WORLD SHIP SOCIETY

The Port of New York played a pivotal role in the birth of modern cruising as the center of the burgeoning industry in the post-World War II era. Eclipsed by the Miami and Port Everglades in the 1970s, New York began a long decline as a cruise homeport. Eventually cruises no longer departed year-round from the port as South Florida became cruising’s epicenter. In recent years, however, New York has been reborn as a popular year-round cruise port once again, with terminals in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey hosting a wide range of cruise ships.

Writer and historian Allan Jordan traced the evolution of cruising from the Port of New York, from its role in the birth of the modern cruise industry through its decline and rebirth as a cruise homeport. Along the way, he recalled many of the ships that became well-known cruising from New York, from dual-purpose ocean liners such as the CARONIA, GRIPSHOLM, and BREMEN and early full-time cruise ships such as the NASSAU, OCEANIC, and AMERIKANIS, to the ships of today’s resurgence.

Allan is a frequent contributor on the history and future of the cruise industry to Cruise Travel magazine, Maritime Executive, and Cruise Business Review. He is also the author of two books—a history of Norwegian Cruise Line and Saluting the Aloha Spirit, a history of American Hawaii Cruises—and has lectured aboard many cruise ships.

(Photo Credit: Stuart Gewirtzman)