The first cruise came to be because it rankled the visionary Albert Ballin to see the magnificent North American express steamer, AUGUSTA VICTORIA, bobbing idly up and down at anchor during the winter. Who would voluntarily cross the Atlantic at this time of year, defying fierce storms? Against resistance from his head-shaking colleagues on the Hapag board, Albert Ballin had his way: in January the shipping company dispatched the AUGUSTA VICTORIA to the Mediterranean. The demand for tickets at up to 2,400 gold marks was enormous. Thus was born the idea of the luxurious pleasure cruise on which modern-day cruises are modelled.
During the first "pleasure cruise", the illustrious company of German, British and American guests enjoyed excellent service on board: butlers, balls and exquisite cuisine. A series of journalists plus the illustrator of travel reports, Christian Wilhelm Allers, accompanied the cruise and filled the pages of the first on-board newspaper. In it, an article stated that, as the cruise progressed, the travellers from Hamburg had been "united in three things": "They are at pains to acquire the same travel hats, to relish each and every meal to the full - and to eat caviar rolls as if they were going out of fashion."
The young director Albert Ballin, always immaculately dressed, attended to nearly everything himself. From the posies of violets for the 67 ladies on board and the games on deck, right through to the toast to the emperor at the celebratory dinner on the birthday of Wilhelm II – Ballin oversaw everything with discretion, earning Hapag a reputation for being a fabulous host.
