Cruise History – The Last Ocean Liners: When you could go around the world by taking a liner voyage and not a cruise!

 American Export Line’s SS CONSTITUTION

Courtesy of a wonderful website called LAST OCEAN LINERS

Until the early 1970s, it was routinely possible to schedule extensive world journeys by transferring between three, four or more different ocean liners on point-to-point line voyages. The services were promoted to take advantage of a coordinated system of fares and schedules among cooperating shipping companies known as the “Interchange Lines.”

In January 1962, for example, one could begin at New York with an 11 day Atlantic crossing on American Export Lines’ Constitution (above) to Tenerife, Gibraltar and Naples. After visiting Italy, passengers caught the Asia of Lloyd Triestino outbound for 25 days via the Suez Canal to Pakistan, India, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Luncheon on deck aboard American President Line’s SS CLEVELAND – 1960s

Then the traveler could sail home across the Pacific for 19 days on American President Lines’ President Cleveland via Kobe, Yokohama and Honolulu to San Francisco. In those days fares for this alluring around the world voyage began at only US$935 in Tourist Class or US$1488 in First Class.

Here we survey a sample of the 1962 schedules and services of the Interchange Lines as they weaved together these romantic routes on splendid ships over exotic seas. Come along. It’s sailing hour, so let’s enjoy a pleasant journey back into the not-so-distant past when ocean liners could take you almost anywhere!