when did the first cruise ship set sail

P&O first introduced passenger cruising services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar, Malta and Athens, sailing from Southampton. The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind, and P&O Cruises has been recognised as the world's oldest cruise line.[6] The company later introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople. It underwent a period of rapid expansion in the latter half of the 19th century, commissioning larger and more luxurious ships to serve the steadily expanding market. Notable ships of the era include the SS Ravenna built in 1880, which became the first ship to be built with a total steel superstructure, and the SS Valetta built in 1889, which was the first ship to use electric lights.

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way, i.e., ports of call. Transportation is not the only purpose of cruising, particularly on cruises that return passengers to their originating port (also known as a closed-loop cruise), with the ports of call usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes 2â€“3 night round trips without any ports of call.[1]

By contrast, dedicated transport oriented ocean liners do "line voyages" and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips. Traditionally, a liner for the transoceanic trade will be built to a higher standard than a typical cruise ship, including higher freeboard and stronger plating to withstand rough seas and adverse conditions encountered in the open ocean, such as the North Atlantic. Ocean liners also usually have larger capacities for fuel, food, and other stores for consumption on long voyages, compared to dedicated cruise ships, but they no longer exist with the exception of some preserved liners and Queen Mary 2 when on scheduled North Atlantic voyages.

Although often luxurious, ocean liners had characteristics that made them unsuitable for cruising, such as high fuel consumption, deep draught that prevented their entering shallow ports, enclosed weatherproof decks that were not appropriate for tropical weather, and cabins designed to maximize passenger numbers rather than comfort (such as a high proportion of windowless suites). The gradual evolution of passenger ship design from ocean liners to cruise ships has seen passenger cabins shifted from inside the hull to the superstructure with private verandas. The modern cruise ships, while sacrificing some qualities of seaworthiness, have added amenities to cater to water tourists, and recent vessels have been described as "balcony-laden floating condominiums"[citation needed].

The distinction between ocean liners and cruise ships has blurred, particularly with respect to deployment. Differences in construction remain. Larger cruise ships have also engaged in longer trips such as transoceanic voyages which may not return to the same port for months (longer round trips).[2] Some former ocean liners operate as cruise ships, such as Marco Polo. This number is diminishing. The only dedicated transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner of December 2013 is Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard fleet. She also has the amenities of contemporary cruise ships and sees significant service on cruises[3]

Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, accounting for U.S.$29.4 billion with over 19Â million passengers carried worldwide[4] in 2011. The industry's rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European clientele. Smaller markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region, are generally serviced by older ships. These are displaced by new ships in the high growth areas.

The world's largest cruise ship is currently Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas beating her sister ships (Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas) by about 2.15 meters.

The birth of leisure cruising began with the formation of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1822. The company started out as a shipping line with routes between England and the Iberian Peninsula, adopting the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company.[5] It won its first contract to deliver mail in 1837. In 1840, it began mail delivery to Alexandria, Egypt, via Gibraltar and Malta.[5] The company was incorporated by Royal Charter the same year, becoming the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

Some sources[which?] mention Francesco I, flying the flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Italy), as the first cruise ship. She was built in 1831 and sailed from Naples in early June 1833, preceded by an advertising campaign. The cruise ship was boarded by nobles, authorities, and royal princes from all over Europe. In just over three months, the ship sailed to Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Malta, Corfu, Patras, Delphi, Zante, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, delighting passengers with excursions and guided tours, dancing, card tables on the deck and parties on board. However, it was restricted to the aristocracy of Europe and was not a commercial endeavour.

The cruise of the German ship Augusta Victoria in the Mediterranean and the Near East from 22 January to 22 March 1891, with 241 passengers including Albert Ballin and wife,[7] popularized the cruise to a wider market.[n 1] Christian Wilhelm Allers published an illustrated account of it as Backschisch (Baksheesh).

The first vessel built exclusively for luxury cruising, was Prinzessin Victoria Luise of Germany, designed by Albert Ballin, general manager of Hamburg-America Line. The ship was completed in 1900.[8]

The practice of luxury cruising made steady inroads on the more established market for transatlantic crossings. In the competition for passengers, ocean liners added luxuries — Titanic being the most famous example — such as fine dining, luxury services, and staterooms with finer appointments.[citation needed] In the late 19th century, Albert Ballin, director of the Hamburg-America Line, was the first to send his transatlantic ships out on long southern cruises during the worst of the winter season of the North Atlantic. Other companies followed suit. Some of them built specialized ships designed for easy transformation between summer crossings and winter cruising.[9]

In 1897, there were three luxury liners for transportation, for the Europe to North America trip. These were European-owned. In 1906, the number had increased to seven. The British Inman Line owned City of Paris,[10] the Cunard Line had Compania and Lucania.[11] The White Star Line owned Majestic[12] and Teutonic.[13] La Lorraine and La Savoie were owned by the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.[14]

With the advent of large passenger jet aircraft in the 1960s, intercontinental travelers switched from ships to planes sending the ocean liner trade into a terminal decline. Certain characteristics of older ocean liners made them unsuitable for cruising duties, such as high fuel consumption, deep draught preventing them from entering shallow ports, and cabins (often windowless) designed to maximize passenger numbers rather than comfort.

Ocean liner services aimed at passengers ceased in 1986, with the notable exception of transatlantic crossings operated by the British shipping company Cunard Line, catering to a niche market of those who appreciated the several days at sea. In an attempt to shift the focus of the market from passenger travel to cruising with entertainment value, Cunard Line pioneered the luxury cruise transatlantic service on board the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner. International celebrities were hired to perform cabaret acts onboard and the crossing was advertised as a vacation in itself.

Queen Elizabeth 2 also inaugurated "one-class cruising" where all passengers received the same quality berthing and facilities. This revitalized the market as the appeal of luxury cruising began to catch on, on both sides of the Atlantic. The 1970s television series Love Boat, helped to popularize the concept as a romantic opportunity for couples.[15] Another ship to make this transition was SS Norway, originally the ocean liner SS France and later converted to cruising duties as the Caribbean's first "super-ship."

Contemporary cruise ships built in the late 1980s and later, such as Sovereign-class which broke the size record held for decades by Norway, showed characteristics of size and strength once reserved for ocean liners â€” some have undertaken regular scheduled transatlantic crossings.[2] The Sovereign-class ships were the first "megaships" to be built for the mass cruising market, they also were the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story atrium with glass elevators. They also had a single deck devoted entirely to cabins with private balconies instead of oceanview cabins. Other cruise lines soon launched ships with similar attributes, such as the Fantasy-class, leading up to the Panamax-type Vista-class, designed such that two thirds of the oceanview staterooms have verandas. As the veranda suites were particularly lucrative for cruise lines, something which was lacking in older ocean liners, recent cruise ships have been designed to maximize such amenities and have been described as "balcony-laden floating condominiums."

Until 1975-1980, cruises offered shuffleboard, deck chairs, "drinks with umbrellas and little else for a few hundred passengers." After 1980, they offered increasing amenities. As of 2010, city-sized ships have dozens of amenities.[16]

There have been nine or more new cruise ships added every year since 2001, including the 11 members of the Vista-class, and all at 100,000Â GT or greater. The only comparable ocean liner to be completed in recent years has been Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Following the retirement of her running mate Queen Elizabeth 2 in November 2008, Queen Mary 2 is the only liner operating on transatlantic routes, though she also sees significant service on cruise routes.[3]

Queen Mary 2 was for a time the largest passenger ship before being surpassed by Royal Caribbean International's Freedom-class vessels in 2006. The Freedom-class ships were in turn overtaken by RCI's Oasis-class vessels which entered service in 2009 and 2010.[17] A distinctive feature of Oasis-class ships is the split "open-atrium" structure, made possible by the hull's extraordinary width, with the 6-deck high "Central Park" and "Boardwalk" outdoor areas running down the middle of the ship and verandas on all decks.

In two short decades (1988-2009), the largest class cruise ships have grown a third longer (268 m to 360 m), almost doubled their widths (32.2 m to 60.5 m), doubled the total passengers (2,744 to 5,400), and tripled in weight (73,000 GT to 225,000 GT). Also, the "megaships" went from a single deck with verandas to all decks with verandas. Whereas the golden age of ocean liners has faded, the golden age of cruise ships may well be these recent decades and decades to come.[18]

Operators of cruise ships are known as cruise lines. A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships and markets cruises to the public.[19] Cruise lines have a dual character; they are partly in the transportation business, and partly in the leisure entertainment business, a duality that carries down into the ships themselves, which have both a crew headed by the ship's captain, and a hospitality staff headed by the equivalent of a hotel manager. Among cruise lines, some are direct descendants of the traditional passenger shipping lines (such as Cunard), while others were founded from the 1960s specifically for cruising.

Historically, the cruise ship business has been volatile. The ships are large capital investments with high operating costs. A persistent decrease in bookings can put a company in financial jeopardy. Cruise lines have sold, renovated, or renamed their ships to keep up with travel trends. The cruise lines operate their ships virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. A ship which is out of service for routine maintenance means the loss of tens of millions of dollars. If the maintenance is unscheduled, it can result, potentially, in thousands of dissatisfied customers.[20]

A wave of failures and consolidations in the 1990s has led to many cruise lines to be bought by much larger holding companies and to operate as "brands" within larger holding corporations, much as a large automobile company holding several makes of cars. Brands exist partly because of repeat customer loyalty, and also to offer different levels of quality and service. For instance, Carnival Corporation & plc owns both Carnival Cruise Line, whose former image were vessels that had a reputation as "party ships" for younger travelers, but have become large, modern, yet still profitable, and Holland America Line, whose ships cultivate an image of classic elegance. In 2004, Carnival Corporation had merged Cunard's headquarters with that of Princess Cruises in Santa Clarita, California so that administrative, financial and technology services could be combined, ending Cunard's history where it had operated as a standalone company (subsidiary) regardless of parent ownership.[21] However, Cunard did regain some independence in 2009 when its headquarters were moved to Carnival House in Southampton.[22]

The common practice in the cruise industry in listing cruise ship transfers[23] and orders[24] is to list the smaller operating company, not the larger holding corporation, as the recipient cruise line of the sale, transfer, or new order. In other words, Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line. for example, are the cruise lines from this common industry practice point of view; whereas Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., for example, can be considered holding corporations of cruise lines. This industry practice of using the smaller operating company, not the larger holding corporation, is also followed in the list of cruise lines and in member-based reviews of cruise lines.[25]

Some cruise lines have specialties; for example, Saga Cruises only allows passengers over 50 years old aboard their ships, and Star Clippers and formerly Windjammer Barefoot Cruises and Windstar Cruises only operate tall ships. Regent Seven Seas Cruises operates medium-sized vessels—smaller than the "megaships" of Carnival and Royal Caribbean—designed such that 90% of their suites are balconies. Several specialty lines offer "expedition cruising" or only operate small ships, visiting certain destinations such as the Arctic and Antarctica, or the Galápagos Islands. John W. Brown, which formerly operated as part of the United States Merchant Marine during World War II before being converted to a museum ship, still gets underway several times a year for six-hour "Living History Cruises" that take the ship through Baltimore Harbor, down the Patapsco River, and into the Chesapeake Bay, and she is also the largest cruise ship operating under the American flag on the United States East Coast.[26]

Currently the five largest cruise line holding companies and operators in the world are Carnival Corporation & plc, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Star Cruises (which owns 50% of Norwegian Cruise Line; NCL in its own right is the third largest line), MSC Cruises, and Louis Cruise Lines. Louis Cruises has largely grown its fleet through purchasing older second- or third-hand ships, while the other four operators have largely constructed their own vessels and combined own the majority of the "megaships".

Cruise ships are organized much like floating hotels, with a complete hospitality staff in addition to the usual ship's crew. It is not uncommon for the most luxurious ships to have more crew and staff than passengers.

Dining on almost all cruise ships is included in the cruise price.

Traditionally, the ships' restaurants organize two dinner services per day, early dining and late dining, and passengers are allocated a set dining time for the entire cruise; a recent trend is to allow diners to dine whenever they want. Having two dinner times allows the ship to have enough time and space to accommodate all of their guests. Having two different dinner services can cause some conflicts with some of the ship's events (such as shows and performances) for the late diners, but this problem is usually fixed by having a shorter version of the event take place before late dinner. Cunard Line ships maintain the class tradition of ocean liners and have separate dining rooms for different types of suites, while Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises have a standard dining room and "upgrade" specialty restaurants that require pre-booking and cover charges. Many cruises schedule one or more "formal dining" nights. Guests dress "formally", however that is defined for the ship, often suits and ties or even tuxedos for men, and formal dresses for women. The menu is more upscale than usual.

Besides the dining room, modern cruise ships often contain one or more casual buffet-style eateries, which may be open 24 hours and with menus that vary throughout the day to provide meals ranging from breakfast to late-night snacks. Ships also feature numerous bars and nightclubs for passenger entertainment; the majority of cruise lines do not include alcoholic beverages in their fares and passengers are expected to pay for drinks as they consume them. Most cruise lines also prohibit passengers from bringing aboard and consuming their own beverages, including alcohol, while aboard. Alcohol purchased duty-free is sealed and returned to passengers when they debark.

There is often a central galley responsible for serving all major restaurants aboard the ship, though specialty restaurants may have their own separate galleys.

As with any vessel, adequate provisioning is crucial, especially on a cruise ship serving several thousand meals at each seating. For example, a quasi "military operation" is required to load and unload 3600 passengers and eight tons of food at the beginning and end of each cruise, for the Royal Princess.[27]

Most modern cruise ships feature the following facilities:

Some ships have bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, sky-diving simulator, miniature golf courses, video arcades, ziplines, surfing simulators, basketball courts, tennis courts, chain restaurants and/or ropes obstacle courses.

H2OZone aboard Freedom of the Seas

Promenade on the Allure of the Seas

Golf course on Brilliance of the Seas

Molecular Bar aboard the Celebrity Equinox before Christmas

Formal brunch aboard the Celebrity Equinox

Surf simulator on Oasis of the Seas

A junior suite on Radiance of the Seas

A luxury suite aboard the Celebrity Equinox

Crew is usually hired on three to eleven month contracts which may then be renewed as mutually agreed, which is based upon service ratings from passengers as well as the cyclical nature of the cruise line operator. Most staff work 77-hour work weeks for 10 months continuously followed by 2 months of vacation.[28][29]

There are no paid vacations or pensions for service, non-management crew, depending on the level of the position and the type of the contract. Non-service and management crew members get paid vacation, medical, retirement options, and can participate in the company's group insurance plan.

The direct salary is low for North American standards,[29] though restaurant staff have considerable earning potential from passenger tips. Crew members do not have any expenses while on board as food and accommodation, medical care, and transportation for most employees, are included. This makes a cruise ship career financially attractive enough to compensate for lack of employment benefits.[citation needed]

Living arrangements vary by cruise line, but mostly by shipboard position. In general two employees share a cabin with a shower, commode and a desk with a television set, while senior officers are assigned single cabins. There is a set of facilities for the crew separate from that of passengers, such as mess rooms and bars, recreation rooms, prayer rooms/mosques, and fitness center, with some larger ships even having a crew deck with a swimming pool and hot tubs.[30]

For the largest cruise operators, most "hotel staff" are hired from under-industrialized countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America. While several cruise lines are headquartered in the United States, like most international shipping company, ships are registered in countries including the Netherlands, the UK, the Bahamas, and Panama. The International Labour Organization's 2006 Maritime Labour Convention,[31] also known as the "Seafarers' Bill of Rights,"[32] provides comprehensive rights and protections for all crewmembers. The ILO sets rigorous standards regarding hours of work and rest, health and safety, and living conditions for crewmembers and requires governments to ensure ships are in compliance. For cruise routes around Hawaii, operators are required to register their ships in the United States and the crew is unionized, so these cruises are typically much more expensive than Caribbean and Mediterranean.[citation needed]

Most cruise lines since the 2000s have priced the cruising experience, to some extent, a la carte, as passengers spending aboard generates significantly more from ticket sales.[33] The passenger's ticket includes the stateroom accommodation, room service, unlimited meals in the main dining room (or main restaurant) and buffet, access to shows, and use of pool and gym facilities, while there is a daily gratuity charge to cover housekeeping and waiter service. However, there are extra charges for alcohol and soft drinks, official cruise photos, Internet and wi-fi access, and specialty restaurants; it has been reported that the casino and photos have high profit margins. Cruise lines earn significantly from selling onshore excursions (keeping 50 percent or more of what passengers spend for these tours) offered by local contractors.[33] In addition, cruise ships earn significant commissions for sales from onshore stores that are promoted on board as "preferred" (as much as 40 percent of gross sales). Facilitating this practice are modern cruise terminals with establishments of duty-free shops inside a perimeter accessible only by passengers and not locals.[33] Ports of call have often oriented their own businesses and facilities towards meeting the needs of visiting cruise ships. In one case, Icy Strait Point in Alaska, the entire destination was created explicitly and solely for cruise ship visitors.[34]

Travel to and from the port of departure are the passengers' responsibility, although purchasing a transfer pass from the cruise line for the trip between the airport and cruise terminal will guarantee that the ship will not leave until the passenger is aboard. Similarly, if the passenger books a shore excursion with the cruise line and the tour runs late, the ship is obligated to remain until the passenger returns.[35]

Luxury cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Crystal Cruises market their fares as "all-inclusive".[36] For example, base fare on Regent Seven Seas ships includes most alcoholic beverages onboard ship and most shore excursions in ports of call, as well as all gratuities that would normally be paid to hotel staff on the ship.[37] The fare may also include a one-night hotel stay before boarding, and airfare to and from the cruise's origin and destination ports.[37]

Older cruise ships have had multiple owners. it is usual for the transfer of ownership to entail a refitting and a name change. Some ships have had a dozen or more identities.

Many cruise lines have a common naming scheme they use for their ships. Some lines use their name as a prefix or suffix in the ship name (such as the prefixes of "Carnival", "AIDA", "Disney", or "Norwegian" and the suffix of "Princess"). Other lines use a unique word or phrase (such as the prefix of "Pacific" for P&O Cruises Australia or the suffixes of "of the Seas" for Royal Caribbean International or "-dam" for ships of the Holland America Line). The addition of these prefixes and suffixes allows multiple cruise lines to use the same popular ship names while maintaining a unique identifier for each ship.

Due to slower speed and reduced seaworthiness, as well as being largely introduced after several major wars, cruise ships have never been used as troop transport vessels. By contrast, ocean liners were often seen as the pride of their country and used to rival liners of other nations, and have been requisitioned during both World Wars and the Falklands War to transport soldiers and serve as hospital ships.[38][citation needed]

Cruise ships and former liners often find employment in applications other than those for which they were built. A shortage of hotel accommodation for the 2004 Summer Olympics led to a plan to moor a number of cruise ships in Athens to provide tourist accommodation.[citation needed]

On 1 September 2005, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracted three Carnival Cruise Lines vessels (Carnival Fantasy, the former Carnival Holiday, and the Carnival Sensation) to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees.[39]

In 2010, in response to the shutdown of UK airspace due to the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the newly completed Celebrity Eclipse was used to rescue 2000 British tourists stranded in Spain as an act of goodwill by the owners. The ship departed from Southampton for Bilbao on 21 April, and returned on 23 April.[40]

In 2017, cruise ships were used to help transport residents off of some Caribbean islands destroyed by hurricane Irma [2] as well as Puerto Rico residents displaced by hurricane Maria [3]

Most cruise ships sail the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. Others operate elsewhere in places like Alaska, the South Pacific, the Baltic Sea and New England. A cruise ship that is moving from one of these regions to another will commonly operate a repositioning cruise while doing so. Expedition cruise lines, which usually operate small ships, visit certain more specialized destinations such as the Arctic and Antarctica, or the Galápagos Islands.

The number of cruise tourists worldwide in 2005 was estimated at some 14 million. The main region for cruising was North America (70% of cruises), where the Caribbean islands were the most popular destinations.

The second most popular region was continental Europe (13%), where the fastest growing segment is cruises in the Baltic Sea.[41] The most visited Baltic ports are Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki.[42] The seaport of St. Petersburg, the main Baltic port of call, received 426,500 passengers during the 2009 cruise season.[43]

According to 2010 CEMAR[44] statistics the Mediterranean cruise market is going through a fast and fundamental change; Italy has won prime position as a destination for European cruises, and destination for the whole of the Mediterranean basin. The most visited ports in Mediterranean Sea are Barcelona (Spain), Civitavecchia (Italy), Palma (Spain) and Venice (Italy).

2013 saw the entrance of the first Chinese company into the cruise market. China's first luxury cruise ship, Henna, made her maiden voyage from Sanya Phoenix Island International Port in late January.[45]

The Caribbean cruising industry is one of the largest in the world, responsible for over $2 billion in direct revenue to the Caribbean islands in 2012.[46] Over 45,000 people from the Caribbean are directly employed in the cruise industry.[46] An estimated 17,457,600 cruise passengers visited the islands in the 2011-2012 cruise year (May 2011 to April 2012.[46]) Cruise lines operating in the Caribbean include Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America, P&O, Cunard, Crystal Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line. There are also smaller cruise lines that cater to a more intimate feeling among their guests. The three largest cruise operators are Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean International, and Star Cruises/Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Many American cruise lines to the Caribbean depart out of the Port of Miami, with "nearly one-third of the cruises sailing out of Miami in recent years."[47] Other cruise ships depart from Port Everglades (in Fort Lauderdale), Port Canaveral (approximately 45 miles (72Â km) east of Orlando), New York, Tampa, Galveston, New Orleans, Cape Liberty, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Charleston, Norfolk, Mobile, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Some UK cruise lines base their ships out of Barbados for the Caribbean season, operating direct charter flights out of the UK.

The busiest ports of call in the Caribbean for cruising in the 2013 year are listed below[48]

The construction market for cruise ships is dominated by two European companies and one Asian company:

A large number of cruise ships have been built by other shipyards, but no other individual yard has reached the large numbers of built ships achieved by the four above.

As most of the passengers on a cruise are affluent and have considerable ransom potential, not to mention a considerable amount of cash and jewelery on board (casino and shops), there have been several high-profile pirate attacks on cruise ships, such as on the Seabourn Spirit and MSC Melody.[49][50]

As a result, cruise ships have implemented various security measures. While most merchant shipping firms have generally avoided arming crew or security guards for reasons of safety, liability and conformity with the laws of the countries where they dock, cruise ships have small arms (usually semi-automatic pistols) stored in a safe accessible only by the captain who distributes them to authorized personnel such as security or the master-at-arms. The ship's high-pressure fire hoses can be used to keep boarders at bay, and often the vessel itself can be maneuvered to ram pirate craft. A recent technology to deter pirates has been the LRAD or sonic cannon which was used in the successful defense of Seabourn Spirit.[50][51]

Passengers entering the cruise ship are screened by metal detectors. Explosive detection machines used include X-ray machines and explosives trace-detection portal machines (a.k.a. "puffer machines"), to prevent weapons and contraband on board. Security has been considerably tightened since September 11, 2001, such that these measures are similar to airport security.

In addition to security checkpoints, passengers are often given a ship-specific identification card, which must be shown in order to get on or off the ship. This prevents people boarding who are not entitled to do so, and also ensures the ship's crew are aware of who is on the ship.[52] The Cruise Ship ID cards are also used as the passenger's room key. CCTV cameras are mounted frequently throughout the ship.

The design of cruise ships has changed dramatically during the past decades. One of the biggest changes has been moving the passenger cabins from inside the hull to the superstructure and adding individual balconies both due to customer demand and because, from a business standpoint, the cruise line can charge passengers much more than for inside staterooms. This has considerably increased the overall height of the ships, making them more susceptible to side wind and waves. As a result, there have been concerns about the stability of modern passenger ships especially in heavy weather. Because there is much more ship above the surface than beneath it, modern cruise ships may appear top-heavy to some.[53]

Despite the large superstructure, the center of mass of modern cruise ships is relatively low. This is due to large open spaces and the extensive use of aluminium, high-strength steel and other lightweight materials in the upper parts, and the fact that the heaviest components — engines, propellers, fuel tanks and such — are located in the lower parts of the ship. Thus, even though modern cruise ships may appear top-heavy, proper weight distribution ensures they are not.[54][55] Furthermore, large cruise ships also tend to be very wide, which considerably increases their initial stability by increasing the metacentric height.

Although most passenger ships utilize stabilizers to reduce rolling in heavy weather, they are only used for crew and passenger comfort and do not contribute to the overall intact stability of the vessel. The ships must fulfill all stability requirements even with the stabilizer fins retracted.[56]

Norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in developed countries and is so widespread that only the common cold is reported more frequently.[57] Symptoms usually last between 1 and 3 days and generally resolve without treatment or long term consequences. The incubation period of the virus averages about 24 hours.[58]

In its coverage of a 2016 CDC study[1] regarding norovirus on cruise ships, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, "Perceptions that cruise ships can be luxury breeding grounds for acute gastroenteritis outbreaks don't hold water. A recent CDC report showed that from 2008 to 2014, only 0.18% of more than 73 million cruise passengers and 0.15% of some 28 million crew members reported symptoms of the illness."

The estimated likelihood of contracting gastroenteritis from any cause on an average 7-day cruise is less than 1%.[59] In 2009, during which more than 13 million people took a cruise,[60] there were nine reported norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships.[61] Outbreak investigations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that transmission among cruise ship passengers is primarily person-to-person; potable water supplies have not been implicated. In 2009, ships undergoing unannounced inspections in U.S. ports received an average CDC Vessel Sanitation Program score of approximately 97 out of a total possible 100 points.[62] The minimum passing inspection score is 85.[62] Collaboration with the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program and the development of Outbreak Prevention and Response Plans have helped to generally decrease the incidence of norovirus outbreaks on ships.[63] The CDC states that the reasons why noroviruses are associated with cruise ships is because "(1) Health officials track illness on cruise ships. So outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land; (2) Close living quarters may increase the amount of group contact; and (3) New passenger arrivals may bring the virus to other passengers and crew."[64] Data for the year 2015 shows that there were just 11 outbreaks of norovirus illnesses on cruise ships.'[65]

Other pathogens which can colonise pools and spas including those on cruise ships include Legionella, the bacteriium which causes Legionnaires' disease. Legionella, and in particular the most virulent strain, Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, can cause infections when inhaled as an aerosol or aspirated. Individuals who are immunocompromised and those with pre-existing chronic respiratory and cardiac disease are more susceptible. Legionnaires' has been infrequently associated with cruise ships.[66][67][68] The Cruise industry Vessel Sanitation Program has specific public health requirements to control and prevent Legionella.[69]

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is a form of E. coli and the leading bacterial cause of diarrhea in the developing world, as well as the most common cause of diarrhea for travelers to those areas.[70] Since 2008 there has been at least one reported incident each year of E. coli on international cruise ships reported to the Vessel Sanitation Program of the Centers for Disease Control, though there were none in 2015.[71] Causes of E. coli infection include the consumption of contaminated food and the ingestion of water in swimming pools contaminated by human waste.[72]

Some cruise lines, such as Cunard, are taking steps to reduce environmental impact by refraining from discharges (RMS Queen Mary 2 has a zero-discharge policy[74]) and reducing their CO2 output every year.[75]


when did justin bieber started his music career

Justin Drew Bieber (/ˈbiːbər/; born March 1, 1994)[2][3] is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After a talent manager discovered him through his YouTube videos covering songs in 2008 and signed to RBMG, Bieber released his debut EP, My World, in late 2009. It was certified Platinum in the U.S.[4] He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, in 2010. It debuted at or near number one in several countries, was certified triple Platinum in the U.S.,[4] and contained his single "Baby".

Justin Bieber

Following his debut album, he had his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, released the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes—and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. He released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, when it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber released his third studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015, spawning three number one singles: "What Do You Mean?", "Sorry", and "Love Yourself". Following the release of Purpose, Bieber was featured on several successful collaborations, including "Cold Water", "Let Me Love You", "Despacito", and "I'm the One". His U.S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million.[4][6] He has sold an estimated 140 million records, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists.[7] He also became the second person to reach 100 million followers on Twitter in late August 2017, with Katy Perry being the other one.

Bieber has won numerous awards, including the American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2010 and 2012. In his career, he has won one Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song "Where Are Ü Now" at the 2016 ceremony. He has been listed four times by Forbes magazine among the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world in 2011, 2012, and 2013.[8] Bieber also became the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo.[9]

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph's Hospital,[10] and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.[11] He is the only child of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette. Bieber's parents were never married.[12] Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother, Diane, and stepfather, Bruce.[13] His mother is of French-Canadian descent; his paternal great-grandfather was of German ancestry, and his other roots are English, Scottish and Irish.[14][15][16] He has also claimed that he has some undetermined Aboriginal Canadian ancestry.[17]

Through Jeremy, Bieber has two younger half-siblings, Jazmyn (born 2009) and Jaxon (born 2010).[18] Pattie worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father.[19]

Bieber attended a French-language immersion elementary school in Stratford, the Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School.[13] Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.[11][20] He graduated from high school in Stratford, Ontario, the St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in 2012[21] with a 4.0 GPA.[22] In early 2007, aged 12, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second.[20][23] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.[24]

When searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def Recordings, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.[19] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theatre Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette, who was reluctant because of Braun's Judaism. She remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!", and, "God, you don't want this Jewish kid to be Justin's man, do you?" However, church elders convinced her to let Bieber go with Braun. At 13, Bieber went to Atlanta, Georgia, with Braun to record demo tapes.[19] Bieber began singing for Usher one week later.[25]

Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.[26] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber but lost the bidding war to Usher.[26][27] Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact L.A. Reid of The Island Def Jam Music Group.[28] Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam, where he could manage Bieber's career at the label.[1][24][26][28] Bieber then moved to Atlanta with his mother to pursue further work with Braun and Usher.[26] Braun became Bieber's manager in 2008.[24]

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.[29] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009[24] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009, it had success in international markets.[30] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.[31][32][33] His first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me" and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes Store and charted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.[30]

"One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top 20 in Canada and the US, and was certified Gold in the latter.[30] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and double Platinum in both Canada and the United Kingdom.[34][35] To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,[36][37] The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.[38]

Bieber performed Ron Miller and Bryan Wells's "Someday at Christmas" for US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which aired on December 20, 2009, on US television broadcaster TNT.[39] Bieber was also one of the performers for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, on December 31, 2009.[40] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of "We Are the World" (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.[41]

On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag", recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti, was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.[42]

In January 2010, "Baby", was released from his debut album, My World 2.0. The song featured Ludacris, and became an international hit. It charted at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number three on the Canadian Hot 100[43] and reached the top ten in several international markets.[30] Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the US Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.[30] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received generally favourable reviews.[44] It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.[45] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart[30] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.[46][47]

To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards, Nightline, Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 & Park.[48] Sean Kingston appeared on the album's next single, "Eenie Meenie". The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets. On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.[49] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.[50] The following single from My World 2.0, "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0. In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.[51] That same month his music video for "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and also the most disliked YouTube video ever.[52][53] However, Taylor Swift's Blank Space surpassed its number of views in 2015.[54] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three per cent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.[55]

In Bieber's second album, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was in his first album.[56] In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit any more. We have to lower the key when I sing live."[57] Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother", who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed.[58] Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[59] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would be releasing an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.[60] It was released on November 26, 2010 in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a new song titled "Pray".[61] In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theatres.[62] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go with It, which grossed $31 million.[63] Never Say Never reportedly exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary.[64] Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide.[65] The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.[66] In June 2011, Bieber was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star, and 1 of 7 musicians on the list, having raked in $53 million in a 12-month period.[67] On November 1, 2011, Bieber released the Christmas-themed Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release.[68]

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single would be called "Boyfriend" and would be released on March 26, 2012.[69] The song debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, selling a total of 521,000 digital units, the second-highest-ever debut digital sales week.[70] Bill Werde of Billboard noted that it failed to debut at number one because the digital download of the track was available only through iTunes Store, "restricting the buying option for those that do not frequent the Apple retail store".[71] "Boyfriend" became Bieber's first single ever to reach the top position on the Canadian Hot 100 by debuting at number one and staying on for one week.[70]

His third studio album, Believe was released on June 19, 2012, by Island Records. The album marks a musical departure from the teen pop sound of his previous releases, and incorporates elements of dance-pop and R&B genres.[72] Intent on developing a more "mature" sound, Bieber collaborated with a wide range of urban producers for the release as well as some long-time collaborators, including Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo, and Max Martin. Entertainment Weekly praised Bieber's musical shift, calling the album both a "reinvention and a reintroduction".[73] Rolling Stone noted the deeper voice and more "intense" beats found on the album, although it lampooned one of his euphemisms for newfound sexual maturity ("If you spread your wings, you can fly away with me").[74] Believe debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his fourth number-one album.[75][76][77] The album sold 57,000 copies in its first week in Canada, debuting atop the Canadian Albums Chart.[78]

The Believe Tour, which further promoted the album, began in September 2012 in Glendale, Arizona.[79] On December 14, 2012, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he announced plans to release an acoustic album titled Believe Acoustic, which was released on January 29, 2013.[80]

Bieber returned to Saturday Night Live as the host and musical guest on the February 9, 2013 episode. His appearance was panned by critics[81][82] and cast members, including Kate McKinnon, who stated that Bieber was not comfortable with his hosting duties, and Bill Hader, who stated that he did not enjoy the presence of Bieber or his entourage. Hader added that in his eight years on the program, Bieber was the only host who lived up to his reputation.[83][84]

On March 7, 2013, Bieber fainted backstage at London's O2 Arena after complaining of breathing problems throughout his performance and was taken to hospital.[85] Bieber cancelled his second Lisbon, Portugal concert at the Pavilh찾o Atl창ntico, which was to be held on March 12, because of low ticket sales. The concert on March 11 went on.[86] In mid-August 2013, a remixed duet version of Michael Jackson's previously unreleased song "Slave To The Rhythm", featuring Justin Bieber leaked online.[87] In response to criticism over this remix, the MJ Estate had not authorized release of this recording, and has since made attempts to remove the song from as many sites and YouTube channels as possible.[88] Later, a song titled "Twerk" by rapper Lil Twist, featuring Bieber as well as Miley Cyrus, also leaked.[89]

On October 3, 2013, Bieber announced that he would release a new song every Monday for 10 weeks as a lead-up to the film Justin Bieber's Believe, which entered production in May 2012 and was released on December 25, 2013. The film is a follow-up to Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and Jon M. Chu returned to direct.[90][91][92] The first song of Music Mondays, "Heartbreaker", was released on October 7. The second song, "All That Matters", was released on October 14, followed by "Hold Tight" on October 21, "Recovery" on October 28, "Bad Day" on November 4, and "All Bad" on November 11. The seventh song, "PYD" featuring R. Kelly, was released on November 18; it was followed by "Roller Coaster" on November 25, and "Change Me" on December 2. The final song, "Confident" featuring Chance the Rapper, was released on December 9, 2013. That same day, it was announced that all 10 tracks will be featured on an upcoming collection called Journals. It reportedly featured five additional unreleased songs, a music video for "All That Matters", and a trailer for Believe. Journals was only available for purchase via iTunes for a limited time only: from December 23, 2013, to January 9, 2014. The titles of the five new additional songs are: "One Life", "Backpack" featuring Lil Wayne, "What's Hatinin" featuring Future, "Swap It Out", and "Memphis" featuring Big Sean and Diplo.[93] Bieber released a song titled "Home to Mama" featuring Australian singer Cody Simpson in November 2014.[94]

Because of the disbanding of Universal Music's division, The Island Def Jam Music Group, in April 2014, Bieber and a number of artists were subsequently transferred to a UMG related division Def Jam Recordings, causing Bieber and the other artists to no longer be signed to Island Records.[95][96]

In February 2015, Bieber released a song "Where Are Ü Now", with Jack Ü.[97] In March 2015, Bieber made an appearance in the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen's single "I Really Like You".[98]

In March 2015 Bieber was the featured roastee in Comedy Central's annual roast special.[99] Bieber filmed an episode for the Fox TV reality series Knock Knock Live, and aired before the show was cancelled after two episodes.[100]

On August 28, 2015, Bieber released a new single titled "What Do You Mean?" as the lead single from his fourth studio album Purpose. The song is a blend of teen pop, electronic dance music and acoustic R&B and became Bieber's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.[101] He became the youngest male artist to debut at the top of that chart, earning him a Guinness World Record. On October 23, 2015, Bieber released the album's second single titled "Sorry" as an instant download, with the pre-order of the album on iTunes. The song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[102] After eight non-consecutive weeks at number two, on the week charting January 23, 2016, "Sorry" climbed to the top spot of the chart and became Bieber's second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single from Purpose, "Love Yourself" also peaked at number one in the US, making Bieber the first male artist in almost a decade to have three number-ones from an album since Justin Timberlake last did it with his album FutureSex/LoveSounds in 2006/2007. "Company" was announced as the fourth single on March 8, 2016. On February 12, 2016, Bieber's first four albums were released on vinyl for the first time.[103]

Purpose was released on November 13, 2015, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Bieber's sixth album to debut at the top of that chart.[104][105] It was the fourth best-selling album of 2015 with worldwide sales of 3.1 million copies.[106] As of June 2016, it had sold 4.5 million copies globally.[107] On November 11, 2015, Bieber announced he will embark on the Purpose Tour. The tour started in Seattle, Washington on March 9, 2016.[108] On July 24, 2017, Bieber canceled the remaining dates of his Purpose Tour "due to unforeseen circumstances."[109][110]

On July 22, 2016, Bieber released a new single with Major Lazer and MØ titled "Cold Water". It debuted at number two, on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber's third number-two debut on the chart, passing Mariah Carey's record to become the artist with the most number-two debuts; he also leads with the most top-two debuts at five.[111] In August 2016, French DJ DJ Snake and Bieber released their collaborative song "Let Me Love You".[112] He appears in the documentary Bodyguards: Secret Lives from the Watchtower.[113]

On April 16, 2017, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee released a remix for their song "Despacito" featuring Justin Bieber. The song was Justin's first release in 2017 and the first in which he sings in Spanish.[114] The remix boosted the original song to the Hot 100's Top 10, being the first mostly Spanish language top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Macarena in 1996.[115] The remix is currently the most viewed song of all time on the popular crowdsourced media knowledge base Genius, with 15.3 million views.[116]

He, along with Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne provided vocals on DJ Khaled's single "I'm the One", released on April 28, 2017. The song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[117] One week later, Despacito topped the charts in the U.S., making the single the first mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1 in more than 20 years, becoming his fifth number one single and it made Bieber the first artist ever to notch new No. 1s in back-to-back weeks.[118] On June 9, 2017, French DJ David Guetta's single "2U", in which Bieber was featured, was released. The music video to "2U" is Victoria's Secret models lip synching to the song.[119][120][121]

On August 17, 2017, Bieber released the single "Friends" with American record producer and songwriter BloodPop. Songwriters Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter reunited with Bieber to construct the song, just as they helped create his single "Sorry" in 2015 on his studio album "Purpose".[122] It is his first single credited as lead artist since "Company", which was released in March, 2016.

Bieber's music is mainly pop, while he also incorporates elements of R&B. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone asserted that the content of his music was "offering a gentle introduction to the mysteries and heartaches of adolescence: songs flushed with romance but notably free of sex itself."[123] After his hit in 2015 on Jack Ü's track Where R Ü Now, Bieber released the EDM-fueled album Purpose a collaboration with Diplo, DJ Snake and Major Lazer.[124]

Bieber has cited The Beatles, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Usher as his musical inspirations.[125][126][127] Bieber stated My World 2.0 was influenced by Timberlake.[128]

Bieber initially began singing with his adolescent voice, before later experiencing pubertal changes during a performance of "Pray" at the 2011 American Music Awards. Bieber started to receive vocal conditioning from coach Jan Smith. Sean Michaels of The Guardian described it as "the biggest threat to his career" at the time.[129] Jody Rosen commented that Bieber sings with "swing and rhythmic dexterity" on his debut, noting his tone to be "nasal".[123]

In a review of his Purpose album, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph complimented his "soft, supple and seductive singing".[130] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian also praised Bieberâ€™s "affectedly breathy voice", but insisted in the same sentence that "the voice soon palls" after listening to the whole album.[131]

Usher commented that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly". As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.[19] After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains, and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ('Wassup man, how you doin'?' or 'It's like, you know, whateva' ') suggest he's mimicking his favourite rappers."[132] In 2013, Bieber said that he was "very influenced by black culture", but he neither thought "of it as black or white" nor tried to "act or pose in a certain way". To him, it was "a lifestyleâ€”like a suaveness or a swag".[133] Wax statues of him with his hairstyle from that of his earlier career are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in Amsterdam, London, and New York City.[134]

Bieber was often featured in teen magazines, such as Tiger Beat,[19] and has been labelled as a "teen heartthrob".[135] In 2010, he was frequently criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age,[136] and the following year for an androgynous appearance, which had been commonly noted in the media, including his appearance on the cover of LOVE magazine's androgyny issue in 2011.[137] His teen-pop music, image (especially as a heartthrob to young teenage girls), and the media attention he receives have additionally been criticized.[136] He has been a target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, especially users of the Internet message board 4chan and of YouTube.[138] Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph said that "Bieber's character appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics" who have questioned his manner of speech, among other things.[136]

Bieber's early fanbase developed on YouTube and predated the release of his debut album My World.[140] According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Chicago Tribune noted that Bieber's fanbase, "Beliebers", was among the top words of 2010.[141] Long before the November 2009 release of My World, his YouTube videos attracted millions of views.[19] Braun recognized the appeal. Before flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like thereâ€™s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun.[19] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;[24] his account was reported in November 2010 to have more than six million followers.[142] Bieber surpassed Lady Gaga for having the most followed person on Twitter in January 2013. In early November 2013, Katy Perry surpassed him for having the most followers.[143] As of 2017, Bieber remains the second most followed user of Twitter, while his VEVO channel makes him the third most subscribed user of YouTube. The music video for Bieber's song "Baby" is the most disliked on YouTube, receiving over 7.8 million dislikes since its upload in 2010, as of 2017[update].[144] Guinness Book of World Records listed "Baby" as the most disliked video on YouTube and on the Internet as of 2013[145] and six of Bieber's music videos (more than any other artist) listed in the top 40 most disliked videos on YouTube.[146] Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched[147] because his fans frequently discussed him on the network,[148] and he was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010;[149] Klout gave his account a score of 100.[150][151] In April 2013, the social media analysis company Socialbakers concluded that 16.7 million of Bieber's 37 million Twitter followers are not genuine.[152][153]

Bieber has described himself as a faithful adherent of Christianity, said he communicates with God via prayer, and that "he's the reason I'm here".[154] He reflected his faith in a music video with Brandon Burke, titled "#iPledge", in which he talks about God's forgiveness.[155]

He was baptized by Pentecostal Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church New York, who is a close friend, on January 9, 2014, after a born again experience.[156][157]

Regarding sexual abstinence, he told music magazine Rolling Stone, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." He added that he does not "believe in abortion", and that it is "like killing a baby"; when asked about the case of abortion with regard to rape, however, he said, "I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."[158][159] His view on sexual orientation is quoted as "everyone's own decision",[160] and he has contributed to the It Gets Better Project,[161] a non-profit group aiming to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.[162]

As Bieber resides in the United States, he is reported to possess an O-1 visa for temporary resident status, based on "extraordinary ability or achievement" in a field.[163] Bieber has stated that he is not interested in obtaining US citizenship because of his view on America's market-oriented health care system. He has praised Canada as being "the best country in the world" citing its government-run health care system as a model example.[158]

Bieber's father, Jeremy Bieber, is a former carpenter and pro-am mixed martial artist. In March 2014, Rolling Stone characterized Jeremy as having "split with Justin's mom when Justin was a toddler, and wasn't always around afterward. But he has, as of late, accepted a place of honor in his superstar son's entourage".[164]

Bieber dated Selena Gomez from December 2010 to November 2012.[165][166][167][168]

Aside from his career as a musician, Bieber has ventured into the worlds of business and philanthropy.

Bieber endorsed Adidas, beside Derrick Rose and Venus Williams, in 2012.[169] He became the new "face" and "body" of Calvin Klein in early 2015.[170] In June 2015, Bieber teamed up with StarShop, a new shopping app launched by Kevin Harrington.[171] He has bandwagoned four fragrances as of 2014.[172] He launched his debut fragrance, Someday, in 2011;[172] it grossed more than three million US dollars in sales, at Macy's, in just under three weeks, which industry experts regard as a successful celebrity-led launch.[173] On the heels of that 2011 best-seller, he launched his second fragrance, Girlfriend, in June 2012.[174] His third fragrance, The Key, was launched in July 2013,[175] and his latest fragrance, Justin Bieber Collector's Edition, launched in 2014.[176]

Bieber supports Pencils of Promise,[177] a charity founded by Adam Braun, the younger brother of Bieber's manager. The organization builds schools in developing countries, and Bieber became manager for the organization's campaign in Guatemala. He serves as a celebrity spokesman for the organization[178] by running ads for the charity and its campaign "Schools4All".[179][180] He promises to visit schools that donate the most funds to the organization.[181] He takes part in the charity's fund-raising galas and donates parts of the proceeds from his concerts and Someday line of fragrances,[182] and various merchandising to the charity. He also appears in an animal welfare PSA for PETA encouraging people to volunteer at and adopt from animal shelters instead of buying pets from breeders or pet stores.[183] In 2013, Bieber launched his online #GiveBackPhilippines campaign for helping the victims of Typhoon Haiyan and traveled to Philippines after raising $3 Million.[184] His work for The Philippines earned him a star on the Walk of Fame Philippines.[185]

Bieber had several run-ins with the law around the world before his first arrest in 2014,[186] including when he was accused of reckless driving in his neighbourhood in 2012, and charged in Brazil with vandalism in 2013.[186][187] One of his neighbours in Calabasas, California, accused Bieber of throwing eggs at his home on January 9, 2014, and causing thousands of dollars of damage.[186][188][189] On January 23, 2014, Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida, together with singer Khalil on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), driving with an over six month expired license, and resisting arrest without violence.[187][190][191] Police said that Bieber told authorities he had consumed alcohol, smoked marijuana, and taken prescription drugs.[186] He has been released from these charges on a $2,500 bond, and lack of evidence beyond reasonable doubt as dictated in the United States court of law.[192] A toxicology report revealed that Bieber had THC (a principal constituent of cannabis) and the anti-anxiety medication Xanax in his system at the time of his arrest.[193][194]

Following Bieber's arrest on the DUI charge, more than 270,000 persons petitioned the White House seeking to have him deported from the United States. Although the number of signatures received was sufficient to require a response under published White House guidelines, the Obama Administration declined substantive comment on the petition.[195] Immigration Law expert Harlan York noted that the likeliness of Bieber being deported was extremely slim. York stated, "About a decade ago, the Supreme Court ruled that driving under the influence, typically, is not a basis to deport someone."[196]

On July 9, 2014, Bieber was charged with one misdemeanour count of vandalism in California for throwing eggs at his Calabasas neighbour's home in January.[189][197][198] Police earlier claimed that they had video footage of him high-fiving friends after the eggs were thrown.[189][199] With him pleading no contest to the charge, the Los Angeles County Superior Court sentenced him on July 9 to pay US$80,900 in restitution, serve two years' probation, complete twelve weeks of anger management, and five days of community service in what the district attorney termed a negotiated settlement. Since then, he has permanently moved to Beverly Hills, California after the incident.[189][197][198]

On August 13, 2014, the January DUI case was settled with a plea bargain pleading guilty to resisting an officer without violence, and a lesser charge of driving without due care and attention. He has been fined with US$500 and sentenced to attend both a 12-hour anger management course, and a program that teaches about the impact of drunken driving on victims. As part of the plea bargain, he has made a US$50,000 contribution to Our Kids, a local children's charity.[200][201]

On September 1, 2014, Bieber was arrested and charged with assault and dangerous driving near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario after a collision between a minivan and Bieber's all-terrain vehicle on August 29. Ontario police said that he then "engaged in a physical altercation" with an occupant of the minivan. He was released shortly and his lawyer blamed the incident on "the unwelcome presence of paparazzi".[203][204] On September 8, Toronto dropped an assault charge against him originally brought up on January 29 for an incident with a limousine driver in December 2013.[205][206] In November 2014, he was ordered to appear in Argentina within 60 days by a Buenos Aires court to give testimony on an alleged assault on a photographer on November 9, 2013.[207] When he failed to do so, an arrest warrant was issued and two of his bodyguards were released in Argentina in April 2015.[208]

In June 2014, a video emerged of a 15-year-old Bieber telling a joke about black people, which used the word "nigger" multiple times.[209] In the same month, a second video showed a 15-year-old Bieber giggling as he croons his song "One Less Lonely Girl", but parodying the main lyric as "One less lonely nigger", and stating that if he were to kill one, he would be "part of the KKK".[210][211] He apologized the day the latter was released: "Facing my mistakes from years ago has been one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with."[212]

In July 2017, the Chinese government banned Justin Bieber from performing in China. A Chinese Bieber fan reached out to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture requesting the reason for the ban. The Bureau released a statement, explaining "Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer", and "In order to maintain order in the Chinese market and purify the Chinese performance environment, it is not suitable to bring in badly behaved entertainers." [213][214]

Throughout his career, Bieber has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him the best-selling male Canadian artist and one of the worldâ€™s best-selling music artists.[215][216] On November 23, 2012, Bieber was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. He was one of 60,000 Canadians to receive the Diamond Jubilee medal that year.[217] In 2013, Bieber received a Diamond award from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to recognize his single "Baby" as the highest-certified digital song of all time.[218][219] Bieber has earned three Grammy nominations (including one win),[220][221] two Brit awards,[222][223] four NRJ Music Award nominations (including three wins),[224][225][226] thirteen Billboard Music Awards,[227] and numerous fan voted accolades which include eight American Music Awards and[228] twenty Teen Choice Awards.[229] He also has won eighteen MTV Europe Music Awards, which is the most awards received by a single artist to date.[230]

On November 13, 2015, the release of Purpose marked his sixth album to debut at number one. He also became the first artist, since Elvis Presley in 2005, to replace his own song as number one on the UK Singles Chart.[231] As of 2016, Bieber has received fourteen titles in the Guinness World Records, which include eight that were achieved from the success of his album Purpose and was featured in the 2017 Edition. These records included the most streamed track on Spotify in one week, the most streamed album on Spotify in one week, the most simultaneous tracks and most simultaneous new entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist, the first act to occupy all top three positions simultaneously on the UK Singles Chart, the most followers on Twitter by a male, the most viewed music channel on YouTube by an individual, and the most subscribers on YouTube for a musician by a male.[232]


purpose of the promotion of equality and prevention of unfair discrimination act 4 of 2000

The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 (PEPUDA or the Equality Act, Act No. 4 of 2000) is a comprehensive South African anti-discrimination law. It prohibits unfair discrimination by the government and by private organisations and individuals and forbids hate speech and harassment. The act specifically lists race, gender, sex, pregnancy, family responsibility or status, marital status, ethnic or social origin, HIV/AIDS status, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth as "prohibited grounds" for discrimination, but also contains criteria that courts may apply to determine which other characteristics are prohibited grounds.[1] Employment discrimination is excluded from the ambit of the act because it is addressed by the Employment Equity Act, 1998. The act establishes the divisions of the High Court and designated Magistrates' Courts as "Equality Courts" to hear complaints of discrimination, hate speech and harassment.

Section Nine of the Constitution of South Africa contains a guarantee of equality and a prohibition of public and private discrimination. It obliges the national government to enact legislation to prohibit discrimination, and a transitional clause required this legislation to be enacted by 4 February 2000, three years after the constitution came into force. The Equality Act was assented to by the President on 2 February 2000; it was enacted alongside two other laws similarly required by the constitution: the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), dealing with freedom of information, and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), dealing with justice in administrative law.


when did rodgers and hammerstein's cinderella come out

Cinderella (also known as Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella) is a 1997 American made-for-television romantic musical fantasy film from The Wonderful World of Disney, based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault and the third version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's television movie musical following the 1957 and the 1965 versions.

Cinderella (1997 film)

It was directed by Robert Iscove, adapted by Robert L. Freedman with choreography by Rob Marshall, and produced by Walt Disney Television, BrownHouse Productions and Storyline Entertainment. It stars Brandy Norwood as the titular character, and Whitney Houston, with Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Veanne Cox, Natalie Desselle, and introduces Paolo Montalban.

Cinderella premiered on ABC November 2, 1997 and received mixed reviews from critics, but was the #1 show of the week, with over 60 million viewers. It became the highest-rated TV musical "in years".[citation needed] This version earned an Emmy Award and an Art Directors Guild Award.

Cinderella's Fairy Godmother (Whitney Houston) explains that nothing is impossible in this magical kingdom. In the village, Cinderella (Brandy) struggles under the weight of the purchases of her ill-tempered Stepmother (Bernadette Peters) and her spiteful stepsisters Minerva (Natalie Desselle-Reid) and Calliope (Veanne Cox). Cinderella's imagination wanders ("The Sweetest Sounds"). Disguised as a peasant, Prince Christopher (Paolo Montalban) is also strolling through the marketplace. The two meet when the Prince rushes over to help Cinderella after she is nearly run over by the royal carriage. They begin to talk and realize they are both dissatisfied with their sheltered lives. She is charmed by his sincere, direct nature, while he is drawn to her naÃ¯ve honesty and purity. Their conversation is cut off when Cinderella's Stepmother scolds her for talking to a stranger. The Prince reluctantly leaves, but tells Cinderella that he hopes to see her again.

Back at the palace, the Prince tries to explain his sense of isolation to his loyal valet Lionel (Jason Alexander), who frantically upbraids him for his clandestine venture into the village. He learns that his mother Queen Constantina (Whoopi Goldberg) is making preparations for a ball where he is to select a suitable bride from all the eligible maidens in the kingdom. The Prince wishes to fall in love the old-fashioned way; his father King Maximilian (Victor Garber) seems to understand, but the Queen will not listen, and dispatches Lionel to proclaim that "The Prince is Giving a Ball." Meanwhile, the Stepmother is determined to see one of her graceless, obnoxious and self-indulgent daughters chosen as the Prince's bride at the ball; she begins to plan their big night. Cinderella wonders if she, too, might go to the Prince's ball. Finding the idea humorous, Stepmother reminds Cinderella of her lowly station and warns against dreams of joy, success, and splendor. Disappointed, Cinderella dreams of a world away from her cold and loveless life ("In My Own Little Corner").

While the preparations for the ball are underway, the Prince confronts his parents, who refuse to cancel it. Using his diplomatic skills, Lionel creates a compromise between the Prince and his parents: the Prince will go to the ball, but if he doesn't meet a suitable bride that night then he gets to seek his true love in his own way. At the same time, Stepmother drills Minerva and Calliope on how to ensnare the Prince and warns them to hide their flaws at all costs. As Cinderella questions the meaning of love and romance, Stepmother reminds the girls that going to the ball has nothing to do with finding love and everything to do with getting a husband by any means necessary ("Falling in Love With Love"). On the big night, Stepmother, Minerva and Calliope depart for the palace in their garish gowns and leave a teary-eyed Cinderella home alone.

In response to Cinderella's tearful wish to go to the ball, the beautiful Fairy Godmother appears and encourages Cinderella to start living her dreams ("Impossible"). She transforms a pumpkin into a gilded carriage, rats into a coachman and footmen, mice into regal horses, and Cinderella's simple clothes into a gorgeous blue gown with a bejeweled tiara and glass slippers. The Fairy Godmother cautions Cinderella that magic spells have time limits, and she must leave the palace before the stroke of midnight. Cinderella finally begins to believe "It's Possible" for her dreams to come true.

At the ball, Lionel dutifully delivers eligible maidens to the Prince on the dance floor, and Stepmother fiendishly schemes behind the scenes on behalf of her daughters. The Prince is unimpressed by Minerva, who breaks out in an itchy rash, and Calliope, who snorts uncontrollably at everything the Prince says. Suddenly, Cinderella appears at the top of the staircase, and the Prince has eyes only for her. Soon they are waltzing together ("Ten Minutes Ago"), and the "Stepsisters Lament" over their bad luck. The King and Queen are intrigued by this mysterious princess. Embarrassed by their questions about her background, Cinderella escapes to the garden in tears, where Fairy Godmother magically appears for moral support. The Prince follows Cinderella into the garden and the pair wonders if their newfound love is real ("Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"). Just as they share their first kiss, the tower clock begins to strike midnight. Cinderella flees before her gown changes back into rags, leaving behind on the palace steps a single clue to her identity: a sparkling glass slipper. The Prince tries to follow her but gets held up by the crowd at the ball.

Stepmother and the Stepsisters return home telling exaggerated stories about their glorious adventures with the Prince. They speak in envious tones of a mysterious "Princess Something-or-other" who, they concede, also captured the Prince's attention. When Cinderella "imagines" how an evening at the ball would be "A Lovely Night", Stepmother recognizes her as the mystery princess. She coldly reminds Cinderella that she is common-born and should stop dreaming about a life that she will never have. In the face of such cruelty, a devastated Cinderella prays to her late father for the strength to find a happier life. Her Fairy Godmother reappears and advises her to share her feelings with the Prince.

Meanwhile, Lionel and the heartbroken Prince seek the maiden who lost the glass slipper, but none of the eligible female feet in the kingdom measure up. The Prince and Lionel finally arrive at the Stepmother's cottage. The Stepsisters and even Stepmother try to fit their feet into the delicate slipper, but to no avail. As the dispirited Prince prepares to leave, he finds Cinderella attempting to run away, only to have her baggage trampled by the royal coach. He recognizes her from their first meeting in the market and, knowing that he has finally found his true love, places the slipper on her foot: it fits.

Cinderella and the Prince marry under the approving eye of King Maximilian and Queen Constantina, as the gates of the palace slam shut on Cinderella's stepfamily; left outside as the Prince and his new Princess start their lives together. The Fairy Godmother blesses the royal couple with the message that "There's Music in You", as they are cheered by their joyful subjects.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella was a co-production of Walt Disney Television, Citadel, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Storyline Entertainment) and Whitney Houston's production company BrownHouse,[1] labeled as "Walt Disney and Whitney Houston present".

This was the third version of the musical; the original was broadcast in 1957 and there was another version in 1965.[2] This version is notable for its color-blind casting. According to news reports, "Disney spent roughly $12 million to produce Cinderella – more than three times the usual budget on a made-for-TV movie."[3][4] The cast is "multi-cultural...Every family is a racially blended family." For example, "Cinderella (Brandy, who is African-American), has a white stepmother,...a white stepsister,...and a [sic] African-American stepsister."[5]

Several songs were added to this version. "The Sweetest Sounds" from Rodgers' No Strings, was added, sung by Cinderella and the Prince. "There's Music in You," written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the 1953 film Main Street to Broadway, was sung as the finale by the Fairy Godmother.[2][6]

The New York Times explains: "To show the stepmother as not just an evil harridan but the product of bitter experience, the team proposed "Falling in Love With Love," which Rodgers wrote with his first partner, Lorenz Hart, for The Boys from Syracuse...'We were pretty much against it until they cast it, and then we knew that Bernadette would be able to put a different kind of spin on it,' said the composer's daughter, Mary Rodgers. In the new show, Ms. Peters sings the song to her daughters, warning them not to confuse the emotional notion of love with the commercial concept of marriage. Shooting took place from June 23, 1997 to July 18, 1997.[7][8]"[4][6]

When Whitney Houston signed on to the film, she was listed as producer and in the role of Cinderella. However, she later asked Brandy to audition for the role of Cinderella, saying "I'm already 33 years old, and I want you to play Cinderella [...] someone who probably had a lot more energy and who was Cinderella to me...". Brandy only agreed to do the part if Houston played her fairy godmother, because she was her "idol".[1][9]

Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella premiered during The Wonderful World of Disney on ABC November 2, 1997.

Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was released on VHS February 10, 1998, and DVD February 4, 2003 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

The television film was the #1 show of the week, with over 60 million viewers. It became the highest-rated TV musical "in years".[10]

The television musical was a hit with audiences, but received mixed reviews from critics. Theatre historian John Kenrick called it a "hideous desecration" of the musical.[11] Caryn James, writing in the New York Times praised the performers: Montalban has "an old-fashioned luxurious voice"; Jason Alexander "provides comic relief"; Goldberg "winningly blends royal dignity with motherly meddling"; Peters "brings vigor and sly comedy". She commented that the musical "was always a pumpkin that never turned into a glittering coach... the songs are lesser Rodgers and Hammerstein... it doesn't take that final leap into pure magic. Often charming and sometimes ordinary, this is a cobbled-together Cinderella for the moment, not the ages." Also she stated that lead actress Brandy "As Disney's Cinderella for the 90's is amazingly good." She also addressed the multi-racial cast: "There is no cause to wonder why one stepsister is black and one white. The entire kingdom is blissfully multiethnic, with a black queen in Ms. Goldberg, a white king in Victor Garber and the Philippine-born Paolo Montalban as their son. (The fact that this racial utopia exists in a fairy tale only emphasizes its distance from reality.)"[12] Other critics praised the presentation. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution wrote: "Grade: A, a version both timely and timeless."[13] The San Diego Union-Tribune agreed: "this version has much to recommend it."[14] An encore broadcast on Valentine's Night 1998 drew another 15,000,000 viewers.[15]" Positive aspects of the movie according to O'Gorman are "a multi-ethnic cast, the addition of two new songs and a hip attitude." Bhob Stewart from the All Movie Guide referred to this adaptation as "rainbow Cinderella".


who wrote erewhom what kind of novel is it

Erewhon: or, Over the Range /ɛ.rɛ.hwɒn/[1] is a novel by Samuel Butler which was first published anonymously in 1872.[2] The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed where Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country. Butler meant the title to be understood as the word "nowhere" backwards even though the letters "h" and "w" are transposed. The book is a satire on Victorian society.[3]

Erewhon

The first few chapters of the novel dealing with the discovery of Erewhon are in fact based on Butler's own experiences in New Zealand where, as a young man, he worked as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station for about four years (1860â€“64), and explored parts of the interior of the South Island and which he wrote about in his A First Year in Canterbury Settlement (1863).

The greater part of the book consists of a description of Erewhon. The nature of this nation is intended to be ambiguous. At first glance, Erewhon appears to be a Utopia, yet it soon becomes clear that this is far from the case. Yet for all the failings of Erewhon, it is also clearly not a dystopia, such as that depicted in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. As a satirical utopia, Erewhon has sometimes been compared to Gulliver's Travels (1726), a classic novel by Jonathan Swift; the image of Utopia in this latter case also bears strong parallels with the self-view of the British Empire at the time. It can also be compared to the William Morris novel, News from Nowhere.

Erewhon satirises various aspects of Victorian society, including criminal punishment, religion and anthropocentrism. For example, according to Erewhonian law, offenders are treated as if they were ill, whereas ill people are looked upon as criminals. Another feature of Erewhon is the absence of machines; this is due to the widely shared perception by the Erewhonians that they are potentially dangerous. This last aspect of Erewhon reveals the influence of Charles Darwin's evolution theory; Butler had read On the Origin of Species soon after it was published in 1859.

Butler developed the three chapters of Erewhon that make up "The Book of the Machines" from a number of articles that he had contributed to The Press, which had just begun publication in Christchurch, New Zealand, beginning with "Darwin among the Machines" (1863). Butler was the first to write about the possibility that machines might develop consciousness by Darwinian Selection.[4] Many dismissed this as a joke; but, in his preface to the second edition, Butler wrote, "I regret that reviewers have in some cases been inclined to treat the chapters on Machines as an attempt to reduce Mr. Darwin's theory to an absurdity. Nothing could be further from my intention, and few things would be more distasteful to me than any attempt to laugh at Mr. Darwin."

After its first release, this book sold far better than any of Butler's other works,[clarification needed] perhaps because the British public assumed that the anonymous author was some better-known figure[citation needed] (the favourite being Lord Lytton, who had published The Coming Race two years previously). In a 1945 broadcast, George Orwell praised the book and said that when Butler wrote Erewhon it needed "imagination of a very high order to see that machinery could be dangerous as well as useful." He recommended the novel, though not its sequel, Erewhon Revisited.[5]

The French philosopher Gilles Deleuze used ideas from Butler's book at various points in the development of his philosophy of difference. In Difference and Repetition (1968), Deleuze refers to what he calls "Ideas" as "Erewhon." "Ideas are not concepts," he explains, but rather "a form of eternally positive differential multiplicity, distinguished from the identity of concepts."[6] "Erewhon" refers to the "nomadic distributions" that pertain to simulacra, which "are not universals like the categories, nor are they the hic et nunc or nowhere, the diversity to which categories apply in representation."[7] "Erewhon," in this reading, is "not only a disguised no-where but a rearranged now-here."[8]

In his collaboration with Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus (1972), Deleuze draws on Butler's "The Book of the Machines" to "go beyond" the "usual polemic between vitalism and mechanism" as it relates to their concept of "desiring-machines":[9]

For one thing, Butler is not content to say that machines extend the organism, but asserts that they are really limbs and organs lying on the body without organs of a society, which men will appropriate according to their power and their wealth, and whose poverty deprives them as if they were mutilated organisms. For another, he is not content to say that organisms are machines, but asserts that they contain such an abundance of parts that they must be compared to very different parts of distinct machines, each relating to the others, engendered in combination with the others... He shatters the vitalist argument by calling in question the specific or personal unity of the organism, and the mechanist argument even more decisively, by calling in question the structural unity of the machine.

In 1994, a group of ex-Yugoslavian writers in Amsterdam, who had established the PEN centre of Yugoslav Writers in Exile, published a single issue of a literary journal Erewhon.[10]

New Zealand sound art organisation, the Audio Foundation, published in 2012 an anthology edited by Bruce Russell named Erewhon Calling after Butler's book.[11]

In 2014, New Zealand artist Gavin Hipkins released his first feature film, titled Erewhon and based on Butler's book. It premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Edinburgh Art Festival.[12]

In "Smile", the second episode of the 2017 season of Doctor Who, the Doctor and Bill explore a spaceship named Erehwon. Despite the slightly different spelling, the episode writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce confirmed[13] that this was a reference to Butler's novel.