The Evolution of Cruise Ships: From Ocean Liners to Floating Cities”

In the world of boats, there are small boats, large boats, and then there are the colossal cruise ships. Take the MSC Meraviglia, for example. This magnificent vessel was built in Saint-Nazaire, France and has been in service since 2017. It was even christened by the legendary Sophia Loren. The MSC Meraviglia holds the distinction of being the largest cruise ship to have ever docked in New York City. Onboard, you’ll find a water park, rope course, spa, mall, arcade, bowling alley, casino, gym, two theaters, five pools, nine restaurants, 23 bars, and 19 floors. With enough room for 5,655 passengers and 1,536 crew members, cruise ships like the MSC Meraviglia are truly the largest passenger vessels ever built by humans.

Cruise ships are indeed capable of accommodating a small town’s worth of people in a single vessel. However, their appearance is quite different from the large transatlantic ships of the past. Before cruise ships, the largest ships on earth were ocean liners, built for the sole purpose of transporting people from one place to another. In the golden days of ocean travel, before the advent of airplanes, people had no choice but to travel by ship. According to Peter Knego, a cruise journalist and ocean liner historian, advertisements from this era boasted about the speed and luxurious comfort of ocean liners, which was not always easy to achieve given the conditions on the open ocean. It’s fascinating to see how the design and purpose of these large vessels have evolved over time.

Crossing the Atlantic in February can be an unpleasant experience, and the last thing passengers want is to be reminded that they are on a ship. To combat this, ocean liners at the turn of the 20th century were designed to resemble grand hotels or palaces, at least for first-class passengers. Ships like the RMS Aquitania replicated all the amenities of life on land, including restaurants, smoking rooms, gardens, and a massive lounge with painted ceilings. For first-class passengers, it was like being in a city at sea. In fact, there was once a picture of the Aquitania lined up against the Woolworth Building, which was then the world’s tallest building. The Aquitania was longer and taller than the Woolworth Building, emphasizing its status as a floating city.

However, with the rise of air travel, ships were no longer the only way to cross oceans. By the 1960s, ocean liners were becoming obsolete as companies struggled to sell tickets. In response, they began offering leisure trips to warmer regions during the winter months and advertising ocean travel as a luxury vacation at sea. Transatlantic service continued during the summer months in the northern hemisphere, but the focus shifted from speed to luxury.

The transition from selling transportation to selling a vacation marked the birth of the cruise ship industry. However, it was a slow start and didn’t really take off until the TV show “The Love Boat” popularized the idea of cruising and made it accessible to the mainstream. But as cruises became more popular, ocean liners faced a problem. They were designed for speed and consumed a lot of fuel, sat low in the water, and had separate sections for different classes of passengers. This limited their access to ports and amenities, as well as passengers’ freedom of movement. Additionally, ocean liners were much larger than full-time cruise ships, meaning they had to attract a lot of vacationers to be profitable.

As sea travel dwindled, even the largest ocean liner in the world, the SS France, couldn’t generate enough revenue to operate. It sat idle for years until 1979 when Norwegian Caribbean Lines purchased it and announced that they would convert it into a full-time cruise ship. They shut down one engine room, removed two propellers, installed tenders to ferry passengers to shore, removed barriers between class sections, and added a wide range of entertainment options. The ship was renamed the SS Norway and began service in 1980. Unlike other ships that made multiple stops on a weeklong cruise, the Norway only made two stops. The ship itself was the destination.

The success of the Norway proved that size worked for cruise ships and sparked a race to build bigger and bigger ships. To fit more cabins and amenities, superstructures became taller and wider, hiding smokestacks and shortening bows. This changed the look of cruise ships forever. When the Norway began service in 1980, it was the largest operating passenger ship in the world with an internal volume of over 70,000 gross tons. But ships built in the following decades dwarfed even legendary ocean liners like the Queen Elizabeth of 1940. When the Icon of the Seas launches in 2024, it will have a volume of over 250,000 gross tons.

While some may miss the elegance of design found in older ships, it’s clear that the cruise ship industry has come a long way since its humble beginnings.

It’s certainly possible that people in the future will look back on the cruise ships of the 2020s with nostalgia. Currently, there are over 320 cruise ships sailing around the world, but only one ocean liner remains in regular service: the Queen Mary 2. This magnificent vessel was built in Saint-Nazaire, France and has been in service since 2004. It was christened by Queen Elizabeth II and still operates regular service between Southampton and New York City. It’s amazing to see how the cruise ship industry has evolved over time and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for these massive vessels. 😊