ow all of that would affect the Atlantis was, in the late 1930s, still in the melting pot. Whatever the plans, the outbreak of World War II changed everything. After 1945 Royal Mail found itself far less replete with passenger ships than it had been earlier. The Andes and Alcantara were the only remaining liners able to undertake cruises, though, in the event, the war had been finished for a decade or so before Royal Mail resumed its cruising programme.

The Andes, having been completed just as war broke out, made her first cruise, to the Mediterranean, in June 1955; from that point on, cruises were sandwiched between South America voyages, the cruises becoming more dominant late in the decade. At that time came another crossroads when the Alcantara was sold for breaking up in 1958 and four smaller liners were sold at much the same time.
 

The Company chose to replace all of them with three new liners; they would maintain the mail service, leaving Andes free for full-time cruising. Accordingly, late in 1959 she made her final line voyage to South America, then underwent a major conversion to full-time cruise liner.

Andes carved a niche for herself as Britain's premier first-class-only cruise liner. Her career was not generally eventful; she came and went, with the usual range of cruise destinations, with little fuss.
 

After the Company's takeover by Furness Withy in the mid-1960s, the world of the Andes came under increasing threat. Perhaps most of all, the cruising niche which Royal Mail had fostered for so long with only limited competition, now became much more competitive. That was partly because other companies were realizing that, with greater affluence and more leisure time, people were turning the cruise market on its head - most were keen to exploit the cheaper end of the market, which, at least for a time, lessened the impact on Andes.
 

In 1969, notwithstanding a further major refit only a year earlier, the Andes reached 30 years of age. Here was the final crossroads in Royal Mail's long journey through the world of cruising. It was clear that her days were numbered.

During 1971 she ended her final cruise; she ended her own life; she ended Royal Mail's era of passenger operations; and she ended the long years of the Company's involvement with cruising.

Cruising Home

Introduction

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Inter-war Years

Atlantis Years

Andes Years

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