Ocean-going vessels were originally built to transport cargo across the oceans. In 1818, the Black Ball Line offered regularly scheduled service between the United States and Britain. But it was slow and not designed to carry passengers.
When Cunard was granted the contract to deliver mail between Britain, Canada, and the United States in 1939, it introduced steamships that broke the speed record for crossing the Atlantic. Before long, passengers started to hitch rides, and by 1840, Cunard’s Britannia sailed with a cow on board to supply passengers with fresh milk.
During the mid-19th century, more ships began to cater to travelers, and amenities like electric lights, promenade decks, and more comfortable accommodations were added. In the early 20th century, both Cunard and rival White Star Line were offering cruises aboard their ships the Mauritania, the Lusitania, the Titanic, and the Olympic. These ships offered many of the luxuries we associate with cruising today — swimming pools, ornate dining rooms, and even a tennis court.
But the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 dealt a devastating blow to the White Star Line, and the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 similarly affected Cunard. During World War I, production of cruise ships was sidelined and many ocean liners were repurposed as troop carriers. At the end of the war, the German super liners were given to Great Britain and the United States as reparations.
Following World War I, transatlantic cruises became a preferred journey for the rich and famous. And during the 1930s, transpacific cruises aboard ships like the Empress of Japan became popular. But World War II derailed the cruise industry once again and most passenger cruises were discontinued and the cruise ships redeployed for military use.
The arrival of the jet age in the late 1950s had a dramatic impact on transatlantic cruises. Travel that once took days could now be done in hours. Cruising was not only inefficient, it was old hat, and flying became the preferred way to travel.
With no market for transatlantic cruises, many cruise lines repositioned their cruise ships and started offering Caribbean cruises. These were the first cruises that were more about enjoyment than transportation. And by the middle of the 1960s, mass-market cruise companies like Princess and Norwegian Cruise Line were offering affordable vacations to everyone.
In 1980, NCL introduced the first mega ship — the 2,181-passenger Norway — and the race was on. The 2,350-passenger Sovereign of the Sea, launched in 1988, was the first in a series of “biggest cruise ship” titles held by Royal Caribbean, whose Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas hold that title today.
Passengers on those original ocean liners could never have imagined the amenities on modern cruise ships. With ice skating rinks, water slides, zip lines, living gardens, grass lawns, and bowling alleys, what’s next?