Alfred M. Staehle's Travelogue
1961 Virtual Great World Cruise
This travelogue presents transcripts of letters sent to family & friends by Alfred Staehle and his wife Lois, relating their experiences of places visited on Caronia's 1961 Great World Cruise. Collated by and shared with us by his grand-daughter, Sharon Atkins.
Colombo to Singapore
19 March 1961
Sunday
At Sea
Steaming Colombo to Singapore 1,586 miles
Log Abstract…
At: 12 Noon 06:30 (GMT) Position: 05.53N | 83.51E
Travelled: 300 miles
Light variable breezes, slight sea & swell, cloudy, fine and clear
Ceylon and its Economic Trend
A.M.S…
From a scenic standpoint we were fairly well prepared to see this country (which must have been a paradise when my
parents were here) and which is still mighty nice. However, from a standpoint of the economics and political aspects of
Ceylon we were poorly prepared except for the fine briefing we received the day before from our lecturer, Mr. Boxell.
Post Colonial Problems
A.M.S…
He fears that Ceylon is falling into the Communist camp. It has several pressing problems. Like many other countries
which have been hit with that wave of nationalism that caused it to gain “freedom” from the British it has
the usual social and economic problems of transition from British rule to this freedom.
Of its 9 million people, about 7 million are called Sinhalese, the majority of which are Buddhist, 2 million are Tamils, most of whom are Hindus and have probably entered the country illegally from India just 40 miles away by sea. About 800,000 people are Catholic, stemming from Portuguese missionaries.
DAMN YANKEESFeaturing: Tab Hunter | Gwen Verdon at 4.30 & 9.30pm
Clocks advanced 1 hour at Midnight
20 March 1961
At Sea
Log Abstract…
At: 12 Noon 05:30 (GMT) Position: 06.16 N | 91.53E
Travelled: 477 miles
Light airs, smooth sea, occasional showers, clear
Left-Wing Influences
A.M.S…
Ceylon, surprisingly to anyone going through it as we did, is not self-sufficient in its basic food: rice. So they have
entered into a trade agreement with China to exchange rice for rubber. However, China has not been able to meet its
end of the bargain entirely, so rice is rationed in Ceylon.
Some years ago Ceylon had a Prime Minister, Mr. Solomon W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who renounced Christianity for Buddhism, and fostered many socialistic ideals. He was apparently revered by the Sinhalese, but was assassinated in September 1959.
Today, his wife, Sirimaro Bandaranaike, has become the World's first woman Prime Minister. She has pledged to continue with her husband's socialist programme and by all accounts is moving more and more toward the Communists.
Opinion is Divided!
A.M.S…
Our fellow passengers left Ceylon with the widest range of diverse opinions of where the country is heading, of any
place we have visited. If you want support for a theory that everything is lovely in Ceylon, that conditions are
getting better day by day; that the people are happy, etc., etc. you can find someone who got into a taxi and had
“a very fine educated driver, who really knew his stuff, spoke fine English and had no reason for not giving
the real lowdown”.
You can find those passengers without trouble. On the other hand, there are those who talked with equally reliable and intelligent drivers, shopkeepers, hotel men or Cook's representatives, and they've been told that everybody wants to exchange American dollars for their rupees and that people are scared to death of what their Government will do next.
There's fear that complete nationalisation of everything is just around the corner, that it's only a matter of a short time before Communists take over. Take your choice! My friend, Mr. Perara is fearful the press will be taken over by the Government, maybe as soon as next week. Could I help him get a job in England?
This, I felt, was a pretty reliable indication that the “rosy” view was not the right view.
SONG WITHOUT ENDFeaturing: Dirk Bogarde | Capucine at 4.30pm only!
Caronia Crew present “Happy Hunting” in the Theatre at 10.30pm
Clocks advanced 1 hour at Midnight
21 March 1961
At Sea
Daily programme Cards
With the information content to include within each daily programme often exceeding that which could be
comfortably printed upon standard sized cards, this non-standard cover was employed instead.
It was produced from a cut down version of the bluebell wood menu cover, itself a mouth-painting by Miss P.I. Northcott. Version 1 of this cover can be found on the Folio - 1st Class menu covers page 1.
It wasn't until the 1961 North Cape Cruise that a suitably sized programme cover came into use. However, it wasn't until 1964 that 2 further covers were used. See programme Numbers 3 & 5 on the Folio - programme Cards page.
What the programme contents also show is what's believed to be the first cruise when blue ink was used instead of black. Indeed the menu contents for St Patrick's day was printed in green.
Log Abstract…
At: 12 Noon 04:30 (GMT) Position: 04.21N | 99.05E
Travelled: 458 miles
Light variable breezes, smooth sea, cloudy, fine and clear
351 miles to Singapore
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIESFeaturing: Doris Day | David Niven at 4.30 & 9.30pm
If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…