SO WHEN did passenger cruising become a thing?
According to the Stuff you Missed in History Class podcast, the whole sector was born when a ship owner named Jeremiah Thompson decided to add a revenue stream to his cargo ship business by squeezing people in between the crates.
The first “cruise trips” were advertised as a faster and roomier way of getting across the Atlantic Ocean between the US and Europe than regular boat sailings.
What started out as a secondary business model soon became a focus for many shipping companies who responded to the growing appetite for cruising the open seas in style and comfort.
It was hunky-dory from there.