Travel Then and Now

Established by Congress 35 years ago, National Travel and Tourism Week is the perfect excuse to travel-dream. (Travel-dreams are day-dreams that take place in spectacular destinations.) And this year’s theme, Travel Then and Now, is an irresistible invitation to reminisce. It’s astounding to think how developments and technology have transformed the way we vacation over the course of the last century. We hope you’ll enjoy this trip down memory lane!

We’ve been thinking a lot lately about how travel has changed—even since we first began offering cruises and tours in 1981. Consider some of these changes related to our regular cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean and Hawaii:

• The first cruise ships were tiny compared to today’s giants. In the past, famed transatlantic ocean liners like the Queen Elizabeth 2 weighed 70,000 tons and carried 1,700 passengers. Today, mega-ships like Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas reach 225,000 tons while carrying 5,500 passengers and 2,300 crew.

• In the late 1970s, only three cruise ships arrived each season in tiny Ketchikan, Alaska, a coastal town with 13,000 residents. By 2000, 38 ships were visiting on a regular basis, bringing half a million visitors to this fishing village. Last year set a new record. More than a million visitors arrived in Ketchikan, one of our passengers’ favorite ports.

• Today, Hawaii is a prime vacation and cruise destination. But to get to Hawaii in the early part of the 20th century, travelers had to endure a week-long ocean voyage! The first commercial air service from the U.S. mainland required a 16-hour flight in 1935, and the first jet service to Hawaii didn’t arrive until 1959.
• Cruise travel once meant being “out of touch” with the mainland for several days in a row. In the 1990’s ships became equipped with satellite telephone systems, and in 1999, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky became the first ship to offer an internet cafe. Other cruise lines followed, and today, WiFi packages are now an option on almost every ship.

From Ancient to Modern-day Israel

Israel is also one of our top tour destinations. We guide thousands of visitors to the Holy Land annually for life-changing tours. This year marks Israel’s 70th year of independent statehood—and the nation has changed significantly since then.

Imagine traveling to Jerusalem before 1948. Until the 1860s, all of its 18,000 residents lived within the Old City’s walls. Today its population is near 900,000, spread across a metro area of 252 square miles.

What else is different now versus then?

• A century ago, Damascus Gate was visited by more sheep than people.
• While a site of Christian reflection, the Garden Tomb had not yet become a major attraction.
• Since 19th century Jewish settlers began transforming Israel’s neglected landscape, its agricultural production has increased sevenfold, and today, its number of farming communities has grown from 400 to 900.
• Cars once drove down Jaffa Street. Today, it’s closed to vehicles other than Jerusalem’s ultra modern, sleek light rail, added in 2002.

While we celebrate the many changes our industry has undergone, what we value more is the way travel changes you. Whether joining fellow Believers on a worship cruise, teaching tour or tracing Jesus’ footsteps through the Holy Land, travel experiences can impact your life in surprising—and far-reaching ways.

The world is waiting. What changes are in store for you?