Cruise: Identity, Design and Culture

This is an affectionate look at the cruise business, concept and history. I have seen the old stories such as 'An Affair to Remember,' but I had no idea that the idea of cruising went back as far as the 1890's. Nor did I have any idea about the size of the business today. These huge ships remind me of nothing so much as Las Vegas casinos or some of the modern resort hotels. The cruise, like life itself, becomes a journey, not a destination. This book is profusely illustrated with pictures of cruising that cover the whole range of time since the beginning. They start with a reproduction of a poster advertising a pleasure cruise to the West Indies. It was a sixty day cruise. The latest picture which is on the back cover is a 2003 view of the 'Diamond Princess' a ship of 116,000 tons that can carry 2670 passengers. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone thinking of taking a cruise.