The First Cruise Ship Was Also The First Cruise Ship Disaster
The Prinzessin Victoria Luise
The Titanic. The Lusitania. The Costa Concordia. We all know about these horrifying maritime tragedies, but few remember the chilling history of the Prinzessin Victoria Luise. Not only was it the first ever cruise ship—it was also the first cruise ship disaster.
The First Cruises
Though there were passenger ships before the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, they were primarily ocean liners meant for long-distance travel between two points—not a leisure cruise for the wealthy. While some ship brokerages began to offer cruises as we know them today in the late 19th century, they quickly realized that such extravagant trips created a problem.
Around The World
As the operators of the first around-the-world cruise in 1881 discovered, cruising was an expensive business, and the ocean liners of the day weren’t necessarily appropriate for it. Operating such a large ship was costly, especially considering cruise guests wanted luxury, and ocean liners were outfitted for shipping and transporting multiple classes of passengers.
But could building a ship just for cruising be worth it?
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Moving Up In The World
Considering the proliferation of cruise ships today, it’s not a spoiler alert to say yes, it would be worth it to build a cruise ship—but the world just needed someone daring enough to take the financial risk. His name was Albert Ballin.
Albert Ballin
Ballin worked HAPAG, AKA the Hamburg America Line, a transatlantic shipping enterprise, starting there as the manager of their passenger department. When HAPAG brought a new ship into their roster, he had an idea to shake things up.
