The ship is one of the
fundamental pillars in the transportation of goods and passengers by sea. She
has undergone major changes that have allowed moving more and different types
of goods, as well as more people with safety and comfort.
This article will
specifically deal with cruise ships, which nowadays area large vessels dedicated
to the transport of people and whose design and construction are aimed at being
genuine floating hotels. These ships are touristic attractions on their own
right as they provide a wide range of entertainment and satisfactions to their
passengers.
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According to Sanchez R., editor of
the blog CruceroAdicto, the story begins in 1839, when Samuel Cunard, known
as the Prince of the Oceans, won the public tender to transport mail between
Nova Scotia and the United States. The sailboat of the company Cunard Line,
known as Britannia, sailed from the English city of Liverpool to Boston (United
States) in 1840 and later, sold tickets on board the boat that allowed
English society to enjoy the trip between England and Glen.
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http://efemeridesnavales.blogspot.com/2010/07/4-de-julio-de-1840-el-britannia-primer.html
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Some people say that
the history of the cruises, in which the passengers were not part of the cargo,
dates back to 1856 when Lord Dufferin, a British diplomat, was the first to
take a pleasure cruise on a schooner named Foam, that saw a passage through the
North Atlantic making the route between Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and
northern Norway.
https://www.alamy.es/foto-barrabool-pampo-linea-una-clase-solamente-england-egypt-ceilan-sri-lanka-australia-servicio-buque-doble-husillo-fecha-circa-1910s-105368061.html
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In 1858, the British company P
& O through the Ceylon, offered as a regular line service for the route
comprising the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Egypt, until it was
acquired by the British company Ocean Steamship Yatching Co. This company
made large transformations to the ship that allowed her to sail around the
world until she was scrapped in 1907.
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However, the beginning
of the golden era of this type of transportation was during the twentieth
century with the construction of the well-known ocean liners, in which the RMS
Lusitania and the RMS Mauretania, which belonged to the British shipping
company Cunard Line, stand out. They were the largest vessels that dominated
the cruise industry until the White Star Line Company launched the RMS Olympic
and the RMS Titanic, in 1911 and 1912, respectively.
The evolution of these
ships from the twentieth century has brought with it, not only a change in its
design, size and speed of navigation, but also a change in the ability to comfortably
accommodate a large number of people willing to enjoy their free moments and
leisure at sea. Currently, the giants of the sea, cover the routes East-West
and North-South. Different Caribbean islands are among the main tourist
attractions currently offered by the cruise industry.
According to the
classification presented by Port Mobility Civitavecchia, among the ten most
magnanimous sea giants, four of them sail through the Caribbean, such as:
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The Norwegian Breakaway, tenth
largest passenger ship belonging to the company Norwegian Cruise Line. She
won for the fifth consecutive year, the prize as the best cruise line in the
Caribbean in the World Travel Awards 2017. She has a capacity for 3963
passengers and 1600 crew.
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https://es.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway#destinations
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Liberty_of_the_Seas
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The seventh place is occupied by theLiberty
of the Seas and the sixth place is for the Freedom of the Seas. Both belong
to the Royal Caribbean International line and have a capacity of 3634
passengers and 1365 crew members.
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https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Epic
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In the fifth place is the
Norwegian Epic that belongs to the NCL Norwegian Cruise Line. She can
accommodate the amount of 4100 passengers and 1730 crew.
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Additionally, there
are other shipping lines providing services in the Caribbean such as: Princess
Cruise based in Santa Clarita, California, Costa Crucero Italian company, MSC
Cruises, which is the fourth largest in the world and it is based in Europe,
Pullmantur Cruises company, from Spain,
among others. However, the global newspaper El País (2016) indicates that this
sector is in the hands of "three large groups based in Miami such as Carnival,
Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, which control more than 80% of the
business."
On the other hand,
Schneider M. and Díaz A. of the CruceroAdicto blog, reveal that cruise
itineraries in the Caribbean Sea are classified in the Western Caribbean,
Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean. The Western Caribbean includes the
ports of Florida such as Miami or Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans or Texas and
destinations such as Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Grand Cayman, Key West (FL),
Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Belize, Costa Rica etc. The Eastern Caribbean
includes the ports of Florida or San Juan of Puerto Rico and destinations such
as Bahamas, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti, St. Marteen, etc.
Finally, the South Caribbean includes ports such as San Juan, Barbados, Florida
or Cartagena de Indias in Colombia and whose destinations are Aruba, Bonaire,
Curacao, Antigua, Martinique, Santa Lucia, Isla de Margarita, Granada, St.
Kitts and Nevis, among others.
Also, people who use
this type of service come from cold countries located to the north and whose
preferences are aimed at enjoying the landscapes, culture and adventure. At
this point the global newspaper El País (2016) indicates that "75% of
cruise ship users come from North America and Europe, especially from the
United Kingdom and Germany, and the most popular destinations are the Caribbean
and Mediterranean routes".
One might think that
the importance of the Caribbean in the cruise industry lies in the warm,
paradisiacal and tropical climate, since according to the classification shown,
40% of the largest ships have a Caribbean island among their itinerary. In
addition, with the evolution in the design of the ships, it could be said that
there has been a change of paradigm in which, the importance does not lie in
the transport of people themselves, but in the tourist destination and in the
comforts and services that the ship offers, hence the diversity of marketing
strategies used by the shipping lines of the sector. They are aimed at
promoting aspects such as rest, innovation, personalized assistance,
entertainment, cinemas, theaters, swimming pools, multipurpose courts,
libraries, among others , created to satisfy the preferences and expectations
of the consumer.
