Southampton is a major seaport lying at the head of the estuary known as Southampton Water, the port became of real significance during the second half of the 19th century because of the building of the railway which connected it to London but mainly because it has two high waters every tide making it a unique seaport, prosperity was assured to Southampton when "Royal Mail" and "Union Castle" steamship lines adopted it as their main English Port and of course the seal was set When Cunard Line moved all their operations from Liverpool to Southampton, the ocean liners are no longer there on daily basis, but it still is the undisputed main destination in the UK for cruise ships from all over the world and of course the home port for the Cunard Line and P&O Cruises where thousands of passengers start their cruises every single year. Yesterday was a busy day for Southampton with four huge cruise ships, GRAND PRINCESS, OCEANA, INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS and VENTURA visiting, photos here included taken at Calshot yesterday evening
Nice shots Vítor!
ReplyDeleteWe can clearly see how much Southampton ships have changed with times, once with ocean liners like the QUEEN MARY or the SS ORIANA. Nowadays her predecessors have changed dramatically thanks to this american globalization in the cruise market.
Regards!
Hi João
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, you right, dramatic change without a doubt, but I must confess I did enjoy seeing particulary the INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS there is some elegance there
All the best
I agree, it's a nice looking ship that combines balance with the modern standarts of accomodation. Not just another squared floating hotel full of staterooms.
ReplyDeleteIt's always curious to see that in 19th century mostly european companies operated from Southampton, nowadays also the americans homeport their ships there. Just to think how much has the cruise market grown since then.