Getting Paid
When the Caronia, and indeed any other ship, is away from its home port, the arrangements for getting paid were quite different from any job on shore. There was no regular pay-day as such.
If you needed to withdraw funds, (known as getting a sub) then you could visit the “pay office”, sited at the aft end of the working alleyway. At sea, this would be open for 2 hours of the morning and 2 hours of the afternoon of each Thursday.
If we were to be in port, arrangements of the next opening would be posted on the crew notice board at the head of the working alleyway. The subs-office was also the place where you could obtain a few basics, things like razor blades and basic cosmetics.
For smokers you'd be able to stock up on packs of 200 ciggies which were something like $2.40 a pack. This wasn't a crew shop in its truest sense. However, instead of paying cash for your goods here, their cost would be deducted from your pay-bill at the end of the voyage.
At the point where you signed-on, you could arrange for money to be sent directly to your dependants or bank account ashore in Blighty. These “allotments” were an essential aspect, especially as Caronia was rarely on a regular schedule.
At the end of the voyage, you would not only sign-off the ship, but also get paid-off. This would be the point where you'd get to find out just how much you had earned in the previous 2 to 6 months that you had been away.
Of course, how much the stoppages were, and how much residue you'd collect would determine the level of enjoyment of the often brief period of leave ashore in the UK. There were so many temptations to spend offered while you were away that, for some people, paying-off day would not bring the cash bonanza that they expected.
For them, living the high-life that the Caronia brought could come to a very abrupt end. Needless to say, paying-off days were quite emotional affairs, especially if you had been away for several months. Slowly but surely, you'd witness the inexorable process of the whole environment that had been your “home from home” being dismantled.
Within minutes of the gangways being attached to the ship, the places that you had trusted are invaded with complete strangers. What compounds this feeling is that the interlopers seem to have scant regard for keeping the place the slightest bit clean or tidy. There's an added risk, pilfering from your belongings!
Added to this is the realisation that many of the people that you had closely shared this environment with may not be returning, or indeed that you had decided that you wouldn't yourself. So there would be the rounds of farewells to do.
Life at sea, especially on ships like the Caronia, may seem to be very glamorous, but it is nothing more than just a transient experience. Having said that, it can also be an experience that you will retain fond memories of for the rest of your life!
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