Cruise & Ferry Interiors 2021

1 5 KEYNOTE but we don’t yet know what catering equipment we’ll need or where we will place lights and speakers. Our design teams and contractors work through the design and specification ready to present it to the family for sign-off before handing it over to the shipyard for planning, purchasing and build.” Sometimes late changes are prompted by unforeseen factors outside of MSC Cruises’ control, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which required the brand to update MSC Virtuosa’s air conditioning system to incorporate special filters. “This type of change falls outside the contract because we didn’t know about it seven years ago and so we have to pay extra for it,” says Young. “However, there are mechanisms in the contract for such amendments and modifications.” Fickle fashion creates a challenge too. “You just don’t know what may be in or out, even with six months to go before launch,” notes Young. “If we decide at the last minute that we really must have the latest thing but the shipyard has already built all of the furniture, we might put a price to the cost of ripping out what we have, and maybe reuse it on another ship. Perhaps more likely, we’ll bring our own contractors in at a later date. But the options are always calculated to measure the cost, risk and return on investment.” With two new classes of ship in the pipeline – the World and Luxury classes (the latter for MSC Cruises’ new cruise brand), Young and the team are under constant pressure to deliver. “We’re challenged every day working on the World-class ships – they’re all very similar with seven fire zones, seven vertical structures, 23 decks, 2,633 cabins and 205,700gt,” he says. “Once this framework was set, we moved on to the placement of the lifts, staircases, emergency escapes and other core components. Then we started building up the public decks, looking at anchors such as the location of the main restaurant and atrium. This is when the fun really begins as the ramifications of positioning decisions are far reaching. “Quite often we work on the general arrangement with one of our design firms, like De Jorio Design International, and we can still be tweaking the layout for later ships in the same class because we want to make a room bigger, or we’ve found a way to improve crew access. Each change prompts a million questions that need to be answered.” The first World-class ship is progressing well. “We’ve just finished the standard analysis where we’ve been through every room with the shipyard and we’re working with the shipyard and subcontractors to make final changes before confirming the design and materials specification,” says Young. “All of our designers are working in close partnership – they know how we operate, have an intimate knowledge of our brand and are acutely aware of any budget limitations. When we’re working through the general arrangement, they may request more space or height but they are all conscious of the knock-on effect to other areas of the ship. Then it’s just about aligning with the shipyard and working closely with the operational departments to optimise space utilisation.” Some innovations do create a greater challenge. “Implementing LNG engines on the latest Meraviglia-class ships was a big challenge,” admits Young. “The fuel tanks are bigger and in a different location so we had to make a lot of changes. They mostly impacted the lower cabin decks and back-of-house areas so won’t be particularly visible to passengers, although some rooms are a slightly different shape because we had to accommodate machinery changes. The end result will be a better ship because when we’re really challenged, we have to come up with even better solutions.” It would be much easier to build the same ship again and again but that’s not the MSC Cruises way. “We’re committed to excellence, forever challenging ourselves to build better and more sustainable ships,” Young concludes. CFI MSC Virtuosa became the first cruise ship to set sail from the UK in 2021