At the time there were approximately $US3 to the GB£1.

Unlike the Union Castle Line, operating the Callender in the laundry on board Cunard ships was not performed by junior ratings, so no Callender Boys are shown above. Certainly, on board the Caronia women were employed for this rôle instead.

What this shows is that, despite very low rates of pay, some shipping lines were still exploiting junior staff, and although female employees were used instead on Cunard, they would still not be paid as much as their male counterparts. In those days equal pay legislation was still 5 years away and I have no idea if it was implemented for seagoing women when enacted!

Celebrating 125 Years of Cunard

Back in 1840, a tiny wooden paddle steamer, called “Britannia” set off from Liverpool to begin the first ever regular transatlantic passenger service. As a mark of its 125th year Cunard commissioned a new menu cover for distribution around its fleet.

The front cover featured 8 notable ships of the fleet down through the ages. It features Britannia, weighing-in at a total of 1,135 tons, and with Blue Riband holders of their time, like the four-stack Mauretania of 1907 and the three-stack Queen Mary of the 1930s.

Setting a History Trend?

At the bottom is RMS Carmania, a 1960s product that also sported Cunard Cruising Green livery, with its domed funnel and weighing 22,600 tons. Aboard the Caronia this was not well received!

On the back there's a potted history of the line and the pioneering ships that flew the colours. It goes on to describe the need of dual-purpose liners, although there's no mention of Caronia in this regard either.

Perhaps this was an indication of how Caronia, with but 2 years of service left, despite her fame and historic firsts in the annals of sea lore, was quietly being removed from “history”. Today, the name Caronia is nothing but a marketing term. None of the “traditions” that were so meticulously honed on board that ship survive. Sadly, she has effectively become one of Cunard's best-kept secrets.

Predicting in Uncertain Times

With the continued march of competition from the airlines and the current fleet becoming outdated, there are some bold claims made in this 125th year. Whilst the company was apparently “setting the pace” in Atlantic sea travel, there were events yet to happen that would place serious dents into that claim.

Mention of the as yet unnamed new ship gives her tonnage as 58,000, with three classes and a launch date of 1967. With the troubled birth of this new liner, the “QE2”, the tonnage increased to 65,000 tons but now with facilities for just two classes.

Just like Caronia, the new ship would be First Class whilst cruising. On the face of it, you may believe that she was a modern extension of the older vessel. The problem became one of scale; QE2 could never emulate her service standards or her intimacy, especially whilst cruising.

Unlike the Caronia, silver service had to be limited and there were several other key demarcations introduced. Most of these remain on today's cruise ships. That's why I claim on the opening page that Caronia's elegant style is unlikely to be repeated. The QE2 went on to complete a distinguished, though not uneventful, career.

Unique Artifacts

Some unexpected pieces of ephemera occasionally turn up, like within papers collected by former Cruise Lecturer and Broadcaster, William (Bill) Harris that were offered for auction. The strange part being that his name was not mentioned at all in the lot description, so it came as a surprise.

Shore Tours Booking Form

Within the bundle were many scribbled notes made on whatever paper was to hand, probably as aide-memoires for a talk, or in correspondence received or to follow. In amongst these was an Amex Travel Agent's Shore Tours Booking Form which had to be filled out in triplicate.

The form was cleverly designed as a perforated Z-fold to make the triplicate copying reasonably easy. For the purpose of the Timeline, it brings together a table of the cost of each of the 50 tours on the 1965 North Cape Cruise. For readability only 2 of the 6 intended sides are scanned.

Midnight Sun Masonic Club

Among many cruise activities was the formation of a “Masonic Club”. Both passengers and ship's officers are listed as members. Meetings were held either in a private dining room of the Balmoral Restaurant or, for larger gatherings, in the forward part of the Raleigh Room (the Cabin Smoking Room on transatlantic crossings).

The member's card [seen left] was issued to Edward H. Brown of Seaforth Lodge 4038 in Liverpool. He had joined Caronia on the 1965 Great World Cruise. Edward and Allan Forrest's ratings on board the ship are not yet determined; they weren't passengers!

Masonic Officers

Chief Engineer

Henry L. Parker

Staff Chief Engineer

Alexander Mollison

Chief Steward

James R. Smith

Purser

Gordon W. Davey

Staff Purser

Harold M. Grimes

Head Chef

Robert Finnegan

N.Y.D

Edward H. Brown

N.Y.D

Allan Forrest

The inaugural meeting of the “Midnight Sun Masonic Club” took place on 06 July 1965, just 4 days out of New York and 2 days ahead of arriving in Reykjavik, with 33 members in attendance.

If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…

1961 North Cape Cruise

1965 North Cape Cruise

THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW Featuring: Peter Sellers | Lionel Jeffries at 4.30 & 9.30pm

Cross Arctic Circle
Novices Induction Ball at 10pm

Clocks advanced 1 hour at Midnight

At Oslo

Depart Oslo Noon
At Sea
Steaming Oslo to Stockholm 860 miles

THE TRAIN Featuring: Burt Lancaster | Paul Schofield at 4.30 & 9.30pm

Clocks stopped 1 hour at Midnight

Arrive Stockholm 6am

21 July Luncheon Suggested Menu

RHINO Featuring: Harry Guardino | Robert Culp at 9.30pm

At Copenhagen

SECRET AGENT FX18 Featuring:
Jeanne Moreau | Claude Rich | Jean-Louis Trintignant at 4.30 & 9.30pm

Tour #35: Morning coach tour around Hamburg

Tour #35 Hamburg Coach Ticket 30 July 1965
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[Images: Peter Stevens Collection]

TOPKAPIFeaturing: Melina Mercouri | Maximillian Schell at 9.30pm