Rediscovering Earth at a Gentler Pace.

Revisiting our idea of travelling back to Earth in 2474 to explore places like Pompeii, we started wondering whether there might be a more interesting way to journey between destinations than simply hopping on a shuttle, or being truly lazy and just beaming everywhere.

That’s when we remembered an organisation dedicated to recreating the experience of 21st‑century cruising. Between lunch and our holodeck visits, we dug into the history of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. Founded in 1848, they’ve been offering cruising holidays for an astonishing 625 years. 

And for the last two centuries, they’ve continued sailing with ships that echo the classic style of their early fleet, modern engines, of course, but still driving propellers and gliding along at a leisurely pace. It’s a far gentler way to travel across Earth's oceans than today’s standard transportation methods. Ranih and I love this idea. 

It feels like a way to make the journey part of the adventure rather than just the means of getting somewhere. We’re definitely going to look into it more deeply, and we’re already wondering whether we can coax James and Jean to join us. We really hope so.

Fred Olsen ships have traditionally carried names beginning with the letter B. Some of their most iconic vessels from history include Black Watch, Balmoral, and Bolette. But the ship that has captured our imagination is the MV Bergen. We’ll be doing more reading on her before we bring the idea to James and Jean.