Exploring the little- known history of 'combo ships' - luxury small liners combining passengers and cargo An unusual blend of cargo freight, holiday-making passengers and government officials, the combination cargo-passenger ship is an oddity now all but relegated to the past. In its heyday, however, royals such as Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, were known to travel by 'banana boat' to the Caribbean. Ships such as Fyffes Line's Golfito would stop at Trinidad, Barbados and Kingston to load up with bananas, whilst passengers would make the most of the exotic setting. Carrying between 50 and 100 passengers with anything up to 10,000 tons of cargo, these ships were both working freighters as well as elegant cruise-like ships, renowned for their intimate, yacht-like atmosphere. William Miller is the author of ninety books on passenger ships and is an acknowledged world expert on the subject. Told with affection, this nostalgic insight into the world of passenger-cargo ships brings to life, in full colour, the magnificent ships and passengers from the golden age of interoceanic travel. AUTHOR: William H Miller, or 'Mr Ocean Liner', has written some 85 books on passenger ships and is an acknowledged world expert in his field. Along with appearing in numerous TV documentaries unews broadcasts, he has been a guest lecturer aboard some 75 different ships, including over 100 voyages with the Cunard Line. He has sailed on over 350 voyages on some 300 ships. SELLING POINTS: ? The unique passenger-cargo ships that were not actually liners but much more than freighters ? These often luxurious vessels gained popularity after the Second World War into the '50s and '60s ? Fascinating ships, they relied as much on passengers as their 5-6 holds of cargo, sailing on posted schedules for their passengers' ease ? Many previously unpublished illustrations including colour 100 b/w, 56 colour
