New Website Features Cruise Ship History

[alphakitty]

I came across this searching the cruise news and thought some of you would enjoy this site. Lots of great info about cruising in the old days. :)

 

Beverly Hills, CA, June 16, 2008 --(PR.com)-- "Cruising The Past" is a new website examining the history of cruise lines, cruise ships and steamships. The website is also dealing with reviews of contemporary cruising and new ships.

 

Michael L. Grace, one of the creators of the musical Snoopy based on Charles M. Shultz “Peanuts” and a seasoned historian of cruise ship travel, is the editor of the website: cruisingthepast.com. Grace has traveled on over 50 cruise ships and has circled the globe three times.

 

The website is presenting a wide selection of maritime material concerned with steamship travel and cruising from the 1930s through the 1960s.

 

Grace, who has written for television and was a staff writer on the popular series Love Boat, feels: “The Cruising The Past website examines the glamour of steamship travel prior to the introduction of 747s and the mass cruise market created by the hit TV series Love Boat. They are taking a close look at a “retro” period when there were no security checks, 24-hour buffets or baseball caps worn by passengers. The website studies an age when “getting there was half the fun” in an era when travel was an event and not a nightmare.”

 

According to Grace, the site has been up for four months and is securing a strong advertising base. The site includes a good number of videos on cruises prior to the 1950s. Cruising The Past has a large library of early cruise line material along with a major collection of film footage from the first half of the last century dealing with cruise ships.

 

Grace is currently finishing a book focused on how the TV Series "Love Boat" effected the cruise industry and the popularity of contemporary cruising.

 

Grace added: “We realize many aspects of modern day cruising are much more comfortable than these earlier ships. Cabins are larger and there is a much wider choice of accommodations and activities. But certain aspects of social interaction are absent. There is no longer a feeling of gentility on most cruise ships. Most of the times you think you’re stuck in some strip hotel in Vegas that’s been dropped down in the sea.”

 

The website can be found at http:cruiselinehistory.com

 

 

I particularly enjoyed this video of the SS United States linked on the page above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sex1qjiVX8&feature=related