Book Review: Giants of the Seas by Aaron Saunders

[Mattsudds]

I'm not sure if Cruisecritic has a place for book recommendations and reviews, but thought here was as good as any.

 

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There was a time when received wisdom said that cruise ships would never be bigger than 20,000 tons and with rising fuel prices, cruising would continue to be the holiday of only a wealthy few. However history turned out differently and today even a 90,000 gt ship is considered only medium size in many cruse ship guides.

 

Aaron Saunders, an enthusiastic regular cruise ship correspondent has put together a new book showing how the industry has evolved from that view by taking as case studies, each significant new ship and examining what it brought the industry. The result is his new book, Giants of the Seas, which is now published.

 

Beginning with Sovereign of the Seas, the first mega ship, Saunders devotes a few pages to each new ship, usually the lead ship in class, explaining its significance and some of the design features. The hardback book features stunning photography and has some very interesting takes on the significance of individual vessels. As someone who essentially grew up with only the modern cruise industry and recalls the publicity surrounding each new vessel, and their firsts, Saunders has captured well the developments.

 

The book places many new vessels in their appropriate context and whilst the focus is on the big, the important smaller ships are covered too, such as the Seabourn ships, Oceania, Compagnie du Ponant etc.

 

There were some, to me surprising, omissions. Carnival Spirit is not covered, despite the hull being the prototype for both the Vista and Spirit class. Also left out are the Windstar ships.

 

There are also a couple of errors in the book concerning ship features. For instance, the Carnival Dream class promenade does indeed go all the way around, the AidaDiva had six near sisters, rather than five. And the Theatrium does not include restaurants, but is an entertainment and bar space.

 

For me the book would have benefitted from starting earlier. For instance, one has a better understanding of the Fantasy class by reflecting on the Jubilee/ Holiday/ Celebration/ Tropicale and themselves going back to the Carnivale and Mardi Gras. similarly, NCLs white ships and the early Royal Caribbean ships were key influences in the design of many later ships.

 

None of this though can detract from an interesting and well produced volume celebrating the modern cruise ships.

 

Giants of the Seas is published in the UK by Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781848321724. 190 pages hardback, cover price £30.