AFT VIEW
became a little despondent. “I can’t go on,” he said. “There’s just too much to do and I’m overwhelmed. I’m jacking it in as I don’t think it’s hanging together.”
I had just completed a lengthy re-write of the latest attachment. “You are not,” I responded. “It’s looking good.” After some more arm twisting, he agreed, and we managed to press on. Pressure of work necessitated my putting the project on the back-burner for a time, and the attachments piled up in my in-tray, sad and forlorn. Then, one morning, he called. “Copy deadline is two months away,” he advised.
S
ome feverish activity on my part brought the end in sight. Attachments flew between us in an almost con- stant stream, until finally we both agreed that it was right for submission. Since the completed script now lay in my
computer, it was I who attached it and sent it off to the publisher – along with a sigh of relief, as I could now turn my attention back to my somewhat neglected business. But, the relief was short-lived for the
attachments soon started again, this time from the publisher with proofs requiring checking and, in places, re-writing. But at last it was done, and publication date – August 9th
– announced.
I felt an enormous sense of pride for, although I have authored three or four self- published books in the past, this was the real thing, soon to be in the public domain. The rest is history but, if you thought the cruise holiday to be a relatively recent phenomenon, you should be in for a surprise – one of the first ‘cruises’ to be documented was actually back in 1881, when the former P&O steamship Ceylon
88 WORLD OF CRUISING I Autumn 2010
“If you thought the CRUISE HOLIDAY to be a relatively RECENT PHENOMENON, you should be IN FOR A SURPRISE”
was converted for full-time cruising, and countless others followed. A variety of twists and turns of fate also
played an important role in the industry’s extraordinary growth: there were many, but two totally disparate events undoubtedly contributed – one was Prohibition, and the other a soap opera called The Love Boat that
ran for several years on American television. But, dear reader, I’m not going to tell
you any more – you will need to read the book for yourself. Follow our story as it tracks from the tiny Prinzessin Victoria Louise of 1900 to Royal Caribbean Interna- tional’s giant Oasis of the Seas of 2009. And if, at the end of the day, you get as
much enjoyment out of reading it as Roger and I got out of writing it, then we will be well pleased indeed!
‘Cruise America – A History of the American Cruise Industry’ is published in the UK by The History Press at £19.99 and is available from
www.thehistorypress.
co.uk or from
Amazon.com, or by calling The History Press on 01453 883300.
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