Since the days of ocean liners like the Titanic, cruise ships have come a long way, and they’re just getting bigger and more elaborate. How did we get here?!
These days, cruise ships are essentially floating cities, none more so than Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, the Icon of the Seas. (Google it if you haven’t seen it all over the internet recently. You’ll be astounded!) It’s fantastic that we can enjoy every luxury or type of entertainment available on a cruise ship, but how did they get this way?
Ocean liners, like the Titanic, existed before cruise ships. Prior to affordable air travel, ocean liners were the fastest way to travel to other continents. They were enormous ships but not particularly luxurious, at least in comparison to today’s standards. Ocean liners were divided by income and class, and they were not made to be the destination for your vacation. As a result, they had to be designed in a way that favored speedy travel over luxury travel.
When air travel became more convenient and economical, ocean liners became extinct, and boat travel became more about the experience than the pace. Discover how the world has transitioned from ocean liners to cruise ships and how today’s ships are on a whole new level:
