Odyssey, even in a short swoop around its decks, revealed that it had ventured into uncharted onboard design territory. Forgoing a lobby reception, an area known as Seabourn Square has ramped up check-in to something that resembles the executive floor levels in a boutique hotel. Here, a coffee bar, library, Internet lounge and concierge are combined into a large central meeting hub.

While onboard design has latterly resided in the same realm as ubiquitous hotel chain style - weepingly 'Nanna' in its safe beige and watercolour tones; Odyssey mixes a base of chocolate and white highlighted with brights and metallics.

In the main restaurant called, er, "The Restaurant", a large space has been made softly intimate. Ceilings have been lowered with white lightboxes marbeled with chocolate in a contemporary take on Art Deco. Inside the entrance a wall of metallic gold mosaics is reflected in the Louis XV-inspired balloon chairs upholstered in gold leather. Sheer white curtains make another appearance covering the walls and dividing spaces. The floors are dark wood boards, not a patterned carpet in sight - are we allowed to cheer? Dramatic, custom-designed, chandeliers hang overhead, completing a lighting that makes this restaurant heavenly for evening dining.

The menu, developed by American chef Charlie Palmer, steers itself into the calmer waters of simple contemporary favourites such as grilled fresh tuna with caper berries, olives and zucchini ragout and chicken cacciatore with tagliatelle pasta and broccoli florets. In "Restaurant 2", the menu cuts loose with a series of tasting dishes and the décor turns intense. There is nothing remotely nautical about the black leather seating and black on white table coverings pared with deep red flocked-velvet banquettes and sheer red curtains. Rather than taking your eye out to the night sea, it is kept inside by batons that scribble over windows and ceiling in geometric angles.

There are other more casual dining options, the most private of which is best found in your room. Here the décor lightens up with white, neutrals and striped brights in warm tones giving them what was intended to be a South Beach-inspired glamour. The 225 rooms all have ocean views and range in size from 295 square feet (27 square metres) to 1682 square feet (156 square metres) in the four two-bedroom Grand Suites. Never do they feel more boutique than in the Wintergarden Suites where a daybed and free-standing bathtub are enclosed solarium style so that you can soak in the view.

The same sense of boutique style is found in the Spa. Reportedly this two-storey wellness zone is the largest on board any of the small luxury ships, yet the overall effect is one of intimacy. This peaks in the ocean view Spa Villa where a large chocolate rattan daybed and lounge sprinkled with saffron cushions can be sectioned off Arabian tent style. There is, of course, a large treatment bathtub, and a dining table is all the encouragement you'll need to hire the villa for an all-day custom retreat.

Yes, yes, there are many of the onboard lifestyle options that are standard with this level of luxe, including nightclubs, bars, a casino, a boutique and putting course. Nevertheless, it is the detailed approach to design that resuscitates them, making them playgrounds to be rediscovered. On the walls in corridors you can spy the concept illustrations for the ship's interiors, framed works of art. They are white lines on black card and drawn by a hand that is exquisitely free-flowing with ideas. The same contemporary design interiors will be used for the Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest to be launched in 2011. Which brings us to a new challenge for luxury small ships: who will be the first to follow the current boutique hotel trend for individually decorated suites?  Anouska Hempel can you take what you did on board the yachts Beluga and San Lorenzo and go bigger?