Tropical Paradise of Bali is Finally Reached
Caronia's first call to Bali, in Indonesia, was originally scheduled for the Great World Cruise of 1951. This would be the first of only seven calls ever made to this tropical paradise, and in common with many places around the World, the ship would have been warmly welcomed. Today it is quite commonplace, but in those days, the visit of an internationally known cruise liner like the Caronia, with a complement of very wealthy passengers would be quite an event!
She would draw every kind of craft from the shore, with local people attempting to trade their local crafts to make a few dollars. The term used for this flotilla was “the bum boats”, and lines attached to woven baskets would be tossed up for people aboard to hoist the wares and return the basket with precious U.S. dollars.
[Photo: © Peter Stevens 1966]
In some ports, the children would dive after coins in the crystal-clear waters. In later years, the Kennedy half-dollar would be quite a prize for these kids, and there would always be a mad scramble if one was tossed down from the deck, bearing in mind its weight as against quarter pieces, which sank much more slowly.
The previous visit cancellation at Bali would have been made for passenger safety ashore, however, even if the American people were occasionally not very welcome, their currency certainly was! This was common in many of the poorer countries of the World, where the bargaining power of the American Dollar or indeed the Pound Sterling was much stronger than even the local currency. I can imagine that this position hasn't changed much, even today.
However, having said all that, there were very strict regulations about taking foreign currency ashore at Bali! This is explained in J.S. Wright's diary snippets which continue on this page.
