Cruising’s Plight Prompts Memories of a Distinguished Literary Presence

Through the magic of Twitter, I came across a recently released video highlighting the plight of the historic, but crumbling former ocean liner S.S. United States. The segment highlights John Maxtone-Graham, a Scottish-American author and ocean liner expert, as he inspects the once-proud ship, now tied up at a municipal dock in Philadelphia.

I found it easy to admire Mr. Maxtone-Graham upon meeting him in 1997 at a Cunard Line media gathering. He had a friendly and gentlemanly manner, speaking in a distinctive style that melded Scottish, American and New York phrasing (he called it his “transatlantic” accent).

He offered some encouraging words as we spoke following his presentation on transatlantic-era ships. He later handed me a signed copy of “The Only Way to Cross,” his history of transatlantic ocean liners, the seagoing predecessors of today’s mega cruise ships.

Only later did I learn of his impressive and distinguished background. Maxtone-Graham took his first ocean voyage aboard the liner Minnewaska in 1929 at six months old, accompanying his family as they moved to London following the stock market crash.

How Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart Transformed Caribbean…

Sandals Founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart Dead at 79

NCL Appoints Derek Lloyd VP Sales, North America

After graduating from Brown University in 1951, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. Later he worked as a Broadway stage manager.

Somehow that distinguished worldliness was instantly recognizable. Ever since that day in 1997, I’ve thought of Mr. Maxtone-Graham as the immaculate personification of the sophistication and class attached to the classic ocean liners, the choice transportation mode for yesteryear’s one percent.

It was those bygone passenger liners that led directly to today’s cruise ships, as the launch of commercial air service in the late 1950s eliminated the transportation role the transatlantic ships once served.

In a decades-long process, ship owners re-configured existing transatlantic vessels for oceangoing vacations, and ultimately developed the first “white ships” built exclusively for cruise vacations. The process led directly to the feature-filled mega-liners of today.

Mr. Maxtone-Graham, who passed away in 2015, made hundreds of transatlantic crossings according to his New York Times obituary and lived long enough to personally witness transatlantic shipping’s unlikely transformation into the highly successful cruise industry of today.

Recalling him today, I wonder what he would make of the present circumstances, as cruise companies in many ways face the greatest-ever threat to their explosive growth over the last 50 years, awaiting the go-ahead to return their vessels to the world’s oceans after nearly a year of virtual inactivity.

In “The Only Way to Cross,” he observed in 1972 that transatlantic transportation, which fewer than 10 years earlier was a staple industry and still the dominant way to travel between the U.S. and Europe, faced a fast decline.

“As I complete this book, there is every indication that the airplane rather than the ship will shortly be the only way to cross,” he wrote.

I don’t believe the cruise industry now faces a literal extinction, but certainly times are tougher than ever. Cruise companies have shown tremendous resilience throughout the pandemic. More will be required in the days ahead as they navigate the waters to once again enjoy the privilege to embark guests for seagoing vacations.