This page lists all of the updates made to the Caronia Timeline since June 2009. With having so many items
in the archive itself, this mainly assists in assessing when a particular item was either gathered into
the collection, or when a new piece of information came to light.
These act in a similar way to Accession Lists which saves having to put every individual item into a separate
folder. It will also assist in the creation of proper Accession Lists should the need arise in the future.
There is a noticeable gap during which only minor edits were made and not recorded. It isn't until early
2019 that the baton was picked up again
among the site attackers were robots targeting the display options button. This has been a difficult problem to
address without removing the facility altogether, which is NOT a consideration!
what I have done however is to remove button graphic link from the “double” and “large”
options as there is already a link within accessibility box at the top
I will continue to monitor this because the level of attack from these unscrupulous pests is alarming
it has been a torrid few days! My apologies if your enjoyment of the Timeline has been interrupted. The site has
been under bombardment by bad robots, attempting to undermine one aspect that I hold as most vital - accessibility
at its worst, there were visits every four seconds calling for a file that is clearly marked as excluded to all
robots. The page has no content, it's simply the placeholder that momentarily remembers the page you were on when you
call the text sizing routine so you get taken back to that page once your choice is made
for many years I've had a system in place that has saved me countless hours of work fending off pesky blighters
that want nothing more than to spoil your day. Whether or not it can cope with that volume of abuse I cannot say
Being forced to look a lot more closely at what is happening, what has also become clear is the threat from
Artificial Intelligence scraping the Web with their robots out to steal all the information they can find without so
much as an acknowledgement of the source. To their owners, more often than not multi-billion dollar outfits, Copyright
is a mere trifle and they're brazen with it!
it is a serious wake-up call to those, like me, who seek to freely share information on the basis that no-one makes
any financial gain. As I get closer to my 80th year, do I want this extra time-wasting hassle?
03 February 2025
on pages where images can be flipped to show the obverse,
users of all screen resolutions will now see these work fully as intended
progress of overhauling the Timeline pages has reached mid-1950
it's surprising me just how much information detail I'm adding in this process, though it also provides very easy
distractions
26 January 2025
phase 2 of the Annual Overhaul has begun in earnest with the adoption of more modern HTML which reduces the need
for floated text. The only real purpose of floats is to place images within text, on either side
the improvements make for quicker page loading and a tidier presentation, though the latter may not be obvious
so far I have completed a single year index and most of the 1949 daily activity pages
these are in addition to a couple of hundred other pages completed in phase 1, where headings once had floated images
24 January 2025
phase 1 of the Annual Overhaul is now complete, with all in-line styling references now removed
this is in preparation for setting the site's Content Security Policy which will help protect some of the valuable
information here and hopefully deter unscrupulous internet thieves
I am aware of some current behaviour that does not comply with the Timeline's Terms of Use. I take a very dim view
of this when it's freely available on the basis that visitors behave. Copyright theft is still theft!
updated various links and rebuilt search database
23 January 2025
added info about Itsy Bitsy Oliver, along with party invitation image to May 1967 page
added St Patricks Day “Hooley” invitation image to March 1965 page
much more behind the scenes overhaul work accomplished
08 January 2025
all the style declarations in page heads have now been removed, now to tackle the 250 or so inline instructions
the annual overhaul continues with many adjustments made to both simplify the code and rim the CSS. Slowly removing
localised style instances
if there is any apparent display error, it may be worth doing a hard refresh of the page so that you load the latest
formatting instructions
many adjustments have been made to improve the readability of the styles in larger sizes too. Removing duplicated
entries involves these instructions more than in the default view
02 January 2025
more annual overhaul work done with simplifying code. The main part of the learning process is in using code that
keeps up with today's modern browsers though not being so up-to-the-minute that it excludes half my visitors
along with the learning process comes some ad-hoc testing and before I know it, there are so many instances that
the result becomes an untidy mess. The latest update has removed over 600 in-line instructions and replaced them with
proper CSS references. There's another 300 yet to tackle
Section 20
Updates July to December 2024
30 December 2024
more overhaul work done with the object of simplifying code and making pages load a little quicker
more work to reduce the number of floats used; this is proving to be more difficult than first thought
27 December 2024
begun the annual overhaul of the site
cured an evident display problem within the “double” screen option
many non-standard headers now have modern code, with floats removed. Pages may not look that different, but format
more quickly and tidily
several detail changes to the search results page
if anyone with lots of CSS experience can help, I'm looking at removing “floats” for non-image items.
The advice I'm looking for is whether these can be effected without wholesale page re-writing. The “.thlt”
class would be my starting point. CSS Link
this completes all the 1967 shore tours information that I have to hand
updated relevant links and rebuilt search database
09 August 2024
added 15 pieces of ephemera for 12 August voyage, including menus and daily programmes to
August 1959 page
inserted transcript of “Emergency Cabin Passenger List” for the 12 August 1959 transat. This is a unique
document produced against a backdrop of an “ink strike”! I'm now looking for the 1st Class equivalent
08 August 2024
added Amex vignettes to ports visited in July 1967
on the same page, begun adding Amex shore tours extracts in a slightly different style than for the Cooks tours
posted hitherto
07 August 2024
completed adding 1967 Spring Cruise vignettes and shore tour extracts on June 1967 page with other ancilliary information added
06 August 2024
completed adding Shore Tours extracts to May 1967 page
along with local vignettes and ancilliary information
added map of Italy, featuring mostly its West coast geography, to most Catania or Naples arrivals
added transatlantic crossing ephemera to October
1951 page You might find it interesting that a number of the Ocean Times articles could have been written this
week, rather than over 70 years ago. Plus ça change…
continued the late annual overhaul with many thousands of minor edits to try and standardise presentation of the
position data within the daily activity pages
completed adding 1955 Great World Cruise information
the 4th Voyage Log sheet is missing. The run from Honolulu to NYC was a regular thing, so instead there are
“notional log” entries derived from previously recorded information. Obviously, while the calculations
are as close as I can get them, the weather reports are complete guesswork
if you have a copy of Page 4 of this voyage log and could send me a scan, do please get in touch
begun work on a long-held ambition, to provide an accessible means of printing the Timeline pages whilst mostly
keeping the page layouts as intended
in your printer settings you will need to select a duplex option as the layout controls an offset on both left
and right sides accordingly. This also makes best use of paper, especially on long lists
the above option allows you to utilise a plastic binder to keep the pages tidy and in order
the process is by no means complete, however, all the crew and passenger lists should now present tidily on a
printed page
08 March 2024
standardised and generally tidied links to cruise log abstract images. Note: all the contents of these logs are
fully transcribed by their relevant date within the daily activity pages, or within a relevant virtual tour.
inserted a new Page 2 of the Yokohama Accident which
gives us an account from a quartermaster on Caronia's bridge at the time
added Great World Cruise voyage log images to 1963 Year Index
18 January 2024
added Masonic Club ephemera images and supporting text to July 1965 page
update of relevant links; rebuilt search database
17 January 2024
Reworked both the Crew Ephemera Pages to provide some
continuity among the items shown
inserted images of 1959 North Cape postal dates itinerary into Crew Ephemera Page 1
Section 18
Updates July to December 2023
22 October 2023
an unexpected treasure has surfaced in the form of a now transcribed 1950 Great African Cruise passenger list, separating the
Southampton from Cherbourg disembarks. It appears that passengers returning to New York were trans-shipped during the
call at Cherbourg
general update of relevant links; rebuilt search database
18 September 2023
The Timeline is now complete!
the final discussion topic - “The Last Word” added to October 1963 page
well, they do say: “In for a penny…” so following on from the previous work dealing with single
paragraph attributes, I've also removed “last” labelling. As it happens, this was also associated with
quoted text
the implications being that some quoted text blocks stand on their own with a bottom margin and a box-shadow
the remainder don't have the bottom margin. So text interrupted by navigation buttons or images to left or right,
all join up with only the tiniest gap
11 July 2023
the popups containing shore-tour arrangements or cruise-news vignettes are now much easier to read in the larger
text display options
for visitors using these, you can now stretch the popup window horizontally to suit, once it opens. Hovering your
mouse within the new popup will turn your cursor into an east-west arrow ( ⇔ ) as a reminder. Simply drag the right
window edge in or out to taste
because of the header background image in the default screen size, stretching the window will not affect this
display
the allocation of quoted paragraphs into named blocks is now complete
it's clear that back at the Timeline's beginning I had no idea of the later impact of a novice decision. My
starting point with cascading style sheets (CSS) nearly 18 years ago was to assign quoted text properties only to
individual HTML paragraphs. However, it did make a rod for later!
experience has shown that I needed to place these paragraphs within named container blocks; so these past 10 days
has seen me work to correct a few hundred pages. Hopefully, you'll find the outcome distinctive
that task has presented remedial opportunities, such as completing a long-outstanding task in
overhauling H.J. Neils’ 1959 Travelogue to
bring it in line with others added later
hardly anything was done to improve it over its 18 year existence, though now it has the bigger blocks of text
broken down into readable pieces, with the benefit of grouped paragraphs.
there are many other update instances, though too many to list individually
several days ago, at a point where I could do nothing more with search and replace, I had 1,056 paragraphs still in
the wild. There are now just 200 left to deal with. I'm aware that there have been some readability issues, for which
I apologise, but hopefully the result is worth the work
continued with updating pages to better reflect quoted text
the above can be seen in the 1952 Travelogue
pages where conversion of all 27 pages is complete
Section 17
Updates January to June 2023
29 June 2023
more work done to include the benefits of modern code. Visually, the biggest difference is in the presentation of
quoted text. More judicial use of the large open-quotes has been introduced along with a clearer demarcation between
quoted or copied text and my own remarks
the above can be seen in the 1961 Travelogue
pages where conversion of all 30 pages is complete
the code to control the presentation of “notes” has also been much simplified, although there is only
a minor visual difference
updated the About the Timeline and its Webmaster page to reflect
a near completed task
updated the header of this page also to reflect upon twenty years
of Timeline development
22 June 2023
much behind-the-scenes work achieved to try and ensure a bit of future-proofing. This has centred around
description lists, of which there over 16,000 on the site. Getting these to work as intended across all 3 display
options has proved quite a challenge
speaking of display options, the choices now work as intended. I'm not sure how long the feature has been broken
remotely because it has worked faultlessly for years on my development machine. It seems to be the result of a very
subtle and obscure way of reading in cookies
Nevertheless, I offer my sincere apologies for its absence. If ever there is something broken, please don't hesitate
in letting me know. I may not be aware until I'm contacted
the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed a new logo appear at the bottom of the Home and 1st-time visitors pages.
I have finally been approached by the British Library with a view to them creating an archive of the Timeline
I will expand upon this in a later update to the header text on this page, but while this development may sound
exciting, it is far from an ideal solution. For a site with so many thousands of peoples’ names a key need is for these
to be indexed and searchable. Sadly, the option does not exist
28 May 2023
my apologies to anyone wanting to send feedback and finding that the form didn't work. Adapting the form
to the updated technology has been a bit of struggle. Everything worked, bar the appearance of the “Thank-You”
I have made a couple of changes that enable the form to be navigated entirely from the keyboard without needing to
use the scrollbar to move down the page
altered cookie behaviour for when returning to the default “caronia” text viewing option. Cookies are
now only set when a choice other than the default is made.
I've become aware that the Timeline Feedback page doesn't work as it should. All feedback is important to me so I extend
my apologies if you've been trying to get in touch. The page now
opens to provide contact information, though the feedback form itself is currently disabled.
added 2nd to last ever Cabin Luncheon menu images to August
1967 page
07 May 2023
more HTML5/CSS3 improvement work completed. I became alarmed at the amount of resources being called for while a
page loads
as a consequence, a lot of quite large header images, with limited use anyway, have been removed. There's quite a
few visual changes too, especially on button / menu backgrounds and mouse-hover responses
more work done on presentation of search results
some pages may still look awry as a font change to Century Gothic small-caps has had a greater effect than anticipated,
though it's still an improvement upon Comic Sans. Repairs are underway…
re-worked the presentation of the Crossword options. This
is on-going to take full benefit from CSS3 controls
more behind the scenes HTML5 upgrade work completed, with 10% of the pages getting a makeover in standard viewing
mode. For those who use the “double” or “large” text viewing modes then all pages have had
their presentation improved
switching to the larger viewing sizes is now much less resource hungry too, so pages should be more responsive
added Liverpool Docks cabin menu cover to June 1955 page.
It's worth noting that out of nearly 1,200 menu covers, this is only the 2nd example in the archive
25 April 2023
the site-search facility is again up and running. My apologies to anyone affected. My site-hosts have had a recent
upgrade go awry. I had tested the updated code on both remote and local servers where it had been working fine. It
looks like the failure occ
urred nearly 3 weeks ago...
I'm not idle! Much work has been done on testing some new features. One is to site buttons in places discrete
to a topic which will bring up relevant new information on demand. Near the bottom of the Alan Stewart Travelogue Index are two such buttons, where the pop-up window
can stay in place for as long as a reader needs it, without interrupting their flow. Although the pop-up has a close
button, it will disappear by clicking or tapping anywhere within its bounds
My site hosts are due to make a major update to their database provision. Thus, a local upgrade of my server to
test the search database revealed a bit of work needed. Now all ready for this upgrade
there may be some disruption to the Search facility not being available from 06:00 GMT on Friday 24 March
all the above paxlists have had many First Names inserted
the 2nd to last available Timeline page header has just been filled with a topic about Caronia's “Steam Queens”.
Co-incidentally, it was also my first month as boy rating at sea
With only 185 passengers on the above list, at the height of the holiday season, I have moved the header topic of
the August 1954 page to the previous page and
commented upon why Caronia spent so much time at Southampton in August
I constantly monitor the use of the Timeline Search facility to find ways of improving the results obtained. I can
do nothing about any (frequent) mis-spellings, but I have updated the Search Results page to give some guidance
I have also updated the First-Time Visitor page
to fully explain how to get the best results
revised the 04 April 1950 First Class
PaxList to incorporate information from U.S. Immigration records. List divided to show embarkations from Southampton
and Le Havre
added 18 period photographs from places like Barbados, Rio and St. Helena across several pages of the
T.R. Schoonover 1952 Travelogue
09 March 2023
begun update and overhaul of the T.R. Schoonover
Travelogue for the 1952 World Cruise. This includes repair of links and adding links back to the day-to-day index
07 March 2023
I've not been idle! All 8.5k image references are now fully scalable. Another 400 images make up the slide shows
I've also been able to solve a mystery photograph that I'd believed was taken by me on a North Cape Cruise. Turns out
to have been in the Dardanelles a few months later
27 February 2023
completed an audit of the entire site, with all the broken pages now restored
more progress toward completing the HTML5 conversion of images, of the 9,000 there are now fewer than 1,000
remaining to be individually dealt with
updated relevant links and rebuilt search database
22 February 2023
added 3 photos to the Pursers page in the Crew Quarters
it appears that several pages have mysteriously “broken”. I haven't yet established the cause though
the pages found have all been repaired from back-ups. I'll continue the search, but if you come across one I have missed,
do please let me know
much background success achieved. There are 2.9k thumbnails on the site and getting these to operate under
modern display techniques has been a tad vexing. To put this into context, they are among 7.5k images now converted to
“scaled” viewing. However, there's still another 1.3k needing attention
another background task has been dealing with page headers away from the standard timeline pages. This most affects
those who use the larger viewing options of “double” or “large”
link buttons with images, like the links to virtual cruises and slide shows have been standardised across all
viewing options and made much clearer to follow
learning how to adopt modern Web page display techniques continues
following the major updates for the 1959 Great World Cruise, I've tackled the Henry Neils travelogue, including
improving the links from the daily activity pages
regular visitors my notice an absence of the regular “annual overhaul” this year. What's really
happening are running repairs as I happen upon them, along with looking at sections not updated for several years
I have it in mind that the Timeline is in its 20th year and I'm open to ideas on how we celebrate that next January
Having reached the half-way point I'm now going to transfer my energies to adding from a recent treasure-trove
donated by Ross Blouin. I'll update his page in due course
revised the 19 July 1950 First Class
PaxList to incorporate information from British Immigration records. List divided to show disembarkations
at Le Havre and Southampton
added very rare menu to November 1958 page.
It was probably saved by someone on Cunard's Liverpool shore-staff that had come to pay-off the crew ahead of the ship
going into dry-dock
much behind the scenes work is underway. I'm about a third of the way through updating the HTML5 to
incorporate the <figure><figcaption> coding constructs. While some can be partly automated with
advanced search/replace routines, at some point an audit of every page will be required
these updates mostly affect visitors viewing the Timeline using the larger text options. However, because you'll
eventually get scaled-up images as standard, clicking on an “enlargement link” will probably bring up a
clearer rather than larger image
please bear in mind that many image scans have been on the Timeline since inception in 2004. With the number
of images getting close to 10,000, it won't be feasible to begin a re-scan to suit modern technology. It's a quality
compromise that we'll all have to live with
begun a fact-checking audit, mostly of New York arrivals and departures. This to cross-check numbers travelling and
any New York Times stories relevant to the ship that I have so far missed
this entails many tens of amends, too many to keep exact track of, except to say that so far all the Daily
Activity pages up to September 1950 have been screened
I'm thrilled to announce another new Timeline section! Following on from the previous travelogue, I'm pleased to
present another, not from a former passenger, but from a musician on board. 6 months earlier, Alan Stewart had joined
the band on the Queen Mary and suddenly found himself transferred to the Caronia
It's my intention to release Alan's commentary in stages, cruise by cruise. At this stage, only the 1954 Sterling
Cruise pages have been transcribed. Also, some more work needs to be done on the day-to-day index page. Instead
of aligning these with the Virtual Tours, they will be linked to from the Crew Quarters index
I'll also be placing extracts of Alan's texts within their relevant Daily Activity pages. All this is still to be
done, along with adding several photographs. On that topic, I have received some proof 1949 photos, probably given to Alan by a
ship's photographer. These may have been proofs sent to Cunard's publicity department for them to choose a set of
“official” photos
My sincere thanks go to Kathy Unwin for sharing her Dad's letters to her Mum, now presented as the Alan Stewart travelogue
26 May 2022
added programmes & meal menu images to April 1949 page
seeking a “messenger”. Is there anyone Stateside who could pass on messages for me? You'd think that
with the Web we live in a global village. Sadly, not! On sites like eBay now, I cannot even try to message a seller
outside the UK as my browser gives my location away. Yet, there are infrequent occasions when I'd like to invite
people to view a Timeline page
inserted new Iced Dish Definitions
in the Glossary - Culinary Translator series. This fulfils my ambition to create the basic framework of meal definitions
and allows me to add to the lists as new research is revealed. I'll certainly be adding to the Coupe definitions
05 May 2022
many edits in the range 1962 to 1964 pages with assistance from the New York Times archive. This helps highlight
differences in information obtained from other sources, like passenger lists published by Cunard
03 May 2022
added new slide show{JS }
12 late 1960s commercial slides of Luxor Museum treasures
to the Special Features page and elsewhere
transferred the first 3 months of 2022 updates from this page to the
Updates Archive, rebuilt search database
updated the Ross Blouin page with contents of his
latest Timeline donation. It may read as if it's “more of the same”, but in reality there are several
items that are scarce. I'm going to enjoy adding them for your perusal
many small corrections made. Found evidence of a crossing to New York made from Cherbourg rather than the usual Le Havre
made several detail changes to presentation of certain elements, removing the need for images to simulate curves.
These take a lot of testing to see that they work as intended across the site
going on a cruise seems to give people an impression that the sea will always be relatively calm. I've added two
quite evocative pieces to the Atlantic
Crossing page of Alfred M. Staehle's travelogue describing when that isn't the case
18 April 2022
Completed the updated makeover to the 1966
Virtual Spring Cruise. It's another job made much easier by the recent HTML5 upgrade. Hopefully, the
information presentation is now clearer
17 April 2022
as I process these pages I often wonder how relevant they are today. Perhaps a “roving reporter”
should take the Timeline as their guide to compare then and now
13 April 2022
now that the bare bones of the Virtual 1961 World Cruise has been completed, it's time to concentrate upon adding
photographs. So, here goes…
more work done on the 1961 Great World Cruise travelogue; this time, all 60 daily programme images have been
vastly improved
09 April 2022
I have been going through my “pending use” folders trying to spot images that I have yet to use on
the Timeline. I'm not going to list each one that I find here, but it means that if I add a photo, the whole page gets
a “revised” treatment. A case in point is the July 1964 page
I haven't made a big announcement about it, having only just put final touches into place, but the 1961 Great World Cruise travelogue is now more or less complete
however, I will be adding bits and pieces of information over the coming weeks, as I gather photographs and do
more research into the events of that time
for example, to the Atlantic Crossing
page, I have added information about a major 1961 storm, and added a link to hear J.F.K's 1st Address to Congress
added photo of Caronia in Wellington Harbour in 1951 to February 1951 page, and no, it's not the same as the one on the Virtual
Cruise page for that visit
08 April 2022
there have been many information improvements made along the way as I review pages that need attention since the
big changeover. There are too many to list but I've taken any opportunities that have been presented
the Crew Reunions page now has the map react in both size
and scale, according to your display settings. While its width will adjust with your screen in the larger sizes, the
height remains constant
I have reached what I might call a watershed moment. I have no list in my head of the HTML5 conversions that are
yet to be tackled. Indeed, I've now been looking at “bells & whistles” - mostly to find ways of
reducing the complexity of some of the HTML, especially with navigation options
to test out this theory I went looking for trouble, as you do, and decided to see how well these pages stand up to
modern “accessibility testers”. The result, having picked a random page from the Timeline, came back with
a startling, yet impressive score:
Level A - 100% · Level AA - 100% · Level AAA - 10 missed · Overall 95.3%
Test result on a random Timeline page
27 March 2022
The 1961 Great World Cruise has reached its final port -
Hawaii
Regular visitors will have had to properly “reload” the site. Not for many years has the Timeline
gone through such a massive internal transformation! Visually, there won't be very much difference, but under the bonnet
there has been a root and branch change
The coding structure transition from XHTML Strict to HTML5 has now been completed. It means that all 1,100 pages
have been readied for what is known as the “semantic web”. It has been quite a learning curve! At least my
tidy approach to coding has paid off, handsomely
However, there are aspects where going forward my work will be greatly simplified. For example, the alternating
background colour changes are now done automatically. If I insert a new “article” I no longer have to go
through manually adjusting those already there. That has been a bit of a barrier to progress in the past
24 March 2022
The 1961 Great World Cruise travelogue reports on Japan part 1
The 1961 Great World Cruise travelogue reports on Japan part 2
I'm on the look out for period photographs or slides with which to illustrate several pages of Al Staehle's
travelogue
a bit of work done on the 1965 Summer Mediterranean
Cruise pages. This includes some corrections, mending of links and information added in many places
amended dates and updated information on the October
1965 page
overhauled the search system, with an updated results page
updated the search database
19 March 2022
added photo of Caronia's maiden arrival to Acapulco page of 1951 Virtual World Cruise
13 March 2022
around 100 photographs have now received the “scaled” treatment; the first 5 or 6 pages of the crew
photos are the latest. You will need to load pages in either [Text] size double or large to see the effect
the above isn't suitable for handheld devices, also quite a number of photographs were poor in the first place
and enlarging them doesn't improve matters
I've made several adjustments to the size and placement of navigation buttons. I've rearranged the order in which
they were assigned their properties, so there should no longer be variations. Hopefully, it should make navigating
on a portable device a little easier
much work done with the slide shows where
all but one now feature images that resize with the new window
the slide show window attempts to calculate your screen size and present you with as big an image as it dare
without overwhelming the browser window
resizing is fairly straightforward although you will have to follow the picture's aspect ratio
also, on opening the window, focus is given to the forward button which means that pressing the [Enter]
key will advance you to the next slide. If you alter the direction, the same key will follow you
06 March 2022
for a long while I have wanted to scale up the photographs when visitors choose the larger screen sizes.
Thankfully, there is the opportunity in HTML5 to do just that. However, this will be a long job as there isn't a way
that I can do a search and replace, even using complex code. Each image will need to be evaluated in its own right
So, my first adventure into this can be found on the first three pages of the Art & Industry Virtual Tour. Hopefully, this is a step forward!
added image of earliest Caronia / Cunard White Star era notepaper to Postal Ephemera page. It has also been updated with scaled images
you may need to refresh the entire site as there have been many detail changes that may appear to not have
changed visually. This is because of my adopting some HTML5 attributes and replacing the cobbled together ways
of presenting things like call-out boxes
more work has been done on improving the navigation signage to follow accessibility guidelines. This aspect is
by no means complete and work is expected to continue off and on as time allows
the 2022 annual overhaul is now more or less complete and on time. There shouldn't be any disruptions for the time being
some feedback from Greg Williams, about his Great-Grandfather, has been added to the Cabin Class passenger list of the Maiden Voyage
15 February 2022
added photo and information about Caronia's longer stays in Southampton to August 1960 page
14 February 2022
you might not notice a difference, though if you do a hard reload to include all the background support
files, you probably will
a huge amount of detail work being done in the background to try and bring the site into the HTML5/CSS3
accessibility standards. This will be on-going work well beyond the scope of this year's annual overhaul, though
even with close to 1,200 pages, some progress has been made!
added a long overdue topic header to cover the First Class
Smoking Room with a rare picture, from Reginald Gabbe, of the room when Caronia was not in service
12 February 2022
rearranged the header contents of the June 1951
page and that of the July 1951 page. Swapped the
“Personal Masseur” topic to the former and added a photo of the North Cape posthouse to the latter
10 February 2022
added 3 more slide show options to the Special Features
page, all based around Hong Kong
added 2nd picture to “A Favourite Hideout” header of May 1964 page
the annual overhaul continues, with a revamp of the passenger list index pages. Lots of minor edits and corrections made. Much
research work is going into transferring information presently in old-style windows over to more modern methods
added 15 new Port Information images to February
1961 page and to another 100 pages where they're relevant
23 September 2021
For some while I've been concerned about the accessibility problems associated with justified text. So, I have
been investigating other options to distinguish between quoted text and my remarks. The option I've come up with is
to use a serif typeface for the quoted text. Hopefully, the choice of Palatino is easier to read
22 September 2021
I'm presently building yet another Virtual Cruise, which will lead to another 30 pages or so being added to the
Timeline. The basis of this is an extensive travelogue text submitted to me by a visitor
All the Buttons linking to this virtual cruise appear as below: 1961 World Cruise Diary
Please note that this is very much a work-in-progress - the cruise so far has reached Barcelona
the full-menu images above may present readability problems on portable devices. If that is the case could
someone drop me an email to let me know and I'll replace them with suggested menus instead, thanks
the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that almost the entire site has yesterday or today's date as its update.
This is due to some site-wide amendments affecting how the pages display
more work done on the page presentation for visitors using the Large Text viewing option
it's a long while overdue, but more of the 1965
Virtual Summer Cruise pages have been completed. So, the pages up to and including Lisbon are now closer to what was
first intended
07 September 2021
Just occasionally there comes along a true gem of a find… Just sit back and enjoy this A Restful Vacation
Any complaints about exhaustion should be despatched in triplicate! Of course, its rightful place is on the
April 1965 page. Added information about the
earthquakes in Japan, with external link, to that page
added images and information about Cunard's 125th celebratory menu cover to the header section of the
July 1965 page also added the Luncheon menu images
added images and information about the Memorial Service held for Sir Winston Churchill to the header of the
January 1965 page
I've not been idle. There have been many minor changes made, especially to the presentation, with things
like animated underlining of links when you hover over them. You may need to do a hard browser refresh of the
site to force the latest background amendments to load
the “Large” text display option has had several amendments & improvements made, including
making the text slightly larger still. You may need to do a hard browser refresh of the site in order to
force these latest amendments to load as intended
01 July 2021
many minor edits made, including restoring broken image links; much work happening behind the scenes
corrected display (hopefully) of the top right navigation bar not appearing on mobile phones when the screen
width is below 768 pixels and top/nav buttons appear on the left instead. Site may need a hard reload to clear cache
added Coronation Cruise luncheon menu images to May 1953 page
Updated associated information, relevant links and rebuilt search index database
02 June 2021
revised the presentation of the Passenger List Index, which now comprises of 4 separate pages. It drastically
reduces the number of links on a single page and focusses each set of links to a dedicated heading…
The above list has allowed the addition of several wives’ names omitted from the Cunard published list for the
1956 Spring Cruise passenger list transcript
built from that source
Updated associated information, relevant links and rebuilt search index database
my apologies if any meal menu images have not appeared correctly. It's not very often that I need to add
a new folder for images. For a short while, some images became unavailable
It has enabled a transfer of every meal menu image to the same folder and currently there are 1042 of them
the above list is the first built entirely from British Immigration manifests, so currently we have no
information for passengers who disembarked in France. The list was a test to check viability, so listing just
190 of 350 passengers makes this a low priority task, unless a Cunard published list comes to hand
Updated associated information, relevant links and rebuilt search index database
24 April 2021
Finally, I can declare the 2021 Annual Overhaul as completed. It has been quite a haul, with the entire
set of 142 passenger list pages given an individual and standardised presentation. All of them now display
an explanatory tooltip whenever a pointing device is hovered over names
passenger lists are by far the biggest draw of new visitors to the Timeline and I receive some very nice
feedback from those who explore beyond their landing page to find out how their ancestor(s) lived back then
Coming next is more from the Ross Blouin Collection
23 April 2021
Much more editing, standardising of texts and improved presentation work done on passenger lists. Headings
for Officers and Cruise Staff lists now look as if they belong together
I've started an unusual editing process, at least this is the first time I have attempted such an audit.
Presently, I'm at page 26 of 108 within my search database. I'm looking at the keywords listed there, checking
on spelling and conventions, like deck-house versus deckhouse, making corrections as I pick them up
I'm not doing too badly on errors found; only 125 pages have been updated so far, though there's many fewer
actual spelling mistakes encountered. These are mostly from pages imported via the OCR software, despite my
checks at the time. However, that doesn't absolve me from a few howlers - just how many spellings of
“Copacabana” could there be? At least now, there's only one. All good fun over a cold Easter…
overhauled the Site Map pages, making the
text transcript indicators more prominent
following feedback of problems encountered with the
feedback page, I've amended to look and feel of the radio buttons which answer the “Not a Robot”
confirmation
29 March 2021
Following some feedback on another topic, I've updated the header of the February 1955 page. Seems that back the all the single
ladies were very much keener on securing a certain kind of husband than I'd first thought
following on from the above,if anyone has had difficulty with getting in touch, hopefully, the
problem should be resolved and I'll obviously be delighted to hear from you!
Following the success of the page here about the birth of Surtsey Island off the coast of Iceland,
I've created a page about
Más a Tierra, regarded as the Robinson Crusoe Island, or is it? The text and illustrations come from
a souvenir booklet published for passengers on Caronia's first and only visit
The list above is the last of the Crew Lists that I hold. The original crew list images from Ancestry.com
for the voyage of 25 April 1950 were both incomplete and unreadably feint when first downloaded in 2007.
If anyone can advise on current status, I'd be obliged
03 February 2021
the annual overhaul continues apace, with all the Year Index pages being edited with a seeing eye
many hundreds of links have been simplified, especially for visitors using the larger text options
added a 1961 North Cape Cruise Vignette to most June or July pages and all Year Index pages beyond 1951
it's that time of year again, when there's the annual overhaul to do. So, lots of little bits of
tidying-up done, several minor edits and presentation matters being dealt with
added more information about Caronia's Head Chefs to October 1955 page
added a host of icons and supporting code to enable the Timeline to work better as an App on mobile 'phones
among the settings I've used as defaults are to set the orientation to landscape as that's what's been intended
all along. The width of the site since inception in 2004 has never been wider than 600px!
also, I've set the viewing default to full-screen because that produces the fewest positioning errors. If
you have pages where there's a 49%/49% placing split, in other settings they become an unending single column
the default opening web page position has been set to the updates section of the Regular Visitors page
added shore tour vignette to T.R. Schoonover's Travelogue
which allows comparison of the brochure description with a punter's commentary
06 September 2020
general site maintenance; correction of a few minor positioning errors
added Boiler Room enlargement photo to Crew
Areas of the Art & Industry Virtual Tour
added information and photo, with enlargement, of Caronia in Liverpool dry-dock during her 1949 Annual Overhaul
to the 1949 Year Index page
30 August 2020
completed the extension of the Art & Industry Virtual Tour. The inserted page 6 carries more transcribed information
from the “Ocean Times” supplement. A couple of extra pictures may be added later
completed adding programme images, movie quizzes and clock alterations to November 1963 page
this was a long outstanding task that has thrown up an inclusion of a World-changing event which I
believed had passed Caronia by, so the header of that page reflects this
added picture and extended description to header of January 1951 page. Occasionally random pictures like this
one reveal a heap of interesting details and memories that could be lost
completed the addition of 1951 World Cruise details and rounded-off with adding an image of the
“Ocean Bulletin” to the 07
January 1951 page. I wonder how New Yorkers reacted to the 100% increase in their public telephone charge?
I've learned a little more about the ship's activities myself
site maintenance: changing positioning rules for one element can often impact the surrounding
content and solving the conflicts can be quite a task, so, many tiny details corrected; slide show access
links modified and presentation altered on the
Features page
completed the revamp of passenger list internal navigation. Also improved their general navigation so
that going back takes you to the relevant section in the main PaxList index, rather than just to Section A
addition of programme images, movie quizzes and clock alterations has reached the end of March 1951 and the ship is due
to depart for Haifa
19 August 2020
Site Search: Rebuilt the database and modified the results page a little. Moved the search help
link from its cryptic “?” position to a full word on the control panel
I can only guess, but I fear that some people struggle with the search
the cryptic help link remains on all other instances of a site search box
more progress made with adding programme images to the Virtual World Cruise. Completed adding the meal
menu images for the January 1951 pages. It turns out that one menu used on the cruise may be unique to it
Both the January 1951 page and the
February 1951 page have
been amended to reflect recent changes, with a change of emphasis to the Virtual Cruise in their headers
addition of programme images, movie quizzes and clock alterations has reached the end of February
and the cruise is about to reach Singapore
completed the updating of the missing list elements. You'll notice that quite a few places have new
guidance labels in view above various lists, like column numbers in passenger lists and new signboards
above many menus too. It's what the World has been crying out for, apparently: Semantics!
begun adding 1951 World Cruise images to the Virtual World Cruise pages
to break the monotony of updating passenger list presentation, more of which I've completed, I've begun another
task. My fairly recent updating from XHTML to HTML5.0 is not yet complete in that there are presently hundreds of blank
list elements. While this was not ideal, back then it was permissible; under the new rules they need to carry information
the first updated page is Page 3 of the
Timeline Glossary, where the opportunity has been taken to also update the text. The distance and speed
conversion panel works back and forth much more simply too
15 August 2020
avid Timeline followers will know that I was talked
into performing the “Waiter, Waiter!” sketch on the 1966 Great World Cruise. This was originally
performed as part of a popular BBC radio series of the late 1960s called “Round the Horne.” What I
hadn't been aware of until today is that the same sketch was repeated as part of the very last crew show performed
on board. This as Caronia steamed back to Southampton without passengers back in November 1967.
I've found a recording of the original on YouTube…
14 August 2020
added another crew list, this for the 16th voyage to New York departing on 02 June 1950. Sadly, one name on
the originals has defeated me
12 August 2020
I've been experimenting with the presentation of the many transcript links on the site.
Presently it's confined to the 1950 Year Index
where there is a wall of them. Hopefully, this will be easier on the eye
It has been a long time coming and quite a labour of love. Despite very feint originals, with the help
of a loyal Caronia crew, I have been able to piece together another crew list. This is for the 17th voyage to
New York departing on 20 June
1950
this addition has led to the correction and many edits of existing names, including expanding a second
initial into a full name in many cases. There are now 69 crew manifest transcripts
maybe too soon to speak, but I believe I have cured the problem with image enlargements that are
wider than the screen. An unnoticed and stray full-stop on an instruction above was causing a “parse
error” on both lines. No wonder I have no hair!
The 2nd page of the Timeline Site Map has
finished its tidying process. Every Year's Index page and every Month's Daily Activity page now carries
the header topic title of its related page
Both the Site Map pages have undergone a change in the way Section Headings are presented
05 August 2020
A lot of work now done to the
the Monthly breakdown section of the
Timeline's sitemap. All the reference dates for things like crew and passenger transcripts have been
standardised and I added the header subjects of each monthly Daily Activity page. Work continues to add
the Topics found on the Year Index pages
04 August 2020
More accessibility work started. The Passenger Lists, some compiled over 12 years ago, are being
standardised with a more useful index, better navigation and a hover indicator highlighting details
about the block of names below the mouse pointer
01 August 2020
added two further images to page 1 of
Crew Ephemera items. It appears that several items kept by Miss Patricia Sparks were distributed, only
to be reassembled here on the Timeline
30 July 2020
the placeholder text of the July 1962 page
now has a rhetorical question posed about the value of some ephemera, including a new picture of a rare item
as I scour various sources in the course of my research, I come across some fairly wild claims about the
“excesses” associated with life on board this ship. Such a claim has been totally debunked in the
header of the February 1956 page that
has been revised. I always wonder why such claims are taken and always reproduced without question when the
reality stands much better as a testament to the luxury provided for Caronia's clientèle, leaving out the flowery language!
yet another placeholder text bites the dust. This is a long-overdue commemoration of another regular
Caronia Great World Cruise traveller. Find out what the
term “Oliver's Court” means
26 July 2020
another of the dozen or so remaining placeholder pages gets its header subject allocated. This time
it's the March 1962 page where
I've expanded upon the “Welcome Home” sign.
25 July 2020
found and corrected a few more port information sheet errors. Only 4 remain. I do have more
ephemera to add, I promise!
updated the home page. It often
needs a bit of a rewrite but without losing its key purpose of making new visitors feel welcome.
now that its overhaul is complete, I've updated the Basic and Advanced Search guidance on the
First Time Visitors page
22 July 2020
Well, it has taken a while, but I think I can safely say that the Timeline's 2020 overhaul is now
complete. I have chased every possible error that my software will allow, so if there is a glitch
somewhere, I'd be pleased of the advice
There's still some research being done on loading the slide shows, the movie pages and the
cruise news vignettes away from what is now old technology. It's proving a struggle, but I'm going
to take a break. Writing and testing code can fry your brain!
Among the key work has been a revamp of the site-search with many adjustments made to reflect
modern technology needs. This has meant many midnight-oil hours as I make tiny adjustments and
add some more functionality
The text resizing widget on site-search now shows a “jump to results” link at the top of the
page when you select either of the two larger text sizes. Searches for such as “Cape Town”
now work properly
re-scanned all 13 port information sheets from the 1954 Autumn Mediterranean Cruise. If these don't
show as larger images, you may need to clear your browser's image cache
16 July 2020
more midnight-oil burned trying to fathom why the Port Information images were throwing a not found error.
Hopefully, they now work as intended, although an opportunity to re-scan the images will probably be taken
13 July 2020
much background work done on tidying the presentation of the switched text-size pages. There seems to be a
demand for the “double” and “large” sizes. The objective is to make the Timeline
attractive for all visitors. If you use this feature and you encounter a display problem, do please notify me
I'm presently researching better accessibility features, and again, if there's something amiss, I'd
appreciate any feedback on this topic. Email
Peter, the Webmaster
11 July 2020
Yet another page header added. The March
1967 page takes us back to a major English Channel disaster
Do you have any idea what the Southampton tugboatmen called the Royal Mail Lines’ “RMS Andes”?
Find out here…
Removed all references to the Opera Browser and its help page
10 July 2020
While I'm in the mood, here's yet another page header added. The February 1967 page discusses Caronia's legacy and whether
history has been kind, or not
09 July 2020
added a page header that was notoriously difficult to write. The June 1967 page attempts to carry a response to Timeline feedback
transferred the remainder of the 2019 updates from this page to their Archive page
corrected an error on the style switching choices page. The page now correctly reflects whether or not
your browser will accept cookies
added the dollar currency inflation calculator link to the Cruise
Rates Schedules page where it's possible to enter your own amounts and their start date once you arrive at
the remote site
06 July 2020
added 2 breakfast menu images to January
1956 page. Being from 2 consecutive days, here's a good comparison opportunity!
I may have made a huge error with the Japan
& South Pacific Cruise passenger list, inasmuch as not taking into account the possibility that a
separate list was compiled for US Immigration of people disembarking in Long Beach. Whether such a list was
drawn up is moot, because on some New York lists passenger disembarkations in California have been noted. What
muddies the water further is that the number of travellers was generally reported as being 400
However, since that passenger list was possibly erroneously recompiled with combined information in 2012, I
have now reworked it with the list showing 505 passengers aboard. It's interesting, and shameful, that in the
reported numbers, the 2 maids on board which I have managed to identify were not counted, not even as “souls”!
it's very rare to add a new menu cover image to the Timeline, so the River Thames Cabin Class cover is a welcome
addition to Cabin Class menu covers - Page 2
09 May 2020
general site maintenance; many edits, date corrections, layout adjustments
added 5 Indian ‘Western Railway’ menu covers and contents to
March 1965 page
the introduction of the new image viewing windows has provided an opportunity to expand their
descriptions beyond a short title. You'll see this in action where the highest two 2 new menu pictures
added from the Western Railway menus have an extended description at the bottom of the new window.
This means that over time the image enlargements will become even more informative. However, the
new work will keep me occupied forever!
24 July 2019
conversion of most of the image enlargements from thumbnail links has been completed, much quicker
than I expected. I hope you like the changes. However, there are a few problems still to overcome…
images that need a horizontal scroll are currently distorted
{resolved} the popup windows need a physical button click to close them
{resolved} closure should happen by clicking anywhere outside the popup
using the new system requires use of 3rd party page layout software and this has
interfered with standard settings I use. These will be corrected as I become aware of them
research continues to resolve these issues, please bear with me
22 July 2019
conversion of all the slide shows from transitional HTML to HTML5 has been completed and all now appear
correctly within their new window
conversion of all 5,000 pop-up windows to “modals” is next on the agenda. This will require
a fair bit of research and trialling
continued with site maintenance by removing the Javascript floating menu on the right, making it fixed
with CSS and to disappear automatically if the screen size reduces to where it might overlap the right hand
edge of the text. There will no longer be any confusion caused by the horizontal scrollbar appearing and
reducing what's viewable on tablets and phones
10 April 2019
Continued with site maintenance including repairing several pages that did not validate
Tidied the lower panel of the navigation area to convert the arcane button text into plain
language, making their function much clearer
Replaced satellite map view showing directions to the Bannister Bowling Club from the M27 for the
Caronia Reunion meetings
08 April 2019
Added a fun link to several pages where visitors can now look at what dollar values quoted on the Timeline
are worth today. Some of the results are pretty spectacular! How much do you think that 25,000 1952 USD would
be worth today? The answer can be found on Thomas R. Schoonover's Cape Town Travelogue Transcript
01 February 2019
Removed the Caronia Timeline Forum. There was very little activity other than almost
constant attacks from unsavoury web robots and scammers
05 January 2019
Began conversion of the Timeline from XHTML to HTML5 to help maintain my ambitions that
the site complies with modern standards and has some future-proofing built in
added 5 new programme card images and movie quiz titles to December 1952 page
11 February 2015
One aspect that's long overdue is transcribing the many shore excursion booklets that were issued to
passengers by Amex and Thos. Cook. I've decided that these are best presented in pop-up windows as if they
were images, yet they are direct text transcripts, thus overcoming any accessibility issues
The first two shore excursion information links added to September 1955 page
Thanks to Karen Clark from Bristol, I'm able to add a very interesting set of black and white photographs
as a new slide show. The Tristan da Cunha visit
of 1950 provides a brief look at life on the island back then. Even today, like the photos of back then
show, the partial segregation of the sexes still exists
updated the Round South America Cruise PaxList with information gained from comparison of the existing
Immigration List details and a recently acquired published list. Also added cover image of the published list
completed adding 1957 World Cruise Voyage Log transcripts onward from San Francisco to
April 1957 page and to
May 1957 page. A complete voyage
log card from New York back to New York has been acquired
An Information Appeal
The Log Abstract pages that I hold for the Japan & S.Pacific Cruise are missing the 3rd sheet, so no
log information from leaving Port Moresby on 13 March 1954 until departing from Long Beach is presently
available. If you happen to hold a copy of the missing pages, I would very much appreciate a scan for
transcription here. Thanks
20 March 2013
completed adding daily programme images and movie quiz items, also added 9 meal menu images for 1954
North Cape Cruise to July 1954 page
inserted a new Page 7 in the
Birthplace of a legend virtual tour, which now extends it to 10 pages. This new page is a transcript
of a magazine article published in November 1948
updated Passenger List
for 1954 Japan & South Pacific Cruise. Combined information from US immigration lists and the list
published by Cunard. Also added text from a letter extract by dentist's(?) wife
08 July 2012
added postcard picture of Caronia lit up alongside at Messina to November 1959 page
updated all relevant links and rebuilt search index
28 April 2012
begun adding log details, programmes and movie quiz elements for 1953 Christmas Cruise to December 1953 page
begun adding log details, programmes and movie quiz elements for 1953 Christmas Cruise to January 1954 page
22 February 2012
A recent photograph of Caronia at anchor has come into my possession. The previous queries I raised have
now been resolved. The photograph was taken at Aden in 1952 and the curious craft at the stern is actually
the top of a mooring buoy. Caronia at Aden March 1952
[Click on picture for enlargement in new window]
added Summer Mediterranean Cruise information from voyage log along with movie programme details to
September 1964 page. Note that
an anomaly has been found here where apparently the visit to Malta was abruptly cut short by about 12 hours.
Can you shed any light on this?
Begun the 2009 annual overhaul. The recent transfer to a new server has brought this forward by a week or two.
During this period there may be several occasions where the entire site is refreshed which should not affect your
viewing pleasure. With getting over 1,200 pages to check, the process may take a while to complete
several minor edits, link amendments and page structure changes made
The “Plonkies” and other Caronia soccer teams has been extended to 3 pages with 2 new
photographs added to to the first Plonkies page
updated related links & Site Map; rebuilt search index
03 August 2009
Regular site maintenance: all crew pages have had their floating menu adjusted to correspond with
other sections where the link to the Index is placed at the top
01 August 2009
begun overhaul of Crew Quarters pages. The main
index page has been slightly rearranged in preparation for the addition of some more new pages
added the “Rate this Site” button for visitors to judge how well this site performs
against a fixed criteria set. Uniquely from other awards, I can get unbiased feedback from visitors which
will give me pointers on where it can be improved
25 June 2009
added information and Kosher Dinner menu to July 1950 page
Caronia's final departure report
1961 World Cruise Diary