It might seem that mankind has been cruising ever since the beginning of time but the truth is that cruising as a leisure product was invented as late as 1900.

In 1835, an entrepreneurial sailor named Arthur Anderson had a vision of providing passenger service between European sailing routes, and 2 years later he cofounded the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), which can be considered the first cruise company in the world.After that, more attention has been directed toward enjoyment of the ship passengers and the ships have taken the form of luxury “floating hotels”

Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with an estimated market of $45.6 billion, and over 25 million passengers carried worldwide as of 2019. The industry's rapid growth has seen more newly built ships since 2001.