Recently we have released a series of articles about the
history of cruises
.
We’ve tried to create an exciting excursion for the fans of cruises. Excursion from the first transatlantic sailings to the most up-to-date liners.
We’d like to combine all the information in this article!
Here’s a historical digest.
The 19th century marked the beginning of the regular passenger transportation across the Atlantic. Black Ball Line, P&O, and Cunard became the pioneers of the industry.
The P&O company was the innovator in the industry.
They were the first to build a steel cruise liner in 1881 – SS Ravena. They were also the first to launch a ship with electric lighting – SS Valetta (1889). They were the first to offer pleasure trips and the first to organize cruises all year round.
The White Star Line company founded in 1845 has joined the historical records forever. Her ships repeatedly fought for the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic.
By the end of the 19th century, the leading cruise companies formed the image of transatlantic liners familiar to us from the movies...
RMS Campania (1893) – Cunard Line
Oceanic (II) (1899) – White Star Line
You can find more information about this stage of history of cruise industry, as well as German superliners, here:
Next, we talked about the rapid development of the industry at the beginning of the 20th century.
RMS Celtic, RMS Cedric, RMS Baltic & RMS Adriatic – these names had long been associated with the greatness of the White Star Line company.
German ships of that time were not inferior in terms of their luxury and size: for example, SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria of Hamburg America Line became the largest cruise liner of her time.
RMS Lusitania & RMS Mauretania has left their marks in history forever!
Well, we all know about Olympic and Titanic!
Golden times ended with the tragedy of Titanic and the beginning of the First World War.
You can find more information about this time, and how the megaliners survived the terrible war, here: History of Cruises. Part 2. The Rise and Fall.
After the First World War, the industry rose from the ashes like Phoenix.
German companies lost almost all of their liners: a part of them sank, another was lost in the form of reparations. SS Imperator was sold by the Americans to Cunard in 1919.
English companies lost many cruise liners.
However, in just a few years, the remaining and new ships breathed new life into the industry.
Prohibition affected the popularity of a cruise vacation among the Americans. Booze Cruises became frequent.
France actively joined the arena of cruises in the 1930s.
Oddly enough, the Third Reich became a certain innovator. Cruises organized for German workers became common in Germany. Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-11081 / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Italy also made a lasting impression with its beautiful SS Rex!
The French dumbfounded the world with their new megaliner – SS Normandie.
RMS Queen Mary became a ship from another timelike dimension!
The beginning of the second terrible war for 50 years, as well as the course of history, significantly influenced the cruise market, and the entire world.
We do not even want to describe the years of the terrible war...
In total, according to the most conservative estimates, more than 50 ocean liners sank during the war years. More than 90,000 people died!
There always comes progress after a period of decline.
It happened in our case as well...
After the terrible war, the cruise industry rose from the ashes again.
Although almost all the companies lost their fleets, the new ones were launched pretty quickly.
It was greatly influenced by the US authorities that began to subsidize the construction of new cruise liners.
The threat of the new war with the USSR was also one of the incentives. It was necessary to restore the transport fleet urgently and the best option was to revive the cruise industry. They could quickly turn the cruise ships into the military ones in case of need. Unfortunately, they had done it twice in the last 50 years.
The German companies also got back on track pretty quickly.
As well as the French.
The 65,000-ton liner called SS France became the most modern transatlantic liner.
After some time, she also became the largest liner intended only for cruises, but already under the
flags. Photo by: Dr. Karl-Heinz Hochhaus/Wiki/CC BY 3.0
Some liners of that time are still in service! Photo by: Pjotr Mahhonin/Wiki/CC BY-SA 4.0
In general, the industry was booming, but it was still oriented towards the Transatlantic sailings...
In the late 1970s, the regular Boeing-747 flights finally buried the industry.
Or rather, it became the industry as we know it.
(1965) the first ships of which were Princess Patricia, Princess Italia & Princess Carla.
Princess Italia Photo by: Gordon Dalzell/Wiki/CC BY-SA 4.0
Norwegian Cruise Line (1966).
The company started with several small ships – Sunward (1966), Starward, Skyward, Seaward, Southward, Sunward II.
The largest of them was just over 17,000 tons. Starward (1968)
Royal Caribbean International (1968).
Song of the Norway became the first ship of the company. Photo by: Tony Garner/Wiki/CC BY-SA 4.0
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