Outpaced by jet aircraft, passenger liners seemed destined for the scrapyard. Then they began transforming themselves into floating resorts   

In 1835, a curious advertisement appeared in the first issue of the Shetland Journal. Headed “To Tourists,” it proposed an imaginary cruise from Stromness in Scotland, round Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and hinted at the pleasures of cruising under the Spanish sun in winter. Thus, it is said, the journal’s founder, Arthur Anderson, invented the concept of cruising. Just two years later, Anderson, along with his partner Brodie Wilcox, founded the great Peninsular Steam Navigation Company (later to become P&O).

Soon after, Samuel Cunard started his transatlantic sailings, from Liverpool to Halifax, across the most dangerous ocean in the world, the North Atlantic, with a steam-powered sailing vessel, Britannia, on July 4, 1840. Every year since then, except for the winter of 1970–1, a Cunard Line ship has operated scheduled transatlantic liner service between the old and new worlds.

Sailing for leisure soon caught on. Even writers such as William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens boarded ships for the excitement of the voyage, not just to reach a destination. The Victorians, having discovered tourism, promoted the idea widely. Indeed, Thackeray’s account of his legendary voyage in 1844, from Cornhill to Grand Cairo by means of the P&O ships of the day, makes fascinating reading, as does the account by Dickens of his transatlantic crossing aboard a Cunard ship in 1842. The subject of Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, was Vanderbilt’s Quaker City, which journeyed from New York to the Holy Land in 1867.

In the 1920s, cruising became the thing to do for the world’s well-to-do. Being pampered in such grand style was fashionable – and is still the underlying concept of cruising. The ship took you and your belongings anywhere, and fed you, accommodated you, relaxed you, and entertained you. At the same time, it even catered for your servants – who, of course, accompanied you.

The first booze cruises

Cruising for Americans was helped greatly by Prohibition in the 1930s. After all, just a few miles out at sea, you were free to consume as much liquor as you wished. And cheap three- and four-day weekend “booze cruises” out of New York were preferable to “bathtub gin.” Then came short “getaway” cruises, with destinations as well as alcohol. In time, the short cruise was to become one of the principal sources of profit for the steamship companies of the day.In the 1930s a battle raged between the giant cruising companies of the world, as Britain, France, Germany, and the United States built liners of unprecedented luxury, elegance, glamour, and comfort. Each country was competing to produce the biggest and best afloat. For a time, quality was somehow related to smokestacks: the more a ship had the better. Although speed had always been a factor, particularly on the transatlantic run, it now became a matter of national pride and ambition.The first ship designed specifically for cruising from the US after World War II was Ocean Monarch (Furness Withy & Company Ltd), which was awarded a gold medal by the US Academy of Designing for “outstanding beauty and unusual design features of a cruise ship.” Its maiden voyage was from New York to Bermuda in 1951. I worked aboard the ship for a short time.

The birth of modern cruising

In June 1958, the first commercial jet aircraft flew across the Atlantic and altered the economics of transatlantic travel forever. It was the last year in which more passengers crossed the North Atlantic by sea than by air. In the early 1960s, passenger-shipping directories listed over 100 passenger lines. Until the mid-1960s, it was cheaper to cross the Atlantic by ship than by plane, but the appearance of the jet aircraft changed that rapidly, particularly with the introduction of the Boeing 747 in the early 1970s. In 1962, more than 1 million people crossed the North Atlantic by ship; in 1970, that number was down to 250,000.The success of the jumbo jets created a fleet of unprofitable and out-of-work passenger liners that appeared doomed for the scrap heap. Even the famous big “Queens,” noted for their regular weekly transatlantic service, were at risk. Cunard White Star Line’s Queen Mary (80,774 tons) was withdrawn in September 1967.  Cunard Line’s sister ship Queen Elizabeth, at 83,673 tons the largest-ever passenger liner (until 1996), made its final crossing in November 1968.Ships were sold for a fraction of their value. Many lines went out of business and ships were scrapped. Those that survived attempted to mix transatlantic crossings with voyages south to the sun. The Caribbean (including the Bahamas) became appealing, cruising became an alternative, and an entire new industry was born, with new lines being formed exclusively for cruising.Then smaller, more specialized ships arrived, capable of getting into the tiny ports of developing Caribbean islands; there were no commercial airlines taking vacationers to the Caribbean then, and few hotels. Instead of cruising long distances south from more northerly ports such as New York, companies established their headquarters in Florida. This avoided the cold weather, choppy seas, and expense of the northern ports and saved fuel costs with shorter runs to the Caribbean. Cruising was reborn. California be­came the base for cruises to the Mexican Riviera, and Vancouver on Canada’s west coast became the focus for summer cruises to Alaska.

Flying passengers to embarkation ports was the next logical step, and soon a working relationship emerged between the cruise lines and the airlines. Air/sea and “sail and stay” packages thrived – joint cruise and hotel vacations with inclusive pricing. Some of the old liners came out of mothballs, purchased by emerging cruise lines and refurbished for warm-weather cruising operations, often with their interiors redesigned and refitted. During the late 1970s, the modern cruise industry grew at a rapid rate.

 Cruising today 

Today’s cruise concept hasn’t changed much from that of earlier days, although it has been improved, refined, expanded, and packaged for ease of consumption. No longer the domain of affluent, retired people, cruising today is vibrant and alive with passengers of every age and socio-economic background. It’s no longer the shipping business, but the hospitality industry (although it has to be said that some cruise ship personnel appear to be in the hostility industry).

New ships are generally larger than their predecessors, yet cabin size is “standardized” to provide more space for entertainment and other public facilities. Today’s ships boast air conditioning to keep out heat and humidity; stabilizers to keep the ship on an even keel; a high level of maintenance, safety, and hygiene; and more emphasis on health and fitness facilities.Cruise ship design has moved from the traditional, classic, rounded profiles of the past (example: Queen Elizabeth 2) to boxy shapes with squared-off sterns and towering superstructures today (examples: Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millen­nium, Celebrity Summit). While ship lovers lament these design changes, they have resulted from the need to squeeze as much as possible in the space provided (you can squeeze more in a square box than you can in a round one, though it may be less aesthetically appealing). But form followed function as ships changed from ocean transportation to floating vacation resorts.Although ships have long been devoted to eating and relaxation in comfort, ships today offer more activities, and more learning and life-enriching experiences than before. And there are many more places you can visit on a cruise: from Antarctica to Acapulco, Bermuda to Bergen, Dakar to Dominica, Shanghai to St. Thomas, or if you prefer, perhaps nowhere at all.

The cruise industry is a $60 billion business worldwide and still growing. It employs a growing number, both directly (there are over 100,000 shipboard officers, staff and crew, as well as about 20,000 employees in cruise company offices), and indirectly (suppliers of foodstuffs and mechanical and electrical parts, port agents, transport companies, destinations, airlines, railways, hotels, car rental companies). In 2006, more than 16 million people worldwide took a cruise, packaged and sold by cruise lines through tour operators and travel agents, or by direct bookings.

Cruising tomorrow

Current thinking in ship design follows two quite distinct paths: large resort ships or smaller ships.  Large “resort” ships, where “economy of scale” helps the operator to keep the cost per passengers down. Six companies (Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, MSC?Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International) have ships measuring over 100,000 tons, accommodating more than 5,000 passengers, with the “bigger is ­better” principle being pursued for all it’s worth. Many of these ships are, however, too wide to transit the Panama Canal and so are designated non-Panamax. 

Small ships, where the “small is beautiful” concept has taken hold, particularly in the exclusive and luxury categories. Cruise lines offer high-­quality ships of low capacity, which can provide a highly personalized range of quality services. This means better trained, more experienced staff (and more of them to serve fewer passengers), higher-quality food and more meals cooked to order. Small ships can also visit the less overcrowded ports.

  Chop and stretch

  Other cruise lines have expanded by “stretching” their ships. This is accomplished literally by cutting a ship in half, and inserting a newly constructed midsection, thus instantly adding more accommodation and public rooms, while maintaining the same draft.Ships that have been “stretched” (with year and length of “stretch”) include: Albatros (1983; 27.7meters), Arielle (1980; 26 meters), Balmoral (2007, 30 meters), Black Watch (1981, 27.7 meters), Boudicca (1982, 27.7 meters), Braemar (2008, 31.2 meters), Costa Europa (1990; 40 meters), Enchant­ment of the Seas (2005; 22.2 meters), Norwegian Dream (1998; 40 meters), Norwegian Majesty (1999; 30 meters), Spirit of Adventure (1986/20 meters), and SuperStar Aquarius (1998; 40 meters).

Whatever direction the design of cruise vessels takes in the future, ships are becoming increasingly environmentally friendly. With growing concern, particularly in eco-sensitive areas such as Alaska and the South Pacific, better safeguards against environmental pollution and damage are being built into the vessels. The cruise industry is fast approaching “zero discharge,” which means that nothing is discharged into the world’s oceans at any time. 

CHRONOLOGY

   1960 Passenger shipping directories listed more than 30 companies operating transatlantic voyages. Many ships were laid up from 1960 to 1970, and most sold for a fraction of their value. Britannic, the last White Star Line ship, went out of service.

 1962 Compagnie Générale Transatlantique’s 1,035-ft liner France, (then the longest passenger ship ever built, entered service from Le Havre to New York. It was scrapped in 2007.

 1963 Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Elizabeth made an experimental cruise from New York to the West Indies. As a result, full air conditioning was fitted in 1965–66 to facilitate more extensive cruising.1965 The Orient Steam Navigation Company was absorbed into the P&O Group. The new company became known as the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Stanley B. McDonald founded Princess Cruises.

 1966 The Norwegian company Klosters Reederei joined Miami businessman Ted Arison in marketing Caribbean cruises from Miami. Sanford Chobol founded Commodore Cruise Line.

 1967 Cunard Line withdrew the transatlantic liner Queen Mary from service.

 1968 Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth withdrawn. Cunard delayed taking delivery of Queen Elizabeth 2 from its builder, John Brown, in December, because of unacceptable turbine vibration.

 1969 Lars-Eric Lindblad’s Lindblad Explorer, designed for close-in expedition cruising, made its debut. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was created by a consortium of Norwegian shipping companies. The loss-making United States was laid up.

 1970 Royal Viking Line was founded. Germany’s Norddeutscher Lloyd and Hapag (Hamburg American Line) merged as Hapag-Lloyd.

 1971 Cunard Line was sold to Trafalgar House Investments. Royal Cruise Line was founded.

 1972 Ted Arison split with Knut Kloster and founded Carnival Cruise Lines. It began with just one ship, Mardi Gras (ex-Empress of Canada), which ran aground on its first voyage from Miami.

 1974 P&O bought Princess Cruises. Compagnie Générale Transatlantique laid up the loss-making France. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey opened its Passenger Ship Terminal. Royal Cruise Lines introduced Golden Odyssey, built to accommodate the 425 passengers of a Boeing 747 aircraft (425 passengers).

 1975 Island Princess and Pacific Princess (Princess Cruises) became “stars” in the American television show The Love Boat.

 1976 The Italian Line and Lloyd Triestino ceased transatlantic passenger operations.

 1977 World Explorer Cruises was founded with one ship, Universe. Holland America Line ab­sorbed Monarch Cruise Lines.

 1978 Royal Caribbean’s Song of Norway was the first cruise ship to be given a “chop and stretch” operation to add a mid-section.

 1979 American Hawaii Cruises was formed. In June, SS France was purchased by Lauritz Kloster, rebuilt for Caribbean cruises, renamed Norway and transferred to Norwegian Caribbean Lines. Peter Deilmann ordered his first new cruise ship, Berlin.

 1980 Sea Goddess Cruises was founded by Helge Naarstad.

 1981 Transatlantic service provided by Soviet-­registered ships discontinued after a US embargo.

 1982 The British government chartered Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 and P&O Cruises’ Canberra for use as troop carriers during the Falklands War between Argentina and Britain.

 1983 P&O appointed Jeffrey Sterling as chairman in order to fend off an unwanted takeover bid by Cunard Line’s owners, Trafalgar House, which purchased Norwegian America Cruises (NAC), together with Sagafjord and Vistafjord. Salen-Lindblad Cruising’s Lindblad Explorer became the first passenger ship to navigate the Northwest Passage, sailing 4,790 miles (7,700 km) from Saint John’s, Newfoundland, to Point Barrow, Alaska.

 1984 Dolphin Cruise Line, Premier Cruise Lines, Regency Cruises, and Sundance Cruises were created. Windstar Sail Cruises re-launched commercial sail. Network TV advertising was used in the US for the first time, by Carnival Cruise Lines.

 1985 The Chandris Group of Companies acquired Fantasy Cruises from GoGo Tours, renaming it Chandris Fantasy Cruises in the US and Chandris Cruises in the UK.

 1986 Direct-dial satellite calls were introduced. Signet Cruise Line was founded in Norway. Owing to a lawsuit brought by an American who claimed the right to the name Signet, the company became Seabourn Cruise Line in 1988. Eastern Cruise Lines, Western Cruise Lines, and Sundance Cruises merged to become Admiral Cruises. Cunard acquired Sea Goddess Cruises.

 1987 Carnival Cruise Lines made its first public stock offering. QE2 was converted from steam turbine to diesel-electric power. Princess Cruises replaced almost 500 unionized British hotel and catering staff aboard its five ships.

 1988 Commodore Cruise Lines sold its Bohème (now Freewinds) to the Church of Scientology. Crystal Cruises was formed as a wholly-owned division of Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). Princess Cruises merged with Sitmar Cruises. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line merged with Admiral Cruises to form Royal Admiral Cruises (later Royal Caribbean Cruises). Carnival Cruise Lines acquired Holland America Line, including its land-based hotel/transport operations and Windstar Cruises. Seabourn Cruise Line’s first ship, Seabourn Pride, entered service.

 1989 American Cruise Lines, which operated small vessels for intracoastal cruising, ceased operations. The Chandris Group of Companies created Celebrity Cruises. Renaissance Cruises was created by Fearnley & Eger, a 120-year-old Oslo-based shipping concern, to build eight small premium ships. The Panama Canal celebrated its 75th birthday. Lindblad Travel went bankrupt.

 1990 At the start of the Gulf War, the US government chartered Cunard Princess for six months as a rest and relaxation center for US service personnel in the Bahrain.

 1991 Carnival Cruise Lines acquired a 25 percent stake in Seabourn Cruise Line. Renaissance Cruises was sold to an international group of in­vestors. Effjohn International purchased Crown Cruise Line. Seawind Cruise Line commenced cruise operations. Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) purchased Salen Lindblad Cruising.

 1992 Admiral Cruises (two ships) ceased operations. Carnival Cruise Lines deployed Mardi Gras to accommodate 600 staff members made homeless by the Hurricane Andrew. The Chandris Group and Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) agreed to form a joint venture company, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Inc. Chargeurs and Accor, the French property and leisure industries group, bought 23% of Costa Crociere, parent of Costa Cruises.

 1993 Carnival Cruise Lines formed Fiesta Marina Cruises for the Spanish-speaking Latin American market; it failed. George Poulides founded Festival Cruises. Frontier Spirit was returned to its Japanese owners and then chartered as Bremen to Germany’s Hanseatic Tours. Star Cruises was founded.

 1994 Trafalgar House, Cunard Line’s parent, agreed to buy the rights to the name Royal Viking Line, together with Royal Viking Sun. Royal Viking Queen went to Royal Cruise Line, becoming Queen Odyssey and later Seabourn Legend. Radisson Diamond Cruises and Seven Seas Cruise Line merged to become Radisson Seven Seas Cruises. Star Cruises was founded by Genting Group.

 1995 British company Airtours purchased Southward from Norwegian Cruise Line and Nordic Prince from Royal Caribbean Cruises.

 1996 Kloster Cruise (parent of Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Cruise Line) closed its Royal Cruise Line division. Cunard (and parent company Trafalgar House) were bought by Kvaerner.

 1997 Hapag-Lloyd acquired Hanseatic Tours, together with its expedition ship, Hanseatic. Carnival Corporation, jointly with Airtours, purchased Costa Cruises. Royal Caribbean International bought Celebrity Cruises for $1.3 billion. P&O Cruises’ Canberra was sent to Pakistan for scrap.

 1998 Australia repealed its cabotage laws, allowing international cruise ships to dock and operate from Australian ports without restrictions. Kvaer­ner sold Cunard for $500 million to a consortium that included Carnival Corporation.

 1999 Crown Cruise Line was reintroduced as an upscale part of Commodore Cruise Line. It chartered Crown Dynasty and later purchased the ship for $86.2 million.

 2000 Star Cruises took full control of Norwegian Cruise Line (including Orient Lines) after buying the outstanding shares held by Carnival Corporation. P&O Group separated its cruising activities from the rest of the group. Costa Cruises became 100% owned by Carnival Corporation. Canaveral Cruise Lines (one ship), Commodore Cruise Lines (two ships), Crown Cruise Line (one ship), Delfin Cruises (two ships), and Norwegian Capricorn Line (one ship), Premier Cruise Line (7 ships) and Sun Cruises (three ships) ceased operations.

 2001 Spain’s Pullmantur bought Oceanic and Seawind Crown for the Spanish-speaking market. Carnival Corporation sold its 25.1% shareholding in Airtours. Renaissance Cruises (10 ships) ceased operations after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US. So did American Hawaii Cruises, United States Lines, Delta Queen Coastal Cruises, Hyundai Asan, and Leisure Cruises.

 2002 Empress Cruise Lines (one ship) and Valtur Tourism (one ship) ceased operations. SeaDream Yacht Club began with SeaDream I and SeaDream II. Golden Sun Cruises became Golden Star Cruises with one ship, Aegean I. P&O Cruises created Ocean Village for a younger market

.2003 Oceania Cruises was founded by Frank del Rio and Joe Watters, with two ships, Insignia and Regatta. Regal Cruises (one ship) and Sun Bay Cruises (two ships) ceased operations. Mauritius Island Cruises was founded with two ships, Island Sky and Island Sun. NCL America launched its US-flag operation.

 2004 Carnival Corporation and P&O Princess plc merged to become the world’s largest cruise company, with more than 60 ships and 13 brands. Festival Cruises ceased operations; its six ships were impounded and auctioned. Royal Olympia Cruises also suffered the same fate (but recovered, albeit with a smaller fleet), a victim of high ship and operating costs. Australian tour operator Around the World Cruises (one ship) and Mare Nostrum Cruises (one ship) ceased operations.

 2005 Orion Expedition Cruises launchedwith one ship, Orion. Royal Olympia Cruises (two ships), Siam Cruise (one ship), Spanish Cruise Line (one ship), My Travel/Sun Cruises (four ships) and Mauritius Island Cruises (two ships) ceased operations.

 2006 Radisson Seven Seas Cruises became Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Royal Caribbean International bought Pullmantur. Abou Merhi Cruises ceased operations; its ship, Orient Queen, was acquired by Louis Cruise Lines. Glacier Bay Cruiseline ceased operations (two ships). Holiday Kreutzfarhten (Holiday Cruises) ceased operations. Pearl Seas Cruises was founded by Charles Robertson (American Cruise Lines) for international cruises, with two ships on order. CLIA (Cruise Lines International Organization) and ICCL (International Council of Cruise Lines) merged into CLIA, and moved to Miami.

 2007 Carnival Corporation sold Swan Hellenic Cruises to the UK’s Lord Sterling. Carnival Corporation acquired 75% of Spain-based Iberostar Cruises (now Iberocruceros), sold Windstar Cruises to Ambassadors International for $100 million, and entered into a joint venture with Germany’s TUI. Caspi Cruises (one ship) ceased operations. Louis Cruise Lines’ Sea Diamond ran aground and sank off Santorini. Oceania Cruises was bought for $850 million by equity group Apollo Management. Celebrity Cruises created a sub-brand, Azamara Cruises. Queen Elizabeth 2