CRUISE GIANT DIES
Contributed by Ernest Beyl, a longtime cruise executive who worked for Titus at P & O Lines (North America) and Seabourn Cruise Line.
Although born in Anacortes, Washington in 1915 where his early schooling took place, Warren had a yen for the Marines and for the surfing life. As a young man he moved to Hawaii where he did join the Marine Corps in 1933 and did surf. Months on shore patrol as a Marine enlisted man prompted him to become a Honolulu cop when he received his discharge.
But a cop’s life was not for Warren. He joined Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company and later Theo H. Davies, the Hawaiian shipping firm and rose to become its president.
In 1959 he was tapped by P & O – Peninsular and Oriental Navigation Company Ltd. – and moved to San Francisco where he became the president of P & O, North America which was operating line voyages from the UK to Australia and across the Pacific to San Francisco. Warren segmented these long voyages and marketed them as cruises. Always enamored by the lure of the sea, he created a personality for those old British liners like Himalaya, Chusan, Orsova, Orcades and Oronsay and marketed them as being POSH (port out, starboard home) experiences and invited the public to “Run Away to Sea” in a classic but memorable advertising campaign by the late advertising man David Ogilvy.
When P & O joined Princess Cruises in the Love Boat concept, Warren, by that time, a high profile figure in passenger shipping with a strong bent toward luxury, became the founding president of Royal Viking Line in 1973. As we all know, Royal Viking set the standard for luxury cruising and were generally recognized as operating the finest ships afloat. It was Warren Titus who had the vision to articulate this luxury concept and he developed an international reputation. Today, his name is virtually synonymous with Luxury cruising.
Atle Brynestad, the Norwegian entrepreneur sought Titus out to become the founding president of Seabourn Cruise Line in 1987. Later when Seabourn merged with Cunard Warren he became a trusted advisor to both lines and also continued in his role as Chairman of their past passenger clubs.
Known for his style, Warren Titus was a courtly and handsome man – catnip to the ladies. But his style went further. During his long career Warren Titus was always greatly loved by three important groups – the traveling public, the travel agent community, and his fellow employees. He was always the man do the hard jobs like telephoning an irate agent or an unhappy customer. “Let Warren do it,” was a frequent suggestion throughout his career. If he “did it” it would be done with charm, style and effectiveness.
Warren is survived by his wife Janice Farrar, two daughters, Patricia Titus and Barbara Fowler, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.
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