RMS Caronia Timeline

A Voyage Pattern Emerges

With 5 years of experiencing Caronia's resounding success, the 6th year of the “Green Goddess” would begin to establish an intended schedule and pattern of voyages for the whole year, as follows...

• Sterling Cruise - Southampton to New York via Bahamas in 14 days
• Great World Cruise, usually Eastbound - from 100 to 112 days, ending in New York
• Spring Mediterranean Cruise - around 30 days, ending in Southampton
• Positioning Crossing to New York
• North Cape Cruise - around 30 days, ending in Southampton
• Positioning Crossing to New York
• Summer Mediterranean Cruise - around 30 days start / end in New York
• Autumn Mediterranean & Black Sea Cruise - around 45 days, ending in Southampton
• Annual Overhaul/Refit

This was the intended pattern, which meant that whatever month of the year it was, you could quickly place where in the world Caronia would be. This yearly schedule wasn't fully implemented until 1961 because the “Green Goddess” could not yet be released from her transatlatic duties during the busy summer months.

By then, the Summer Mediterraean Cruise could be introduced and the Autumn Mediterranean Cruise extended, with visits to exciting new ports in the Black Sea. Although Caronia was famed as a World Cruise liner, on a pro-rata basis, her North Cape and Autumn Mediterranean Cruises were actually more expensive!

1955 was also the first year where Caronia's annual overhaul was not done in Liverpool. Although she would return there on occasions, future overhauls would also be done in Southampton and at Harland and Wolff's yard in Belfast.

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