voyage on a great liner, but the dream began more than 120 years before...
Ultimate goal of every worthy traveler 50 years ago was to take a
voyage on a great liner, but the dream began more than 120 years before that in
1840 - when Sam Cunard pioneered the transatlantic steamer service. By no
means a luxurious experience, the idea in those early days was just to get
customers to the other side of the pond.
By the early 1970s, a whole new group of cruise lines had emerged with an idea of creating resorts at sea and fun replaced formality.
New companies were starting up around 1970, like Norwegian Caribbean Lines in 1966, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1968 and Carnival Cruise Line in 1971. Also, these companies started building new cruise ships from scratch so they were an immidiate threat for the old liner companies that started up their cruise services with old tonnage.
With the vessels Royal Caribbean built for the Caribbean, and then with the beginnings of Carnival Cruise Lines which went from a rather inauspicious start - their first cruise ended quite literally on a reef.
A little change occurred when in 1976 Aaron Spelling approached Princess Cruises because he wanted to create a new series for television about cruising. Princess Cruises immediately said 'yes' to his ideas and 'The Love Boat' was started. The series became a big success and introduced more and more people to cruising. When Norway came in service for Norwegian Caribbean Lines in 1980 also the prices went down and a new period for cruising began.
