SS PRINZESSIN VICTORIA LUISE: The First Cruise Ship (1901)

Rindfleisch
Published on Mar 17, 2021
As the brainchild of Albert Ballin, general director of HAPAG, the PRINZESSIN VICTORIA LUISE was the first purpose-built cruise ship. Her passenger accommodation was devoted entirely to First Class passengers. Her clipper bow, white livery, gold scrollwork, and twin funnels made her as beautiful as she was luxurious. Ballin's vision of a dedicated cruise ship was extraordinary as it predated both the depression and the jet age. Those eras saw ocean liners pressed into service as cruise ships out of necessity. In contrast the VICTORIA LUISE was built for pure pleasure at the high point of the Belle Ã‰poque. A gleaming white symbol of a soon to be bygone era. Her demise in December 1906 foreshadowed the dark days that lay ahead for Ballin and his beloved liners.