History of Cruising (1)
by peremukIn 1842, author Charles Dickens, along with 86 others, booked passage on the mail ship Britannia, operated by Samuel Cunard, founder of the Cunard Line. Writing in American Notes about his journey from Liverpool to Nova Scotia and then to Boston, Dickens described the quarters as coffinlike and his fellow passengers as of varying shades of green — though he claimed he only felt woozy, not full-on seasick.
Conditions had improved by the time Mark Twain took a transatlantic voyage on the steamship Quaker City in 1867. Twain described his cabin as having “room to turn around in, but not to swing a cat in, at least with entire security to the cat.” In The Innocents Abroad, Twain wrote, “If there is one thing in the world that will make a man peculiarly and insufferably self-conceited, it is to have his stomach behave himself, the first day at sea, when nearly all his comrades are seasick.”
It wasn’t until late in the 19th century that shipping companies realized they could make money not just by transporting travelers, cargo, mail, and immigrants from point A to point B, but also by selling a luxurious experience at sea. Most historians agree that the first real cruise ship was P&O’s Ceylon, which in 1881 was converted to a lavish cruising yacht for carrying wealthy, adventurous guests on world cruises. Six years later, a Scottish company launched the St. Sunniva, the first steamer built expressly for cruising. But cruising was still a sideline. The big money was to be had in selling passage from place to place, both for the rich and for the huddled masses booking cheap steerage berths.
To be continued….
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