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All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) ©  Paul Timmerman

After WWII most surviving passenger ships were still engaged as troop transports, and after their service in this role ended, they were returned to their pre-war owners. By 1947/48 most lines had their vessels back in service. 

Among these ships were a handful of full time cruise ships, mostly in the luxury segment, like Cunard’s Caronia and Bergen Line´s Stella Polaris.

                                                               Caronia 1948, Cunard Line

In Europe as well as in America , mostly older, converted liners were used in the cruise trades. Costa Cruises, Home Lines, Sitmar and Chandris all slowly switched from the migrant trade to cruising as they lost their profitable government-contracts to carry emigrants and mail. For example Home Lines was one of the first shipping companies in 1963 to switch to cruising entirely, at the time a bold step. Their newbuilding Oceanic of 1965 (see ship description) which had originally been planned as an ocean liner was adapted to full time cruising during construction, making her the largst cruise ship at the time.

Newcomers in the cruise business like Typaldos and Epirotiki from Greece used second hand tonnage consisting of converted or just upgraded vessels. Rebuilt ferries, tenders and even a former tanker, Typaldos´ Iraklion were pushed into cruise service.

Many passenger ships were built in this era with just liner service in mind and these became highly unprofitable to run in the second half of the fifties with the advent of the jet aircraft. In 1959, six months after the first commercial flight across the North Atlantic, for the first time more people flew across the Atlantic rather than sail on a liner.

Suddenly ship owners faced severe problems as their ships were losing money rapidly.

They had to react immediately and did so in several ways:

-         Some liners were taken out of service and were adapted to or even fully rebuilt for cruise service,

-          Existing liner voyages were marketed as cruises and second or even upgraded third class accommodation was sold as tourist class cabins to attract a new kind of passengers.

          Willem Ruys sailed on round the world service in the '60s. These trips were marketed as cruises

These days, passengers sailing on passenger ships expected their quarters on board to reflect the same standards as they found in hotels or even just at home. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, the standard of living had improved significantly, more people both had money and time to travel; cruising wasn’t just for the rich anymore. Borders between classes on board diminished, not only at sea of course, but ashore as well.

Poster concerning Queen of Bermuda cruise service from New York to Bermuda

An example of this is the cruise ship Reina del Mar (1955) of the Union Castle Line, a vessel catering for the less demanding passenger than those who sailed on board Caronia (1948, Cunard Line) or Andes (1939, Royal Mail Lines). She even took part in a special scheme developed by a Mr. Wilson whose firm Travel Savings Association organised inexpensive cruises.

The famous Queens (Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth) the France, the United States and the Italian Michelangelo and Raffaello were all completely unfit for cruising without spending vast amounts of money on rebuilding these ships. For example their lay-out couldn’t be changed to one class without major alterations, they lacked airconditioning and outside swimming pools, their draft was to deep to visit small ports popular in cruise service, etc.

                                                         Magnificent ships: Michelangelo & Raffaello

Cunard Line tried to adapt the Queens for cruising, by installing outdoor pools and solving the airco-problem, but both were a financial disaster and were taken out of service in 1967 (the Mary) and  1968 (the Elizabeth) respectively.

The pride of the French, the 1962 built France, was sold to a Norwegian firm and after being converted to the cruise ship Norway was the only one of this breed of ships that would see further service as a cruise vessel…..

Some shipping lines seriously looked into the future, and recognised in time that generating money from liner service would soon end and that their vessels had so be suited for a dual role: liner service as well as cruising, with the emphasis on the last.

Holland America Line was one of these firms with insight and reacted twofold:

-          They introduced two intermediate (15.000 GRT) vessels, Rijndam (1951) and Maasdam (1952). These vessels offered almost exclusively tourist accommodations (just a handful of first class cabins were provided),         

-   A new ship which that could easily be converted from liner to cruise service : the brand new Rotterdam V of 1959. She was fitted with an ingenious stairway with sliding panels so she could switch from two class liner to one class cruise ship as desired. She made her final voyage in liner service in 1969.

Many of these dual purpose liners followed, like Canberra (1961) and QE2 (1969).  QE2 would soldier on to this day as one of the last transatlantic liners (she has been relieved by the new Queen Mary2 in January 2004, after which she has become a full time cruise ship). All other dual purpose liners switched to full time cruising in the sixties or seventies.

Because of a series of fires on passenger ships like for example the Morro Castle just before WWII, on ships like Canberra and QE2, fireproof materials were used where possible. It was said that on board the United States of 1952, only the butcher's block and the piano in the show lounge were made of wood (the piano builder had refused to make a metal one, because it would not sound right!). The modernistic interiors of these ships were criticised for there cheerless, severe, and sterile atmosphere.

During the sixties and the beginning of the seventies, four business men would lay the foundations for cruise companies still existing today which have strongly influenced the cruise industry.

Stan Mc Donald - founder of Princess Cruises in 1964

Knut Kloster     - founder of Norwegian Caribbean Line in 1966

Edwin Stephan - founder of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1970

Ted Arison       - founder of Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972.

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