History of Cruising - Part One

As promised, here is the first part of my brief look at the history of cruising.

In the early days, passengers were the less important fare on large merchant vessels, carrying freight.

The first ship built exclusively for passengers was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, designed by Albert Ballin, general manager of Hamburg-America Line. The ship was completed in 1900.

In the late 19th century, Albert Ballin, director of the Hamburg-America Line, was the first to send his transatlantic ships out on long southern cruises during the worst of the winter season of the North Atlantic. Other companies followed suit. Some of them built specialized ships designed for easy transformation between summer crossings and winter cruising.

The practice of cruising grew gradually out of the transatlantic crossing tradition, which never took less than four days. In the competition for passengers, ocean liners added many luxuries — the Titanic being the most famous example — such as fine dining and well-appointed staterooms.

As jet travel 'took off' in popularity in the 1960s, intercontinental travellers largely switched from ships to planes, sending the ocean liner trade into a slow decline. Eventually, services aimed at passengers ceased in 1986, with the notable exception of transatlantic crossings operated by the Cunard Line, who, to this day, cater to the niche market who enjoy the few days of luxury and enforced idleness that a liner voyage affords.

As liner crossings diminished, cruising voyages started to gain in popularity; slowly at first but at an increased rate from the 1980s onwards.

Initially the fledgling industry was made up of small, redundant, liners, and even the first purpose built cruise ships were small. This changed after the success of the SS Norway as the Caribbean's first "super-ship".

Since then the size of cruise ships has risen dramatically to become the largest passenger ships ever built.