The first class lounge on the President Hoover, 1932. Click image for larger version.

Of the many ships belonging to APL and its forebears — from graceful 19th-century steamers to ultramodern containerships — perhaps the most memorable are the art deco masterpieces operated by Dollar Line in the 1930s and the sleek luxury liners launched by APL after World War II.

Crowning Achievements

With a history of traveling extensively on his own ships on business, it’s no wonder that Robert Dollar commissioned the construction of two of the largest ocean liners ever built in the United States. They were the Presidents Hoover and Coolidge. Old Captain Dollar was awestruck when he boarded the former on August 6, 1931. Of the Hoover he wrote, “The ship is a wonder.”

Indeed, the ships were stunning. Each carried 988 passengers and a crew of 324. The plush accommodations and art deco furnishings rivaled the best hotels of the era. And each also boasted outdoor pools, gymnasiums, and phones in every room. The luxury and elegance of these two ships were in stark contrast to the hard times of the Great Depression, which lasted until World War II.

The Presidents Cleveland and Wilson.

Shuffleboard, Anyone?

After World War II, a new generation of Americans was eager to travel in style. In 1947, APL launched the Presidents Cleveland and Wilson, continuing in a tradition begun when the Pacific Mail Steamship Company started carrying passengers in 1867. Designed to carry 550 passengers and a crew of 352, the ships were advertised as “your American hotel abroad.”

“Air-conditioned throughout, with swimming pools for every Class, smart shops, theaters, cafe-grill and many other innovations,” the vessels set the standard for seagoing travel. And they took passengers to remarkably unspoiled ports like Alexandria, Colombo, Antigua, Suva, and Penang. Not surprisingly, demand was so high that tourist-class cabins were soon converted in order to accommodate more first-class passengers.

Click image for larger version.

For those who couldn’t afford $2,470 for a 100-day, round-the-world voyage, there was the long-running television hit “The Gale Storm Show.” The first of the “Love Boat” genre, the show featured Gale Storm as the social director aboard the SS Ocean Queen from 1956 to 1960. The fictitious ship was, in fact, the President Cleveland.

Unfortunately, APL’s passenger traffic declined sharply after the U.S. recession of 1958. Plans to build new passenger ships were abandoned because the industry was losing ground to intercontinental jet travel. In 1973, the last voyage of the President Wilson marked the end of APL’s luxury liner service. Yet was still possible to sail aboard APL ships if you were seeking a restful voyage on a working vessel.

Celebrated American author Alex Haley

A Slow Boat To...

For celebrated American author Alex Haley, APL ships offered solace and an environment very conducive to writing. Haley, like many of the passengers who sailed on APL vessels from 1973 to 1987, welcomed the chance to escape from a busy life. In contrast to the Cleveland and Wilson, APL’s cargo vessels provided passage to only 12 stalwart individuals.

According to a crew member from this era, “ships weren’t as connected to the rest of the world as they are today. No one used fax machines the way they do now, and many of the passengers who sailed on these ships enjoyed being beyond the reach of their day-to-day lives back home.”

The President Adams, built in 1968.

Because of this, Haley and his assistant traveled often on APL ships. Described as a night owl, the author was very much at home on freighters because he had sailed on Coast Guard vessels for many years before turning his attention to writing. Even years after the success of his best-known work, Roots, Haley continued to seek the solitude afforded by life at sea.

Although APL no longer offers passenger service, the company’s rich history of luxuriously slow voyages gives us pause. It gives us the opportunity to wonder how it must have been to see the world from a deckchair on a steamer, book in hand, pleasantly out of reach.