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GetTraveling.com - A Transportation History of Florida by Rail, Sea & Air
Description: Essential history, design, trade routes, images, statistics, ranking and memorabilia for over 100 of the last ocean liners and classic passenger ships of the 1950s and 1960s.
Until 1958, the majority of North Atlantic travelers went by sea. That was the busiest year ever for the ocean liners, carrying over a million passengers, but it was also the year of the first transatlantic jet service. By the next year, the airlines claimed two-thirds of the market with over 1.5 million passengers, while the shipping companies' share declined to less than 5% within a decade.
Travel by ocean liners had boomed after World War II, as new more comfortable ships were turned out by the world's shipyards. For example, there was United States Lines' record-breaking United States , dashing from New York to England and France in less than five days; Costa Line's trend-setting Eugenio C (above) connecting Italy with Brazil and Argentina; and the stalwart Tahitien of Messageries Maritimes , whose far ranging two-month voyages from Marseille to Australia linked the French isl
The ocean liner era was all but over by the early 1970s. The Suez Canal was closed by war from 1967 to 1975, disrupting sea routes worldwide. New Boeing 747's spanned all the oceans, making air travel more affordable. Containerships were making passenger and cargo combination ships obsolete and then the price of fuel oil jumped from US $35 to US $95 per ton.
GetCruising.com - See our Worldwide Luxury Cruise Videos
GetTraveling.com - A Transportation History of Florida by Rail, Sea & Air