Waterline: the golden era of cruising

Two ladies in swimming costumes in the "Greasy Pole" competition aboard the 'Empress of Canada'

A view looking towards Lyngseidt in the background. An unidentified couple stand on the after wing of 'Gripsholm'

Sail away with the National Maritime Museum’s Waterline set of photos from the golden era of cruise ships! Spanning the decades from the 1920s to the 1970s, this set contains some of the 16,000 Marine Photo Service (MPS) negatives in the Museum’s collection.

The images in this National Maritime Museum exhibition reveal the joys and trials of cruising. They reflect the experiences of passengers and crew, and show the range of destinations visited, near and far. – Waterline set notes

Three Lascars of the 'Viceroy of India', standing behind the wheel of one of the ship's tenders  Four P & O cadets of the 'Viceroy of India' on the starboard side of the Bridge Deck with their sextants  A Tunisian tour guide posing with his official P & O sign, Bizerte, Tunisia

Unidentified couple posing in front of the Mermaid sculpture, Copenhagen, Denmark

A starboard view of 'Gripsholm' at Nordkapp, Noway, during the midsummer season

Got any info on the photos in this exhibition? It’s part of The Commons on Flickr, whose key goals are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world’s public photography archives and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer. We’d love to see your comments and tags if you know something about these marvelous images.

Photos from the National Maritime Museum.