Silver Nova Ushers In A New Concept In Cruise Ship Design

25.09.2023 - 13:55 / forbes.com / Silver Nova

Picasso had his off-kilter Cubism—think of the mesmerizing tableau of skewed ladies in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. And Hollywood has long had its perfectly imperfect idols—few of whom, even Marilyn, were ever symmetrically spot on. As it turns out, we humans actually subconsciously favor the irregular.

Who knows to what degree the minds at Silversea thought out all that lopsided logic in creating the brand new Silver Nova (whose name means new, of course). They’ve taken asymmetry to, well, new heights with the ship. And just as you have come to appreciate your crooked smile and tilted left eyebrow, you’ll quickly rejoice in the Nova’s perfectly asymmetrical countenance. Not since Picasso perhaps have you heard so much buzz about asymmetry as you will now in the cruise industry, thanks to the Nova that is unlike any other vessel on the sea.

Is it weird that the Nova pool does not run the middle of its Deck 10? It feels so for a second maybe, but as you wander the ship you realize deck after deck how much more space was created, how many more private nooks, by placing elements off their usual grid.

If you were going full board designing under that wrinkle, you too would think, of course, to create a pool that itself is asymmetrically shaped, as the Nova’s is. Now as a passenger lying poolside, it quickly dawns on you that you enjoy a full view of the sea, without having that typical overhanging walkway that runs 360 degrees above many ship pools that feels like you’re below a track of joggers at a YMCA on the sea. In short, your asymmetrically-placed asymmetrical pool means there’s always both plenty shade or plenty sun to be had, as per your mood.

And then there’s all that glass on the Nova—43,000 square feet, if you’re counting—of crystal clear panes to see the seas and rugged coastlines with their towering medieval fortresses. When have you ever gone to a ship theater and event space that has natural light pouring in on one side, as you’ll find at the Venetian Lounge?

Two banks of glass elevators that are, of course, asymmetrically placed fore and aft, port and starboard, allow for floor-t0-ceiling picture window viewing (they also store energy on their way down). Their doors are glass too, allowing you to take in the views as you wait, short as that time is.

Want more glass? A recent hit on several new Silversea Muse-class ships, the S.A.L.T. culinary program and its Lab test kitchen are no longer tucked away onboard, but placed way up on Deck 10 with glass walls that open onto a deck space so large that you’d think you’re on a Malibu beach terrace. All of which makes it perhaps more difficult to concentrate on watching Chef Germán Sanchez and team conduct a culinary workshop, or, as they did