Knut Utstein Kloster, who founded Norwegian Cruise Line and was one of a handful of ship operators in the 1960s to start the modern cruise industry, died at the age of 91 this past week.
Kloster effectively launched the new cruise industry by renaming a converted ferry from Sunward, the European shipping company of his ancestors, and deploying the ship as the flagship of Norwegian Caribbean Lines on short Caribbean cruises departing from Miami.
Kloster's Sunward was originally built for long-haul ferry services between Europe and Africa and offered remarkably luxurious accommodation for the time, including private bath cabins, restaurants, bars, a nightclub, a theatre, a shopping arcade and air conditioning fitted for the tropics.
Kloster had partnered with a shipping agent named Ted Arison, who was looking for a ship to use for a series of Bahamas cruises he was marketing. Their “white ship” (as opposed to transatlantic ships with dark-colored hulls) was also known as a “happy ship” with a positive onboard environment for guests and crew.
The Sunward sailed on her first departure for the Bahamas on December 19, 1966. The ship was “neither Miami’s first cruise ship nor the first in regular service to the Bahamas,” according to a Maritime Executive report, but “was an immediate success.” Arison would go on to launch Carnival Cruise Lines.
Norwegian Caribbean Line would eventually become Norwegian Cruise Line and would launch several operational components, including private islands, western Caribbean itineraries, "air/sea" reservations and "mega" cruise ships, that have since become cruise industry standards.
The latter happened in 1980 when the former transatlantic liner France was converted into Norway by Norwegian, the original "world's largest cruise ship," extending the life of the iconic ship for years. Norway was a success and included features for cruise ships that were ahead of their time, including a full-size Broadway show theater and glass-enclosed walks with cafés, shops and performers and vast outdoor sports areas.
Later, Kloster invented a vision for the Phoenix World Settlement, a 250,000-ton, 5,000-passenger vessel. While the project was regarded by many within the industry as fanciful and impractical and the vessel was never built, its scale mirrors Royal Caribbean International’s present-day Oasis-class ships.
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