The concept of cruising as we now know it evolved out of the tradition of the lengthy transatlantic sea crossings of old, which were always at least four days. Ocean liners, in the quest for wealthier customers, began to compete with each other by offering hotel-style luxuries such as in-house restaurants and expensively decorated cabins. Over time, the dedicated ocean liner evolved into a hybrid vehicle that could be converted into a cruise ship for the winter cruising season. The first ship that could rightly be described as a cruise liner was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, which was designed by Albert Ballin, the general manager of a company called Hamburg-America Line, and completed in 1900. Jet age With the introduction of the large passenger aircraft in the sixties, which reduced the time it took to cross the Atlantic from a matter of days to just a few hours, the writing was on the wall for the transatlantic ocean liner industry. Passenger ocean liner services effectively ceased in the mid-1980s, with the exception of the Cunard line, although this was purely aimed at wealthy customers who were looking to extend their transit times in luxury. All those ocean liners didn’t go to waste, though – the redundant ships were mostly converted into cruise ships, a market that was set to grow exponentially over the following decades. Although these refurbished former ocean liners were small compared to today’s mega-cruisers, the success of the giant SS Norway(originally the ocean liner SS France), regarded as being the first of the giant cruise ship, triggered a large number of imitators, and nowadays some the largest passenger ships ever to have been built are cruise ships. Exciting and New The 70s TV series The Love Boat, which was set on Princess Cruises’ Pacific Princess vessel, which has since been sold to another operator, acted like a giant advert for the cruise ship industry in the US, and cruising has never looked back since. And the ships look like they’re just going to get bigger and bigger. At present there are plans to build two cruise ships weighing in at 220,000 tons and carrying up to 5,400 passengers apiece. The biggest cruisers in operation today are in the capable hands of Royal Caribbean International, whose Freedom fleet boasts three of the biggest passenger ships on the planet, and a fourth Freedom class vessel is expected to be built by 2011. The Freedom Class vessels are all over 1,100 feet long, 209 feet high, and weigh in at around 160,000 tons each. Their forthcoming Oasis class vessels promise to be even bigger, at 1,180 feet long, sitting 65m high above sea level, and weighing in at 220,000 tons each.
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The concept of cruising as we now know it evolved out of the tradition of the lengthy transatlantic sea crossings of old, which were always at least four days. Ocean liners, in the quest for wealthier customers, began to compete with each other by offering hotel-style luxuries such as in-house restaurants and expensively decorated cabins. Over time, the dedicated ocean liner evolved into a hybrid vehicle that could be converted into a cruise ship for the winter cruising season. The first ship ...
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