Tag Archives: Cruise History

In the age before cheap jet fares and mega?ships, there was another way to cross the Pacific from California to the Far East—quiet, deliberate, and limited to just twelve souls on board. American President Lines’ luxury cargoliners of the 1950s and 1960s turned the workaday business of hauling freight between ... Read More »

Dubai World’s Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem at the QE2 handover ceremony November 27th. At 2pm yesterday (Nov 27th) a glorious era came to a close in cruise line history and another began as developer Nakheel officially took delivery of the QE2. That was the moment when the contract to transfer ... Read More »

The SS Lurline docking at San Diego’s Broadway pier in the 1930s. The SS Lurline was the third Matson vessel to hold that name, and the last of four fast and luxurious ocean liners that Matson built for the Hawaii and Australasia runs from the West Coast of the United ... Read More »

The floating palace for the rich and famous: Vintage photos reveal glamor on board the Queen Mary during her maiden voyage. First Class Dining Room RMS Queen Mary left Southampton on M en route to New York, the first of many transatlantic crossings. Elizabeth Taylor walking her dogs.  She hosted the wealthy ... Read More »

Carnival Cruise Line and the New York Jets today announced a multi-year partnership. The agreement designates Carnival as a “Proud Partner of the New York Jets.” “At Carnival, we create memorable vacation experiences filled with fun for our guests, and we see the excitement from football fans firsthand when their ... Read More »

Immigrants to America… ELLIS ISLAND HISTORY – IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA The great steamship companies like White Star, Red Star, Cunard and Hamburg-America played a significant role in the history of Ellis Island and immigration in general. The German liner Imperator carried many immigrants in steerage. While most immigrants entered the ... Read More »

Elvis’ love for Hawaii ran deep, and during his lifetime he visited often. Whether it was to perform concerts and benefits, film a movie, or just to vacation, the islands would always draw him back. Elvis sailed to Hawaii from Los Angeles aboard the SS Matsonia on November 5, 1957. ... Read More »

In the 1950s pioneer shipping executive Arnold Bernstein wanted to offer superior Economy Class steamship liner services from New York to Europe offering all staterooms with private facilities aboard the SS Atlantic. Bernstein had chartered in the summer of 1948 a passenger ship the CONTINENTAL (ex ANCON of 1902) for ... Read More »

Known as “white Flyers of the Pacific,” the sister ships each made four sailings a week during the 1920s and 1930s. They carried 565 First Class passengers at an average speed of 23 knots between the two major California cities. With boat train connections to downtown Los Angeles, San Jose, ... Read More »

Matson Lines SS Lurline was half way from Honolulu to San Francisco on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The liner arrived safely in San Francisco with passengers from California and the USA on December 11th. The liner arrived safely in San Francisco with passengers from California ... Read More »

Cruising as we know and love has changed a great deal over the years, its roots trace back to the 1800s and used to be a much more exclusive affair, with only the wealthiest clientele choosing to cruise. The SS Augusta Victoria, named after the German Empress Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, was ... Read More »

Cruise expert Michael L Grace explains how cruising began. The earliest ocean-going vessels were not primarily concerned with passengers, but rather with the cargo that they could carry. Black Ball Line in New York,?in 1818, was the first shipping company to offer regularly scheduled service from the United States to ... Read More »