Transatlantic Fare Schedules 1962
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Another Caronia First
This month would see another major departure from the norm, and it also displays just how quick Cunard were to exploit any new idea with their trend-setting ship. Even though in the early 1960s the Caronia was beginning to show her age, as newer cruise ships emulated her style but in a more modern way, there was Caronia at the very fore-front of what is today seen as commonplace.
Normally, with all cruises starting from New York, passengers were not able to “buy segments” of a cruise - it was all or nothing! With this Pacific and Far East cruise, passengers from the Southern part of the USA could now join Caronia at Port Everglades, instead of having to travel North to New York to join her, only to travel South again by sea. However, on this occasion, the cruise would not call at Port Everglades on her return to the East Coast.
Within a very short while, the idea of using Port Everglades caught on. By the mid-1960s Cunard's Carmania would spend the first six months of each year running 11 to 17 day cruises from Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) to the Caribbean - right on its doorstep. This cut out up to 4 days at sea, as intending passengers could easily fly to Miami in hours. Of course, today, Miami is a major starting point for bringing air passengers to and from the biggest ever ships to sail to the Caribbean.
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