T.S.S. Caribia

Caribia Languishes in New York - Part 2

As described by Rob Mason…
Although I never had the opportunity to actually sail on Caronia, I was able to visit her twice in New York when the ship was still in service. I remember my first visit in late 1965. My parents took me along when they visited some of their friends that were sailing. The Caronia sailed early in the day, Home Line's brand new Oceanic was also in port and sailing later in the afternoon, so we visited the Oceanic.

I can remember how modern, bright and up-to-date the Oceanic appeared, compared to the Caronia that we had just left.

Two swimming pools under that sliding glass skylight, the Italian band playing, waiters circulating with trays of pizza, the glass enclosed promenade with a real ceiling and floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and wall-to-wall carpeting everywhere.

I remember begging my parents to never sail on the Caronia; we had to sail on the Oceanic! She was just so modern! I visited the Caronia again in late 1966 and that was the last I saw of the ship until 1971 when she was moored, stern-first, between piers 84 and 86 in New York.

Minimal Security

Rob Mason continues…
At the top of the gangway was a residential-style wooden door with a doorbell. I rang the bell, holding onto the doorknob for balance. Several minutes later Mr. Konstantinidis opened the door to me. He asked if I needed an escort to tour the ship, and when I said “no”, he told me to have a good time, be careful and make sure that I locked the door when I left. He then disappeared back into the ship.

Once Aboard

Rob continues…
I started my tour on the bridge. Unfortunately, this was one of the very few rooms that were locked, so I could only look in from the outside bridge wings. I toured the officer's quarters, then the cabins on Sun Deck. All the linens had been removed, but everything else in the cabins was intact; the telephones, the water thermos', all the furniture, the draperies, even the hangers in the wardrobes.

On the Promenade Deck, it appears as though every deck chair onboard had been placed in the forward observation lounge. All of the corridors, foyers and stairs had been wall-to-wall carpeted (competition with the Oceanic?(!) These were very unattractive (even for 1972) and cheap looking carpets that clashed very badly with all the classic wood panelling.

With no ventilation onboard, virtually all of this carpeting was buckling. In the darkness of the windowless rooms and stairs it was extremely hazardous to navigate and not trip. One of the elevator doors was opened, but there was no elevator at the landing. Just a big, black hole that descended all the way to the bottom of the ship, for all I could tell.

Most of the ships’ furnishings were being used, exactly from the Caronia's days. However, it was also supplemented with an assortment of cheap and incongruous looking aluminium-framed chairs, typical of the early 1970s (think original QE2 furniture, but without QE2's style or quality) in an apparent attempt to modernise the dark, dated interiors of the ship.

Recycling Cunard Resources

Rob continues…
One of the cabins had apparently become the storeroom for printed material. There were boxes and boxes of blank Cunard menu stock. I helped myself to several of Caribia's first-and-only cruise menus and daily programmes. They were all printed on blank Cunard paper stock. Apparently, the Caribia's new owners were not going to waste anything that was left on board from the Caronia.