Ambius was the supplier behind the Central Park plantscape project aboard the Icon of the Seas. The project follows similar greenery installations constructed aboard other Royal Caribbean vessels.

“The Central Park project was born in 2008 when Royal Caribbean came up with the new Oasis-class ships,” said Yuko Frazier, senior landscape designer and lead designer at Ambius, told Cruise Industry News in an interview. “The Oasis of the Seas was the first ship to have a concept park in the middle on deck eight.”

“We received the first contract with Royal; we never did a cruise ship before then. (Now), we have done all the Central Parks for the Oasis ships. It’s been 15 years working with Royal,” she added.

Planning

Frazier explained that the actual installation aboard the Icon was done by a 45-member team in just seven days.

“But it’s years of planning towards it. The longest lead time item is our feature tree, which is 25 feet. It was custom-grown in Florida; you can’t grow that in two years,” she added.

When it came to the feature tree, Frazier further explained that it was grown, selected, pruned, cured and put in a pot for three to four months, before being moved to a controlled seed container in the Netherlands. Due to shock, resulting from a lack of light and water, the tree loses its foliage and would need time to recoup. This process alone took a year.

As for choosing plants and planning maintenance measures, Frazier said that climate, destination, the time of the installation and availability all had to be considered. Then came hardiness, climate, temperature, humidity and seasonality of the destinations.

“Typically, the first question I ask is: Where would this ship go? The microclimate is open to the elements. Over the years, we have gotten a better grasp of what happens where in the world the ship will be,” she said.

The Icon was to go to Bahamas and the Caribbean. This then influenced what plants and trees were chosen to go onboard.

“I worked with the United States Department of Agriculture to make sure the plants we’re using is allowed in the U.S. and in Caribbean destinations. That’s always a challenge, but that’s something that needs to be done. So that’s part of our criteria and plant selection,” Frazier said.

The ground cover was brought in modules that two people could carry.

“We had this map of where each module needs to go, so it was literally playing zigzag puzzle with each planter,” Frazier added.

Framing, paneling and irrigation pipes needed to be installed in Turku, Finland, where the ship was being built. However, the flora was brought onboard in Spain due to the temperature. Water in the pipes would have caused bursts due to freezing temperatures, and the tropical plants would not have fared well in the cold.

“By the time the ship got to Cadiz, it was December. Cadiz was warm enough to do it,” Frazier said.

Weight Onboard

According to Frazier, the support system was overseen by Royal Caribbean’s engineers.

“The weight that we give them … was anywhere from 270 to 450 kilograms per square meter. We didn’t have to deal with the engineering portion of it, but they made sure that it happened,” she said.

The featured 25-foot tree alone is about two square meters and weighs close to 5,000 kilograms with the root ball and the soil water.

“From the Oasis to Icon, there were big changes made, but the concept remained the same. So, the engineers have the requirements all figured that out,“ she said. “We haven’t had any breakage or any issues since 2009.”

Maintenance

She said that even though the ship and climate were always changing and moving, it is no problem for the team onboard to adjust and maintain the flora.

“Each ship has two or three onboard horticulturists. They take care of all the plants onboard.”

One lighting challenge that did come into play was a large glazing at the back aft side of the park, which reflected intense sunlight. The affected planters were thus filled with cactus-type plants.

Future Projects

“We’re expecting our working relationship to last with Royal,” Frazier said, pointing out that future collaboration is coming up in July on the Star of The Seas.

“That feature tree is still in Florida but growing well,” she noted.

Frazier hinted that the next plant scape will be similar to what is on the Icon; however, lessons are learned from each installation, so adjustments will be made to ensure greater success.

“We’re also working with Virgin Voyages and on the Allure (drydock).”

According to Frazier, a project of this scope was immensely gratifying when it all came together, as a significant amount of planning and teamwork went into it.

“I don’t know anything else like this; it’s a combination of multiyear planning, teamwork and working with people all around the world,” she said.