Let's Go Cruising

The first purpose-built cruise ship in history, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, was launched by Albert Ballin’s Hamburg-America Line on 29th June, 1900. Luxuriously appointed, she was kitted out with entirely first-class cabins, a hotel-quality kitchen, and an innovative dark room - at the behest of the Kaiser himself. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly peruse the Menu passengers enjoyed; explain how an incident in Jamaica ended life for this historic ship; and recall how, despite Ballin’s innovations, it took many decades for his cruising concept to truly take root…  CONTENT WARNING: suicide Further Reading: • ‘The History of the World's First Cruise Ship Built Solely for Luxurious Travel’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2021): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-worlds-first-cruise-ship-built-solely-luxurious-travel-180978254/ • ‘History of Cruise Ships’ (HowStuffWorks): https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/cruise-ship1.htm • ‘The Evolution of Cruise Ships (1904 - 2021)’ (The Insighters, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXdn7pr2VA For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices