Evening star., 1937-03-14
The Travellers Notebook
make Reservations Early Becomes the
WatchWord for Perfect Vacations
in Crowded 1887.

ten. They still brighten the JOURNEYS
OF the American traveller and appeal
to his pocketbook. For one thing,
the tightening Of purse strings after
1929 cut the cost Of European travel
not only in the countries themselves,
but in transatlantic fares. The eco
nomic mending has not raised the
fares materially from the low point
they touched, nor is it likely to in the
immediate future Each country. in
playing the perfect host to the Ameri-
can travel, has removed the barrier
of high ocean fares.
Another delightful gain for the
traveller was the invention of the
short cruise. Before the depression,
when tourists were Europe minded,
they knew little Of the characteristic
and restful ports that lie almost
directly OF Americas coast-Havana,
Hamilton and Nassau. to name but
few. Ships used to go there, but they
were primarily cargo vessels which
touched port and continued on to
others. When suddenly America dis
covered it could not, or would not,
af1ord to go to Europe, liners that
had been engaged in the booming
Atlantic travel found themselves idle.
One Of the leading New York travel
agents hit upon the idea of foreign
travel in Americas front yard. The
ports were near enough to At In per-
fectly with two-week vacations, could
be reached cheaply enough to pull dear
money.
More dramatic than the cut In
travel costs and the short-cruise dis
covery was the setting of new stand
ards OF luxury in ocean liners. Maryels
OF engineering skill and artistic en-
oeaVor, the fastest and most palatiaI
ships on the Atlantic today made their
maiden voyage in the last few years.
OOK1NG backward, the ships OF
yesteryear we're simply a means
OF crossing the ocean to get on the
other side. Today's liners are
little less than cities OF themselves.
With swimming pools, even sandy
beaches; passenger elevators, theaters,
$1,000 >AN>o, "OA no Vi lllOQSlu al LSuS,
chlldren's play rooms, shops that sell
everything from dolls and china to
expensive jewelry and fur coats; news
papers. tennis courts, special quarters
Tor pets and air conditioning.
New factors of safety have been
taken to sea in the latest liners. Un-
sinkable lifeboats powered by engines
and equipped with radio, stand guard
AS the last precaution against disas-
ter, but before that comes double-hull
construction to prevent critical dam
age IN collision, and special steps
against fre, through f1reproofing and
special equipment and crews for fight-
ing flames.
A SISTER ship Of the present queen
OF the seas, the Queen Mary, is
now under construction, and there is
talk Of France building another Nor
mandie. Italy might any day an
nounce plans for a liner to surpass
her Rex. But 1t is interesting to note
that most Of the ships now being con-
structed (and there are about a score
now on the ways) will be of moderate
tonnage, approximately the 20,0OO-ton
type. The Queen Mary's gross ton
mage is 80,773. The trend does not
mean that today's biggest liners are
failures. For one thing, it means
that the short-cruise idea has clicked,
apparently has become a fixture. Big
ships do not At in small ports Then
again, the smaller liners might hunt
out new series Of far-away harbors
that do not have facilities for ocean
leViathanS