The Ship Of The Future - an industry celebration

[ 97 ] ONBOARD fee, the cars of Pet Lounge users are parked in zones 7A and 7B, close to the yellow, Calais-end stairway. Signage and a giant dog’s footprint painted on the central casing show the shortest way to the Pet Lounge with an elevator from the Deck 7 car deck giving direct access to it. The booth setup keeps the dogs close to their ‘bosses’ with every single booth having charging plugs and dog leash hooks. There is also a zone with loose chairs arranged around tables that are not ‘just’ tables as one can actually place a dog bed between the capsule-shaped table legs. The easy-to-clean flooring is made of vinyl tiles that are meant to look like carpet. The Pet Lounge has its own outer deck with a dog exercise area, quite an improvement over the rather small fenced off equivalent on the outer decks of the Spirit-class. The dog’s outdoor toilet area, complete with stainless steel ‘wee poles’, has also a sink with fresh water and kennels for those passengers wishing to shop or eat in the Food Market. KIDS’ ENTERTAINMENT Integrated into the Pet Lounge are two large ‘family booths’ offering video gaming similar to the electronic games in the main children’s playroom. While dedicated kids’ zones were a non-thing on the Spirits and Darwins, the Fusion-class has no fewer than three playscapes, including that in the Pet Lounge. The main children’s playroom is located in the ship’s central hub, i.e. the Food Market on Deck 8. It has a ship-come-Dover-themed play zone with soft equipment made of durable and washable materials. A tunnel with an interactive floor game connects the play zone with the electronic games zone and cartoon TV corner. A third playscape has been integrated into the ‘family corner’ of The Kitchen on Deck 9. Last but not least, the Calais-bound portside section of the Food Market has a selfie wall and teen games zone with grabber machines. Adults, for their part, can try their luck on the slots in the Lounge Bar and Commercial Drivers’ Lounge . “ While dedicated kids zones were a non-thing on the Spirits and Darwins, the Fusion-class has no fewer than three playscapes, including the one in the Pet Lounge”

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