In another thread Carnival Cruise and it’s origin was mentioned. From the article that was linked it appeared that the history of how the cruise business in Miami got started may not be well know.
The history of the Miami cruise industry is also very much the history of the Norwegian involvement in the international cruise business, then and now.
Here is two article from The Cruise Insider that give a more accurate description of how this came about: (Long read)
Look around the twentieth century Western cruisescape and what do you see? Norwegians, right?! Norwegians everywhere! You may not have noticed them because these crafty mountain folk look a lot like any other Tom, Dick and Harry but ask them a...
You probably think I’m kidding, but I’m not. The world’s third-largest cruise corporation is called Norwegian Cruise Line, despite never having been founded in or based out of Norway. The men (and the money) in the early timeline of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line were predominantly Norwegian. The ‘Olsen’ in Fred. Olsen Cruise Line is straight out of the Norwegian fjords. Norway boasts one of the most internationally recognized domestic cruise lines, despite the stubbornly un-international name Hurtigruten .
A surprisingly large number of cruise lines – current as well as bygone – have Norwegian blood (or money) flowing in their corporate veins and Norwegian mariners at the helm of their ships. I do not have exact statistics on hand but I’d wager that Norwegian sailors (at least officers) are only rivalled numerically by Brits in the cruise industry. And we all ‘get’ the British prevalence at sea, right? – island nation, maritime empire, ‘Britannia rule the waves’ and so on. But where do the hardy farmers and fishermen of a far-flung mountain realm get off shaping and dominating the development of the modern cruise industry.
‘Hello? .. Yes, good evening! My name is Ted Arison and I’m calling from Miami, USA. We’ve never met but boy, do I have a great business proposal for you!’I have no idea if those were the exact words but as cold calls go, this was one of the most...
In 1966, 42-year-old Israeli-American cruise operator Ted Arison found himself in dire straits in Miami, Florida. He had lost the one ship his fledgling cruise operation was based on due to the shipowner pulling out of the charter and all his attempts at securing a new ship in time had gone nowhere. He had the workings and bookings of a cruise line, but no ship and money was starting to get tight. With all other options exhausted Arison grasped at straws, picked up the phone and called a man he had only ever read about. Across the Atlantic, in Norway, a phone started ringing.
Answering the phone across the Atlantic was the then-37-year-old, third-generation Norwegian shipping tycoon Knut Utstein Kloster of Klosters Rederi A/S (est. 1923). I do not know if he habitually took business calls from complete strangers, but nevertheless he heard Arison out and something clicked. Arison laid out his idea of a cooperation in which he would provide all the functional and commercial framework of a cruise line business, if only Kloster would contribute a suitable ship and found Kloster a surprisingly engaged and attentive listener. While Arison did not get a firm commitment from Kloster on the phone, the two did agree to meet up in Miami and talk in person soonest and the result of that meeting became a formal cooperation to start a new company with the commercial cruise line staffing, sales and marketing apparatus handled by Arison and the ship management and nautical affairs handled by Kloster. The ship that Kloster contributed was the cruise ferry MS Sunward and the company was named Norwegian Caribbean Line – in deference to the Norwegian influence – but would later change its name to Norwegian Cruise Line.
The cruise business out of Miami grew quickly and more Norwegian shipowners got into the game:
Port of Miami, mid-1970’s: 3 NCL ships (left) vs 2 RCCL ships (R). The game is on! Pinterest
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