that will stand the test of time and exceed guests’ expectations for years to come.” Setting new standards is exactly what the Carnival team aims to do with its first 180,000gt XL-class ship, Mardi Gras, when she debuts in 2020. A first experience of cruise ship design When Carnival Cruise Line asked UKbased transportation design consultancy DCA Design International (DCA) to design guest cabins on Mardi Gras, the firm boarded an existing ship to gain firsthand experience of cabin life, interview passengers and shadow staff. After testing initial design ideas with research participants, DCA returned ashore to develop room layouts, reviewing them using virtual reality. Finally, DCA delivered 2D layout and cross section drawings for four cabin categories – and renderings depicting the colour, material and finish proposals – for Carnival’s in-house team, consultants and suppliers to develop and implement. “DCA used a guest-centric approach gleaned from observations of how our guests use their space, in conjunction with its vast experience of product design, to make the rooms comfortable and functional,” says Ben Clement, senior vice president of Newbuilds at Carnival. Carnival Sunrise’s outdoor cinema will be a big hit with passengers
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