There was a very striking feature about Universal Cruise Line's planned cruises for the Caribia.
The company would go all-out to trade as much as possible on the previous tradition of Cunard's Caronia.
This was to a point where today, they would have been stopped dead in their tracks by trademark
legislation, quite apart from the threat of heavy law suits.
As can be seen below, even the cruise brochures were produced in exactly the same style as those
previously created by Cunard! However, there was also one very striking difference, in that there
was only one brochure produced to cover a range of 10 different cruise itineraries.
Another difference was that Caribia's Main, A, B & C Decks had acquired names of Caribbean
destinations, beginning with their relevant previous single letter. The Sun Deck and the Restaurant
Deck remained, unchanged.
Main Deck became the Montego Deck
"A" became Antigua Deck
"B" became Barbados Deck
"C" became Curaçao Deck
This first brochure was for 10 cruises ranging from 9 to 14 days. The minimum fares were set at
$280 (£100 approx.) to $480 (£175 approx.).
The maiden cruise had been planned to depart from New York's Pier 92 (the Cunard Pier![?]) on
11 December 1968, 13 months after the Caronia's final departure from that point. However, because
of the refit delays, the actual maiden cruise became a 14 day affair departing on 14 February 1969,
starting 6 days later than originally booked!
The burning question with this rebirth being whether former Caronia passengers were actually
going to be drawn to go cruising on Caribia, and quite what they made of what was now being offered.
Considering what was to transpire, I wonder if anyone would now readily admit that they had
actually booked and travelled?
Left:
The cover of the 1969 schedule of 7, 8 & 14 day cruises from New York to the Caribbean,
produced by Diners Fugazy Sales, acting as promoters
I hesitate to comment on the above brochure images. As a former crew member I'm horrified at the blatant rip-off that
was perpetrated within its pages. Certainly, all of the pictures on the bottom row pages were direct reprints of
previous Caronia brochures.
By comparison, the wording of the claims made for the ship itself is almost painful to read. Most of the pictures may
have been plagiarised from Cunard, but a fair proportion of the descriptive text wasn't! From what was to become the
reality, it was definitely a case of over-egging the pudding!
After all, who could provide a service that could even begin to match Cunard's? Not at those
prices and certainly not with an unestablished crew, led by inexperienced, though apparently
multi-talented, operators!
Some of the Caronia's crew had been pursuaded to stay with the ship. Her former Second Engineer
became the Caribia's new Staff Chief Engineer and, “in his spare time”, he acted as Cruise Director,
sang as an entertainer and ultimately found himself also responsible for “hotel services”.
To put this latter task into perspective, this comes from a former Caronia “Hotel Services Engineer”…
Ron Powell writes…
The Hotel Service Engineer was an ordinary ship's engineer, except that he was responsible for
all the machinery, air conditioning, kitchen and laundry equipment, in fact everything
that operated mechanically and electrically outside the propulsion of the main engines.
He had three watchkeepers under him and it was considered a prime number as he and his team were
not “down below”, but could operate anywhere on the ship as and when required…
Caribia's Maiden Cruise
A Valentine's Day Cruise Like No Other!
The Caribia eventually sailed from Pier 92 at 4pm on Friday 14 February 1969. She was reported
to have arrived as follows…
17 February 1969 - San Juan
18 February 1969 - St Thomas
21 February 1969 - Curaçao
23 February 1969 - Montego Bay
25 February 1969 - Nassau
…and arriving back at New York at 8am on Friday 28 February.
If, having reached this far, you had hoped to read some better news, I'm sorry to disappoint you.
The maiden cruise left New York with 500 passengers, 400 of whom, upon return arrival, presented a
petition alleging - “inadequate service, inadequate food, improperly functioning equipment and
generally unsatisfactory conditions”! Can it get any worse?
Well, yes! For most of the cruise, instead of the usual smell of polish or of fresh food being
prepared in the galley, everyone on board also had to tolerate what was described as a “foul
odour” that permeated throughout the whole ship from a failed waste system. What a nightmare?
However, there were some compensations. The Croatian Master, Capt. Nicolas Mitakis was apparently
very proud to present every passenger with a fancy scroll. According to him, Caribia's Maiden
Voyage passengers were now elevated to the status of “Charter Members” and were
taking their place of “Great Distinction and Significance in Maritime History!”
Presumably, the passenger to whom the scroll [seen left] was awarded was so underwhelmed that
he or she wasn't really that bothered to go and collect it.
By now, the Caribia's booked cruise dates were academic. All her cruises were now operating 6
days behind schedule. For intending passengers the delays and uncertainties would not have
presented many encouraging signs.
Nevertheless, at 4pm on Friday 28 February 1969, 325 passengers (well under 50% capacity) had
embarked for another 14 day Universal Cruise Line voyage to the Caribbean. Just 5 days later,
the cruise was brought to an abrupt and tragic end.
The following report from the New York Times tells the story…
EXPLOSION HALTS CARIBIA'S CRUISE
Engine-Room Blast Forces Cruise Cancellation
New York Times Report 11 March 1969
The Panamanian cruise liner Caribia has been forced to abandon her current voyage and cancel a
subsequent one because of an engine-room explosion that resulted in a complete failure of her
electrical system at sea. The explosion, in which one crew member was killed and one seriously
scalded, took place last Wednesday, but confirmation of the accident could only be obtained yesterday.
There were no injuries among the 325 passengers. The accident took place early in the morning,
a few hours after the 34,172-ton liner, formerly the Cunard ship Caronia, sailed from St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands, her second port of call on a 14-day Caribbean cruise.
According to one of her passengers, the liner drifted for 20 hours until she could get up steam again to return to St.
Thomas. The passenger, who did not wish to be identified, was one of 141 travellers who returned from the port
yesterday morning aboard the Greek liner, “Queen Anna Maria”. Others have returned here by air.
“An Ugly Mess”
It was an ugly mess!” the passenger said. “There was no water, no electricity, no air-conditioning,
fire hoses all around and, worst of all, no information!” Efforts to see the ship's captain for
an explanation of the situation, he added, proved fruitless. The only “official” word, he said,
was a brief announcement on Wednesday morning that the ship would be underway again soon.
No confirmation of the liner's accident could be obtained here yesterday from her operators,
Universal Cruise Line, as none of the company's officials were available. The Coast Guard
reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week that it had no knowledge of any trouble aboard the
Caribia. This tended to confirm the belief in shipping circles that the 715-foot ship had not
sent out any messages asking for assistance.
Below is an extract from a subsequent law suit which rather concisely sums up just how the
Caribia was really being operated! It's probable that the passengers, certainly prior to boarding,
were blissfully unaware that Universal Cruise Line's unashamed portrayal of Caribia as the rebirth
of the Caronia, was some way from the truth…!
Pandazopoulos v Universal Cruise Line, Inc. (1973, SD NY)
Statute 365 F Supp 208 states…
Because foreign incorporation of defendant corporation which owned and operated vessel, and
foreign registration of vessel, were façade designed to disguise American beneficial ownership,
operation and control and to avoid consequences of American shipping laws, 46 USCS Appx § 688
was applicable to claim asserted by plaintiff where plaintiff was Greek National residing in Greece,
he was hired in Greece as engineering member of crew of subject vessel,
vessel was registered in Panama and flew that Nation's flag,
vessel was owned and operated by Panamanian corporations,
plaintiff and other crew members signed standard form Panamanian articles while vessel was in
Italy,
when vessel was again in Italy plaintiff and other crew members executed agreement which
made reference to employment under terms of Greek collective bargaining agreement with regard
to working conditions and wages,
and plaintiff was injured while working in ship's generator room at time when vessel was on
High Seas, some 5 hours out of port of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Following some temporary repairs, the Caribia limped back to New York, anchoring in Gravesend
Bay rather than docking at Pier 92, presumably in an effort to avoid closer inspection by local
maritime officials.
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