The End of the Line…

With the effects of the 1966 Seamen's strike biting hard, the progress of jet aviation and mounting operating and maintenance costs, 1967 was probably the first year that Caronia had made an operating loss for her owners. A glittering career as one of Britain's major dollar-earners was about to close.

On 09 October 1967 Captain “Pip” Read was advised that Caronia was to be sold. As an ageing ship, there were several problems in the engine room, added to which Caronia suffered quite heavy external damage in a violent storm near Villefranche during the 1967 Summer Mediterranean Cruise, almost a rerun of a similar storm in 1963.

Although, in various guises, the hull of the Caronia lasted a few more years, the main Timeline only covers her time in Cunard ownership, so our story draws to a close with the links from this index.

Proposed 1968 Great World Cruise

At the bottom of the page are images from an early flyer, dated February 1967 and a short-lived brochure dated August 1967. Both of these were published in the USA. The itinerary featured just one shift away from the usual ports of call. A visit to Jesselton at the Northern tip of Borneo, visited just once before, being a divergence for the usual call at Bangkok.

The brochure has a style quite different to those usually used for Caronia's cruises. It's notable for not mentioning a name on the cover or any recognisable pictures of the “Green Goddess” within. Of its twenty pages, there are but two devoted to life on board the ship, and even those feature a generous amount of white space!

While the brochure was published in the USA, its accompanying deck plan sheet was printed in the UK. With the new Cunard branding only shown at the bottom of the inside back cover, it's clear that a new marketing (perhaps last-ditch?) strategy was being put into place.

A Dramatic Ending

If you came here wondering what Caronia's ultimate fate was,

then see this Timeline section about Caribia's final months in New York and her dramatic rendezvous with the rocks of Guam in a tropical storm of 1974.

Sterling Cruise to New York via Bahamas
Departs Southampton 05 January 1967

Sterling Cruise Voyage Log

Sterling Cruise
Ends at New York 23 January 1967

Great World Cruise
Departs New York 26 January 1967

• 1967 Great World Cruise Passenger List transcript

South African Tour programme for 1960

Great World Cruise
Ends at New York 02 May 1967

Spring Mediterranean Cruise
Departs New York 05 May 1967

Mediterranean Cruise Movie

Spring Mediterranean Cruise
Ends at Southampton 09 June 1967

Positioning Transatlantic Crossing to New York via Le Havre

1961 North Cape Cruise

1965 North Cape Cruise

North Cape Cruise
Ends at Southampton 10 August 1967

Positioning Transatlantic Crossing to New York via Le Havre

Summer Mediterranean Cruise
Departs New York 26 August 1967

Summer Mediterranean Cruise
Ends at New York 26 September 1967

1967 Autumn Mediterranean Cruise Voyage Log

Autumn Mediterranean and Black Sea Cruise
Ends at New York 16 November 1967

This cruise was foreshortened due to the news that Caronia was to be withdrawn. Instead of taking her passengers to Southampton, she went directly from Lisbon to New York, then sailed back empty to Southampton, arriving there on the morning of 24th November. This being the 4th known occasion when Caronia crossed the Atlantic eastbound with no revenue.

Report on Caronia's departure

At Southampton - awaiting her fate as a liner For Sale
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