“A” Deck

As we go down through the decks, here we see an artist impression of an “A” Deck stateroom. Note that even though outwardly there were only portholes on “A” deck, many of these on the inside were built into rectangular apertures. With the curtains drawn, who would know that you weren't in a luxury hotel ashore? All the furniture is hand-built to suit the room's dimensions.

An “A” Deck Stateroom
[Click on picture for colour version]
[Image: Braun Bros. Collection] [Colour Image: The Tilling Collection]

Note the expanse of real wood lining the bulkheads; decorative laminates and plastics were some way off when Caronia was built! On Caronia's longer cruises, several of the A deck staterooms were booked simply as “walk-in closets” and not just for the womenfolk.

Restaurant Deck

At this point no decision has been made over naming either of Caronia's two restaurants. The one forward of the galley, assigned to First Class on transatlantic crossings, became the “Balmoral”.

Aft of the galley and designated for Cabin Class on transatlantic crossings was the “Sandringham”. Both restaurants featured silver-service whether Caronia was crossing the Atlantic or on a luxury cruise. When on a cruise, all public areas were “First Class”.

Most of the tables down the centre aisle were pedestals and firmly bolted to the deck. Not only that, each chair in the restaurant had a short securing rope attached to its base with a brass key on the end that fitted into an anchorage point in the deck. Removing all these and covering the resulting holes in the deck would have been quite a problem, particularly if it meant risking damage to ladies' shoes, or their occupants!

If there was capacity for just one meal sitting on transatlantic voyages, the arrangements gave scope to allocate passengers to either restaurant when an imbalance of numbers in either class occurred. Areas of either restaurant could be used as overspill according to need. This would avoid having a second sitting only to accommodate a small number of extra diners.

On Caronia's “Sunshine Cruises” to the West Indies, every available bed would be sold and there would nearly always be two sittings in both restaurants. However, for the longer cruises, the maximum number of passengers carried was limited to around 560 so that everyone could dine in a single sitting.