The Cruise That Never Happened
One research discovery has been a Flyer, dated 03/1958, for a 52 day cruise to the Mediterranean, due to depart from New York on 03 October 1958. However, as this and the next page testifies, Caronia undertook 3 shorter cruises to the West Indies instead. The main brochure for these alternative cruises is dated 08/1958, just two months prior to departure!
Normally, cruises on Caronia needed to be booked and paid for at least 90 days before embarkation, so clearly something significant happened between March and August 1958 to effect cancellation of this Autumn Mediterranean Cruise. My researches have established that at this time (August 1958) there was near civil war in Lebanon and there were other tensions created by President Nasser of Egypt, emboldened by his Suez victory.
Clearly, the Caronia could not be sent on a cruise to an area of the World that could potentially be a war zone! With Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and Jordan all involved in some way, this meant that a substantial portion of the usual Caronia itinerary would be affected. Calls to Alexandria, and Haifa would normally draw many passengers to this cruise, for both their historical and religious significance.
At the height of the “Cold War”, Nasser's involvement with the Russians was rather uncomfortable, so these factors also involved the American and British military. However, most of the tensions were settled by diplomacy, so much so that by 1959, the Caronia Autumn Mediterranean Cruise was to be extended into the Black Sea, with first-time calls to Odessa and Yalta being added to that itinerary.
An Advance Stamp Order
Singapore
stamps order
[Image: Courtesy of
Ron Burn]
Thanks to Ron Burn, I'm able to reproduce a copy of an October 1958 letter from Cunard's agents in Singapore for the provision of Malayan stamps for Caronia's 1959 visit. The stamps, in various values, would be sent from Singapore to the Purser via Cunard's agents in Colombo. This arrangement gave plenty of time for the stamps to be sold ahead of Caronia's arrival in Singapore.
Copies of the current Malayan postal rates would also be sent. These would be passed from the Purser's department to the Cruise Director's office so that relevant parts could be copied for passenger information either within the daily programmes or the relevant issue of “Cruise News.”
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