COVER STORY A decade of redefining cruise design Rebecca Gibson asks Javier Calle, Jorge Mesa and Yohandel Ruiz how Studio DADO’s innovative approach to creating emotionally resonant cruise ship interiors has transformed the guest experience Drawn together by a shared set of values and an aim of “genuinely reimagining” the cruise guest experience, interior designers Javier Calle, Jorge Mesa, Yohandel Ruiz and Greg Walton opened Studio DADO in Miami, Florida, on 3 November 2016. Supported by Walton’s Italian greyhound Enzo – who served as the firm’s unofficial mascot until his owner retired in January 2025 – the team began working in a modest South Beach apartment. “We had a few Ikea tables, some broken keyboards, old laptops and a plant a friend gave us as a good luck charm,” recalls Mesa. “Somehow we got the table assembled and made everything work. That first year was probably the most challenging, but also the most fun by far.” The team started developing its design approach by asking one simple question – what if? “We’re all world travellers and we knew what was out there, especially in the cruise industry,” says Calle. “We knew it could be so much better.” Studio DADO quickly established that the key to elevating the guest experience lay in designing immersive spaces people could connect with on a personal level. “When we design a ship, we rarely think of it as a ship,” explains Ruiz. “Our goal is to create spaces that compete on the same level as those in a high-quality, land-based resort or a starred restaurant in a first-tier city. To do that, we aim to cue an emotional response from the guests, so we start by asking how we want them to feel, how we can enrich their lives or how we can help them create a shared memory with someone they love. The design has 34 “ Our goal is to create spaces that compete on the same level as those in a high-quality, land-based resort” Yohandel Ruiz
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