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On Friday, August 1st 1930 the Lancastria docked at Leith in Edinburgh. The Scotsman newspaper reported that the ship had around 700 American passengers aboard, well below her 2,200 maximum passenger capacity, but which Clark believed preserved the exclusivity of the Cruise. The details for the Edinburgh leg of the cruise state:
“EDINBURGH, THE TROSSACHS, LOCH KATRINE AND LOCH LOMAND
“Friday, August 1, 8.00am to Saturday August 2, 9.00pm - The Ship is at Leith, ten minutes by train or motor from Edinburgh. The passengers will spend one day in Edinburgh, having motor-coaches for three to four hours to Edinburgh castle, Holyrood and St. Giles’ Church with lunch at the fine North British Station Hotel. (Now known as the Balmoral Hotel and which is positioned above Waverley train station, which was then known as the Caledonian station). Half a day will be left for shopping and independent action.
“One day will be devoted to a delightful trip through The Trossachs and the Highlands and Lake District of Scotland. (Presumably the reference to “Lake District” means the lochs of Lomandside and those on the way to Aberfoyle, as there is no, and never has been a “Lake District” in Scotland). One group of the passengers will take The Trossachs trip each day, while the other group spend the day in Edinburgh.
“The Trossachs Party will be devided into two sections each day for the coaches and lake (loch) steamers and at lunch, viz: one-third will leave Leith by special train to Aberfoyle, coaches from Aberfoyle to the Trossachs; steamer on Loch Katrine; coaches through The Trossachs to Stronachlacher and Inversnaid; steamer down Loch Lomand to Balloch Pier - and train back to the ship at Leith via Edinburgh. Lunch at Aberfoyle and afternoon tea on Loch Lomand steamer.”
 Coincidentally some survivors of the Lancastria sinking, like Harry Harding, (pictured left at the Aberfoyle roadhouse in June 2008) were subsequently stationed at Aberfoyle after being regrouped in the UK. Other passengers has opt-out excursions to Melrose in the Scottish Borders and even to Ireland and a chance to “kiss the celebrated Blarney Stone” near Cork.
A week later and the cruise proceeded to Amsterdam where trains took passenger onwards to Berlin for sightseeing, before proceeding to Dresden, a city subsequently raised to the ground by the RAF and US air force in one of the most controversial allied operations of the war. 12 weeks before the German surrender 1,300 heavy bombers dropped almost 4,000 tones of high explosive and incendiaries on the city which had no strategic military significance. Between 12th February and 15th February 1945, 13 square miles of the city were destroyed with estimates that between 24,000 and 40,000 civilians killed.  RAF commanders defended the scale of the attack and deliberate targeting of civilians claiming it was designed to undermine German morale. For the most civilians in Dresden at the time it undermined their morale permanently and some independent historians have branded the attack as a war crime. Indeed Churchill subsequently branded the attack, orchestrated by Chief Air Marshall “Bomber” Harris as “an act of terror”. What is certain is that none of the sights of that city, or indeed the hotels where the 1930 Lancastria passengers stayed remained after the bombing.
Towards the end of the booklet are detailed what is included in the Cruise. “Hotels, with three meat meals daily, drives, guides and fees on shore, steamer chair, first-class railroad travel throughout the main cruise.”
Passengers could expect the following on the day, or side trip excursions:
“Three meals daily (consisting of breakfast with omelette or eggs, lunch and dinner on the continent of Europe according to the custom and meat breakfast, lunch and dinner in Great Britain.)”
The booklet also highlights that passengers will travel first class by rail in Spain and Italy and second class elsewhere in Europe, but in England will travel 3rd class “since 2nd class has been abolished and 90% of passengers travel 3rd class, the accommodation being similar to that on American railroads.”
The booklet is a document of its time and of its class. It is difficult to see how a similar promotional holiday document could be written like that today, although clearly the excessively rich of today would expect the same standards and “congenial” company that their wealthy predecessors enjoyed.
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