Cruise liner launches world’s first ‘multi-sensory underwater lounge’ that looks like a Bond villain’s lair

FORGET the top deck, these days cruising is all about being on the bottom of the boat.

French-owned cruise line PONANT has launched a new vessel with the world’s first multi-sensory underwater lounge, called Blue Eye.

Four ships from the new PONANT EXPLORERS series are all equipped with the passenger lounge, which sits within the hull beneath the water line.

The room, which was designed by architect Jacques Rougerie, aims to help guests completely immerse themselves in the underwater universe.

Jacques drew inspiration from nature for the design of the underwater lounge.

The lines of the lounge are supposed to remind the passengers of cetaceans and jellyfish, with two large portholes that look out onto the subaquatic world.

There are also three digital screens that project the images filmed live by three underwater cameras, which allow passengers to see what is going on at other points around the boat, like dolphins playing in the bow waves.

There will also be sound from Michel Redolfi, a contemporary music composer and sound design expert that reflects underwater noises, which accompany the noises in the ocean life outside that guests can listen to on hydrophones.

The hydrophones, designed by the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea, sit beneath the keel and capture noises from a five-kilometre radius.

Body Listening sofas then vibrate in unison with the noises and the waves outside.

According to PONANT: “This global listening through the entire body, in harmony with the ocean’s natural cycles, will bring guests closer to the marine mammals they might see and hear behind the giant portholes.