Step aboard the most beautiful cruise ships, from the 1930s to present day! Discover life aboard as well as numerous mythical ports of call, from the Caribbean to the Far East...It was in 1891 that Albert Balin, director of the Hamburg American Line, invented a travel concept that would soon enjoy world-wide success: the pleasure cruise...Largely democratized since the days of the first floating palaces of the 1930s, the cruise ship has become a veritable village resort, entirely conceived and designed for the pleasure of its passengers. The activities and festivities held aboard have become equally important as the excursions planned at port. Amply illustrated with archival and contemporary photos - largely unpublished - including archival documents, passenger travel diaries, and richly captioned brochures and posters, Full Steam Ahead takes the reader on a gloriously nostalgic journey aboard the first frail pleasure steamers to the largest cruise liners of all time - visiting (or revisiting) numerous legendary ports of call along the way, divided geographically: the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Great North and Poles, Latin America, East and South Africa, as well as the Far East.