Liner passengers
Luxury and glamour
In first class, decoration, catering, service and accommodation
was at least as good as in the best hotels on shore. So
travel became a pleasurable experience - as long as the weather was
kind! Much was made of fashionable people, especially film
stars, who travelled on the ships. Shipping lines encouraged
gossip columnists to write about their famous passengers.
They knew some of the glamour would rub off and polish their own
image. Until the 1950s, the big passenger liners remained
unchallenged. Then, however, long-distance jet aircraft
arrived. Despite the glamour of sea travel, most North
Atlantic passengers quickly opted for a seven-hour flight over a
seven-day sea voyage. By the early sixties, more people were
flying than crossing by sea: the day of the passenger ship as a
liner was over. Cruise ships have continued many of the
traditions of the liners. However, with a somewhat artificial
itinerary covered at a leisurely speed, they can never recapture
the excitement and style of the days when the elegant and
brilliantly run `ocean greyhounds` were, literally, `the only way
to cross.`
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