His interest in ocean liners began at age 5 when the BBC children’s television program Blue Peter featured a tour of the RMS Queen Elizabeth.

[5] His interest in ships intensified during a 1969 family visit to the then new Queen Elizabeth 2 in Southampton where he also observed the SS United States, on one of her last transatlantic crossings, arriving in port.

After one year of study he met with his former physics teacher from Catford who agreed that Payne had been badly advised, and helped him obtain funding to transfer to the University of Southampton's Ship Science program.

The last two Fantasy ships, Elation and Paradise, were equipped with ABB Azipod thrusters rather than traditional shaft drives, a development which influenced his later work.

"The bridge, the mast, and the funnel are all loosely based on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and I felt it particularly important to echo some of the similarities between that ship and this one to create the lineage progression.

This allowed for premium fare balcony (rather than porthole) cabins to be placed in the hull yet high enough to have a margin of protection from the sea conditions of the north Atlantic.

Payne also created more revenue-producing interior space by removing one engine room from the initial design and instead using gas turbines at the base of the funnel.

[16] During the design phase of Queen Mary 2 Payne was appointed a member of a safety Innovation Group for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Carnival's later newbuild contracts would stipulate podded propulsion as they offered fuel savings and superior maneuverability compared to traditional shaft drives.

[25] As a result of the media attention given to Queen Mary 2 and his role as lead designer, Payne received correspondence from students who asked about engineering careers.

[33] Writing for an industry publication, Payne argued that with the retirement of Britannia, "the UK lost a highly effective ambassador for trade promotion and State diplomacy."

"[32] Payne however criticized the design released by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office as "...akin to a 1950s Hull trawler" and "...not such a good idea for a global voyager crossing the Atlantic, Pacific, or even rounding the tip of Africa.