Time Travel: The History of Cruises

This week in our Time Travel series, we’re sailing through the history of the cruising industry.

Although sailing is hardly a new form of transportation, the shipping industry didn’t revolutionize travel until the advent of steamboats at the end of the 18th century. Starting in 1819, ocean liners crossed the Atlantic, carrying explorers as well as immigrants and dominating transatlantic travel.

The shipping industry shifted its focus to tourism at the turn of the 20th century, as passenger liners gave to airplanes as the most efficient method of travel. Over the past 50 years, cruising has reinvented itself with a luxury angle and contemporary vessels cover almost as many interests as they do destinations.

Flip through the gallery above to find out how passenger shipping and cruises have changed over almost 200 years.

Sarra Sedghi is a freelance writer based in Athens, Ga. She studies narrative nonfiction at the University of Georgia, edits the food section for My Athens and collects national park quarters.