Caronia's Crew Complement
On return transatlantic crossings the total crew aboard the “Green Goddess” hovered at around the 595 mark. On transatlantics ahead of cruises this number would jump to around 695, all to serve an equal number of passengers, or fewer.
Of course, ahead of most Caronia cruises out of New York came a westbound transatlantic crossing. On cruises the complement of waiters would jump from 88 to 104. However, if the ship was near to fully booked on return transatlantic trips with 2 sittings in each restaurant, those 7 days at sea would have been a real “work-up” - for no extra pay!
Although Caronia had one of the largest laundries afloat, the full staffing of around 30 was only ever employed on cruises, otherwise there was just a skeleton staffing by a dozen or so. In the Deck Department an additional 15 or so were hired, mostly of musicians, photographers and extra deckhands to man the shore tenders.
The remaining additional staff would mostly be employed in the galley, because cruise menus were more extensive in scope than on transatlantic crossings. Also there were more background support staff, the “jacks of all trades” given the broad title of Assistant Stewards, colloquially known to the crew as “The Gang”.
Quite noticeable too was that extra Student Cooks, Junior Engineers and Boy Seamen were employed on cruises, presumably to give them experience with an extended time away from home. Of course, for these youngsters, being aboard for Caronia's Great World Cruises would have been trips of a lifetime!
| Department | Transatlantic | Cruises |
|---|---|---|
| Deck : | 117 | 140 |
| Engineers : | 91 | 96 |
| Catering : | 385 | 459 |
| Totals : | 593 | 695 |
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