Are we in the golden age of sea travel? Or have we left it behind?
These fascinating vintage photographs will no doubt suggest to some that today’s ‘floating city’ cruise ships don’t have the romance or glamour of the passenger ships of yesteryear. The archive photographs show life on board the Conte Rosso and Conte Verde, Italian transatlantic liners built in Scotland in the early 1920s and designed to transport passengers from Europe to North and South America.
The Conte Verde was 180m/590ft long, less than half the length of the world’s biggest cruise ship in 2024, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas (364m/1194ft), yet it still had room for more than 2,400 passengers across 10 decks and was considered the height of luxury.
Those in first class luxuriated amid interiors built by craftsmen and artists brought over to shipyards in Scotland from Florence. And even those in third class had use of an outdoor pool.
Launched in 1922, the Conte Verde took many memorable trips across the ocean, including transporting European football teams to the first-ever World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.
Scroll down to see what life was like on these grand vessels…
The Conte Verde launched in 1922 from Genoa in Italy on its maiden voyage to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The ship is pictured here departing on a later voyage from Genoa in 1936. Many passengers used the ship to emigrate and may have been permanently bidding farewell to Europe and their families
Pictured is the dining room onboard the Conte Verde in the 1930s. A Times article, written when the ship launched in 1923, said the ‘wealth of artistic detail everywhere (onboard the ship) recalls the old-time splendour of an Italian palace’. The writing above the door at the back of the room, ‘A Tavola Non S’Invecchia’, means ‘At the table, one does not grow old’ and reflects Italy’s joyful approach to dining
This image shows a Thanksgiving buffet for the ship’s first-class passengers in 1930. What might they have been treated to? A first-class Conte Verde menu card dating back to 1939 advertises the ‘New Moon cocktail’, which was made with dry Gordon gin, sherry, French vermouth, angostura bitters, absinthe and a squeeze of lemon peel. The Conte Verde could transport 450 first-class passengers
Pictured is the first-class dining room onboard the Conte Rosso transatlantic liner, the sister ship to the Conte Verde. It was also renowned for its ornate interior furnishings and launched in 1921
Chefs are pictured in the second-class kitchen on the Conte Verde in 1930. Second class was the smallest class onboard, with room for 200 passengers
Passengers are shown here in the ship’s third-class dining room in 1930. The Conte Verde had space for more than 1,700 third-class passengers and the majority of these were people emigrating overseas to start a new life
This photo, which dates back to 1930, shows passengers playing games and relaxing on the Conte Verde’s deck. A first-class brochure from 1939 advertises clay pigeon shooting on the ship’s second-class deck
This picture depicts the Conte Verde’s third-class swimming pool in 1930. Other activities for passengers included ball games, evening concerts and dancing
Passengers are pictured praying on the deck of the Conte Verde in 1930. The journey from Europe to the Americas on an ocean liner took around a fortnight
Pictured is the surgery onboard the Conte Verde in 1930. Unlike a cruise ship, ocean liners wouldn’t make stops along the route, so sick passengers wouldn’t have had the chance to get off
This is the gym onboard the Conte Verde’s sister ship, the Conte Rosso, in the 1930s. The Conte Rosso was notable for its outdoor dining areas – unusual for the time
This image depicts the French national football team aboard the Conte Verde on their way to participate in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. According to The Guardian, Lucien Laurent, a French footballer onboard, said: ‘There was no talk of tactics or anything like that, no coaching. It was just running about the boat on the deck. Running, running all the time. Down below we would do exercise – stretching, jumping, running up stairs, lifting weights’. The Conte Verde transported several other teams to the tournament, including Romania, Brazil and Belgium. England did not participate in the event
Pictured is Amedeo Pinceti, the captain of the Conte Verde in 1930. The ship had around 400 crew members
This photo depicts people watching the departure of the Conte Verde from New York in the 1930s. Later in the 1930s, the ship was used to travel between Italy and Shanghai. Many Jewish refugees escaped Europe on the Conte Verde until the route was closed in 1940 when Italy joined the war. The ship was bombed and sunk in the 1940s in Asia and was eventually scrapped in 1949. After WWII, the use of ocean liners dramatically dropped due to the launch of speedier long-distance flights. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is now the only ocean liner still in service
