Cruising The Past Cruise News

A wonderful Dutch film/video on the great liner. Throughout the 1930s a remarkable period of growth was experienced by the merchant fleets of many nations. This growth occurred in spite of a depression that put a strangle-hold on the world-wide economy. Our thanks to Reuben Goossens, 47 years in the ... Read More »

Enjoy these great full color home movies shot by a lucky couple who traveled on the SS France Eastbound, and the SS Liberte Westbound, here combined to suggest a mythical time when such a trip might have been possible in the early 1960s. Bon Voyage! SS France arrives in New ... Read More »

Our new video of a 1954 sailing aboard the SS ALASKA on a cruise to Alaska and the Inside Passage. 1954 ALASKA CRUISE from CRUISINGTHEPAST.COM on Vimeo. 1954 ALASKA CRUISE – a retro 50s look at a style of cruising and travel now vanished. Video Includes: Views of the ship ... Read More »

These are amusing black and white home movies shot aboard the SS Bremen in 1930 courtesy of shipgeek.com. The SS “Bremen” of 1929 was one of a pair of ocean liners built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service. The “Bremen” was notable for her low ... Read More »

A nostalgic look at the SS CATALINA and SS AVALON. They were called the BIG WHITE STEAMERS. These day tourist steamships operated together from 1920 into the early 1950s — except for WW 2. The SS CATALINA continued running into the mid-1970s. They provided daily service throughout the summer from ... Read More »

Compare dinner aboard the Southern Pacific’s Lark between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the 1950s with dining aboard today’s USA Government run Amtrak. No matter how much money they sink into Amtrak –  rail service will never achieve the elegance and opulence of the past. The Lark Club dining ... Read More »

Check out this busy shipping day in New York Harbor in 1934. So many ships, so little time! The spectacular sight of 358,274 tons of shipping docked in New York Harbour. From front to back, the liners are the Hamburg, the Bremen, the Columbus, the De Grasse, the Normandie, the ... Read More »

(Click above for Video of the Graf Zeppelin) – In 1929 the Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen to make the first flight round-the-world by an airship. Here’s the complete story of this most famous and memorable trip in the history of air transportation: The round-the-world flight attempt really began on May ... Read More »

The incomparable Gracie Allen and Eleanor Powell in this show-stopping number aboard Matson Line’s SS Lurline from the hit 1939 MGM musical HONOLULU. The song captures the Magic and Romance of Hawaii’s Golden Age aboard the great Matson liners. When getting there was truly half the fun. Alas, this song ... Read More »

Messageries Maritimes’ flag-ship ended up like mini-Titanic… read on… MM ship leaving Saigon Dating from 1862, Messageries Maritimes’ “Orient & Indo China” route was its premier route, serving as it did the Jewel in France’s Crown in the East: Indo-China. Saigon during the golden age before the endless and useless ... Read More »