Blast from the Past

[RSLeesburg]

I was cleaning out some boxes and ran across this old cruise guide book - the following pics were taken from the Empress of Britain's World Cruise from New York, January 7 1939.   This cruise was 127 days via the Mediterranean, India, Hong Kong, Bali, South Africa, South America, and West Indies.   I am attaching a pic of the itinerary.  

[RSLeesburg]

And what did this amazing cruise cost?     from $2,300 per person...  and for those wondering about deposits and cancellations, see the attached pic.  If you had to cancel, they would refund your money after they sold your cabin to someone else (minus expenses).  Interesting....

 

[RSLeesburg]

What about children?   Yes, they had a rate schedule for them too.  Again, interesting in how they priced out kids...

[RSLeesburg]

And what was included and not included in the fare?    

[RSLeesburg]

And finally, I found this interesting - first, they limited "membership" so that there would not be overcrowding on this particular cruise, and second, they had set fees for deck chairs, rugs and cushions...lol.   I guess nickle and diming is not limited to today's cruise lines...

[RSLeesburg]

Oh, and if you wanted to read ahead - here is their suggested reading list...

[taglovestocruise]

Makes todays cruising prices pretty cheap. $2300 in 1939 would be $42,000 today. Princess 111 day world cruise  starts at $22,000, and that includes chairs and cushions.  However Princess does not give a discount for servants. 

[RSLeesburg]

29 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Makes todays cruising prices pretty cheap. $2300 in 1939 would be $42,000 today. Princess 111 day world cruise  starts at $22,000, and that includes chairs and cushions.  However Princess does not give a discount for servants. 

I knew someone would translate this into today’s dollars - thanks!   

[lenquixote66]

In 1913 my father boarded a ship in Liverpool England going to NYC.A first class ticket including sit down dining was $150.00.

[TNcruising02]

That's very interesting!  Thanks for posting.

[MicCanberra]

Cheers, very interesting.

[babs135]

Loved this. Thanks for posting

[BaumD]

A few years ago found the passenger manifest from my Grandparents honeymoon cruise on the SS Ft. Victoria from NYC to Bermuda in 1926. I tell people my first cruise was in 1926!!

[whogo]

That is a fun blast from the past, thanks, RSLeesburg. I have never seen 'vised' used to mean visaed.

 

"In her time, Empress of Britain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ship between England and Canada. She was torpedoed on 28 October 1940 by U-32 and sank. At 42,348 gross tons, she was the largest liner lost during the Second World War and the largest ship sunk by a U-boat." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Britain_(1930)" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Britain_(1930)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love reading anything old that is from years and years ago on cruising.

[Heidi13]

Thanks for posting, great reading

[txjim09]

Reminds me of Mark Twain''s cruise in The Innocents Abroad.  Only made it as far as the Middle East and back but it had the same trappings of exclusivity.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[awhcruiser]

I love this!

[mac66]

On 8/4/2019 at 10:36 AM, whogo said:

That is a fun blast from the past, thanks, RSLeesburg. I have never seen 'vised' used to mean visaed.

 

"In her time, Empress of Britain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ship between England and Canada. She was torpedoed on 28 October 1940 by U-32 and sank. At 42,348 gross tons, she was the largest liner lost during the Second World War and the largest ship sunk by a U-boat." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Britain_(1930)" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Britain_(1930)

Interesting history

[wishIweretravelling]

Thanks for posting. This was fascinating!

[ldubs]

Absolutely terrific. Thanks for sharing.   👍👍👍

[cruisemom42]

Love that they refer to cabins as "apartments". And had trunk rooms. I find it amusing to note that certain relics of this dawn of cruising still persist -- they specifically state that gratuities for stewards are not included, and also it appears most beverages are at extra cost.

 

To the person who calculated the cost comparison -- did you account for the fact that the Empress cruise included shore excursions, transfers, etc.? 

[RSLeesburg]

I am glad that everyone enjoyed my initial post.  I had some time to scan a bit more - here are the excursions that were included in the cruise fare, and I also have four pages that outline the "optional" excursions and their costs.  What I found the most interesting is that they offered multi-day excursions that delved deep into the specific area where the ship was docked - extensive tours in India, Egypt, and Africa.  I am not sure if this is something that is also offered on modern-day world cruises, so maybe it is not that unique.    

EoB Included Excursions.pdf EoB Optional Excursions 1.pdf EoB Optional Excursions 2.pdf EoB Optional Excursions 3.pdf EoB Optional Excursions 4.pdf

[Mike981]

On 8/3/2019 at 2:24 PM, RSLeesburg said:

What about children?   Yes, they had a rate schedule for them too.  Again, interesting in how they priced out kids...

 

I thought Disney started the ten year olds are charged as an adult. 

 

Edited to add a BIG thank you for taking the time to share.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Mike981

[RSLeesburg]

30 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 

I thought Disney started the ten year olds are charged as an adult. 

 

Edited to add a BIG thank you for taking the time to share.

I hope I have not given some of the cruise lines some ideas on how they could start to restructure their own fares with regards to children - although my son will be 10 in October, so it will not matter that much...lol