National Lampoon Teased Social Distancing on Cruise Ships 46 Years Ago
Author: BillIn the 1970s, cruising as we know it today was just becoming a reality. Ocean liners and cruise ferries had long been sailing, but in the US, the idea of leisure trips on ships was only beginning to enter the minds of Americans with the recent creation of Norwegian Caribbean Line (now Norwegian Cruise Line) followed by Carnival Cruise Lines. As the public saw firsthand the massive scale and opulence of passenger ships that challenged the perception of floating craft for many, this combined with the intrigue of ocean liners still steaming the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, inviting satire. Few publications at this time were as popular and edgy as National Lampoons, so in their April 1974 edition, they included a “souvenir brochure” for the RMS Tyrannic... read more