Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

2 3 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I balconies for two, to a library area in the owners’ sitting room and a top-notch spa aft of the bridge. The spa facilities include a spacious sauna, hydro massage bath, steam room, massage room and beauty salon connected to the gym and outdoor pool, with a colour-shifting glass bubble wall providing ambience and privacy for the massage suite. Despite this, the Solandge’s true destiny is party central, with a deck capable of hosting 60 people, enjoying a unique dance floor above the hot tub. Beyond her dedication to passengers, Solandge does not eschew her responsibilities to her crew. The owners care about service, but they care even more about the wellbeing of their crew and have high respect their input. Pathways for the crew are provided throughout the boat so there is no awkward squeezing past each other as they go about their work. The deckhands were given free rein to plan the location of their supplies and tools on each deck, which means they do not waste time going to a central bosun’s locker. Engineers have a dedicated workshop separate from their control room and there is also an office for the chef and chief stewardess next to the crewmess, designed to function exactly as needed. In a mechanical sense, Solandge is similar to her sibling Quattroelle, whose dark blue hull had little impact on her air-conditioning requirements thanks to Lurssen’s standard insulation package. Senior chief engineer Travis Ludbrook also specified an additional watermaker with its own storage tank forward, as it takes 15 tonnes of water simply to wash the craft. Attention was also given to indoor services, with planning enhanced by working with the crew on the layout. The large pantries are smartly integrated into the portside interior and exterior crew circulation. A separate crew lift makes it possible to transfer items such as wine from the 500-bottle cellar on the tank deck. Guests are also afforded use of their own lift, capable of carrying nine passengers, powered by a 115-volt transformer in the bow, which should be lauded for its ability to create pure sine-wave power for everything from equipment to charging iPads and phones.