Thirty years ago, in 1982, the modern cruise business was just coming into its second generation. Two years earlier, Norwegian Cruise Line had acquired the fabulous Transatlantic liner SS 'France' and converted her into the largest cruise ship in the world, the SS 'Norway', to operate seven-night cruises from Miami.
As an indication of how successful the industry was becoming, as recently as the 1970s, people had been predicting that cruise ships would never exceed 20,000 tonnes. But by the early 1980s, cruise lines were starting to build ships such as Royal Caribbean's 37,584-tonne 'Song of America', Carnival Cruise Lines' 36,674-tonne 'Tropicale' and Home Lines' 33,800-tonne 'Atlantic'. Today, there are more than sixty ships above 100,000 tonnes – two of which are above 200,000 tonnes.
Here is what was on offer from Florida ports and San Juan in the third weekend of 1982, compared to what is now on offer for the same weekend in 2012:
The ports are those that were most popular thirty years ago for the Caribbean, where modern-day cruising got its start – Miami, Port Everglades (the port for nearby Fort Lauderdale) and San Juan, an early fly/cruise port. Port Canaveral was a three and four-day port in 1982 but has now joined the ranks of seven-day ports. Tampa is not included as it is in the Gulf of Mexico, where Galveston and New Orleans have also become more important today.
The most obvious difference is the size of the ships. Thirty years ago, they were on average about 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes, but today they are over 100,000 tonnes at all four ports examined above. In 1982, the average passenger load was below 1,000. Today it is 3,000 or more. Ship size and passenger have both increased to four or five times what they were. Today, one has to search for a ship that takes only 1,000 passengers, but on the other hand this economy of scale is what has held cruise fares down to 1980s levels, allowing the market to expand.
There were also more longer cruises available in 1982. Royal Caribbean had a 14-day cruise ship in Nordic Prince and Holland America and Sitmar, a predecessor of Silversea, each offered eleven and twelve-night itineraries. Today, there are more five and eight-night itineraries, but not as many long cruises from the same ports.
Oceania Marina in Miami
In 1982, there were half a dozen Saturday departures from San Juan. Today there are only two, with two additional sailings on Sunday, which at least means a better use of the port facilities.
In terms of destinations, several ships now call in the new ports of the Dominican Republic, but even thirty years ago the Carnivale was calling at Samana. The biggest change however has been the introduction of many new ports such as Grand Turk, Falmouth in Jamaica, Cozumel, Roatan and Mahogany Bay that have come on stream in recent years.
Sources: ABC Shipping Guide (1982), Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships and Official Steamship Guide (2012). The number of berths given is lower berths, i.e. two passengers per cabin.
Article originally published by: Kevin Griffin @ Cruise News