1 1 8 heritage. “We were incredibly proud to create this ship, especially since we were trusted to design something with such innate Italian-ness,” says Seidenfaden. “As visitors to the country, we see everything through different eyes than residents. When you grow up somewhere, you get used to your surroundings, and perhaps don’t appreciate them as much as others. This appreciation is what we brought to this project.” Among the spaces that the team designed was Piazza Trastevere – an onboard hub of activity with bars and restaurants facing onto it – which features an interpretation of Rome’s Pantheon. “We didn’t have a lot of space, so we had to work with several layers to create a modern interpretation,” says Hogestraat. “We did a lot of research with historical items, buildings and other design features from across Italy, and we created something wonderful.” Costa Smeralda is one of many ships that Partner Ship Design has created for Carnival Corporation, which owns several cruise lines, including Costa Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises and P&O Cruises. Despite the fact that the most recent ships for all these brands are built using the same basic platform, Partner Ship Design works hard to ensure that the interiors reflect the different brand identities and customer expectations. “Carnival’s Mardi Gras is all about fun,” says Hogestraat. “Roller coasters and other high-octane activities are much more popular here, so we have to implement them into the design.” Contrastingly, Iona from UK-based P&O Cruises features the SkyDome – a top-deck glass structure that acts as the hub for onboard entertainment and The two-deck SkyDome on P&O Cruises’ Iona was designed to give passengers uninterrupted views, while evoking the feeling of an English park in summer “ We have designed most of our newbuilds from scratch” INTERV IEW
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