We all remember the adventures of Phileas Fogg in 80 days to go around the world, but what Jules Verne did not know is almost 60 years after its publication, In 1922, the Cunard shipping company would offer the first complete round-the-world tour on the Laconia.
This first round the world sailing across seas would last 130 days, and its passengers enjoyed 22 stopovers on five continents. Since November 1922, no other company has offered more cruises, or transported more passengers on trips around the world than Cunard, at least this is what their page says.
Cunard is officially recognized as the first shipping company to start transatlantic steam navigation, when on July 4, 1840, the Britannia left Liverpool for New York. I already mentioned the celebration of 175 years during 2015, you can read it here.
Another Cunard innovation (perhaps less well known) is the introduction of the round-the-world cruise, which could have occurred thanks to some technical advances such as the use of liquid fuel instead of coal, having cold stores for food, and the first ventilation installations on board ... although the finalization of the Panama Canal in 1914 was decisive, avoiding the detour through Cape Horn.
Cunard's first round-the-world cruise arose when the company partnered with American Express to offer a re-enactment of Magellan's voyage in November 1922, the first to circumnavigate the Earth. It lasted 130 days, and offered an itinerary with 22 stops to the west, first through the Caribbean and the Panama Canal, and then through the Pacific, made stops in the Far East, and returned to New York crossing the Mediterranean and the Atlantic after crossing the Suez Canal.
The Laconia, which was a slow ship for the time, was about the same size as the current Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, and in it 400 passengers traveled, which was, in reality, the capacity of their first class cabins. He made three cruises around the world in 1923, 1924 and 1926.