Overview
To sail the seas, or to peer under the sea? For those keen to explore the ocean, that has long been the question. If you're on a boat cruising along the surface, you can't really get up close and personal with the world swimming below — until now.
French cruise line Ponant have announced the "Blue Eye", the world's first underwater cruise ship lounge, which will be part of its new fleet of ships. In total, four vessels will boast multi-sensory spaces that allow guests to view the wonders of the deep. The first, Le Laperouse, is due to make its maiden journey in mid-2018.
In an effort that pays tribute to great French ocean obsessives such as Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau, the unique rooms were designed by architect Jacques Rougerie, who aimed "to enable PONANT guests to perceive and feel the underwater universe that has never ceased to amaze and inspire him." The end result features furniture, fittings and windows intended to evoke the shapes of cetaceans (aka whales and dolphins) and jellyfish, integrated screens that project images filmed live outside by three underwater cameras, and a sound experience that vibrates through the onboard sofas in unison with the sea.
Basically, you'll peer through whale eye-esque portals and sit in chairs that ebb and flow like the water, all while you're headed to destinations such as Iceland, the Mediterranean, the Maldives and Asia. If you're going to fork out for a cruise, that's the way to do it, although trips start from AU$3,3400 for a seven-night stint in the North Sea.
Via Travel and Leisure. Image: Ponant.