Hello Folks,
I am remiss! Somehow, Ross has posted this amazing review about the Caronia Timeline and I've only today got to find it, quite by accident.
I spent almost 3 years on board the RMS Caronia, in two stints. I got diverted by Cunard's shore office at the last moment ahead of the 1965 Great World Cruise. Caronia was my "university", not only carrying me around far-flung places I'd only seen on maps, but making an adult of a very wet-behind-the-ears young lad.
For many years I had kept a range of Caronia meal menus, mostly from the 1964 North Cape Cruise. I'd occasionally look through them, with memories flooding back on how we served many of the wonderful dishes on offer. I wonder how many people today know how to properly "silver service" a complete Dover Sole?
The Caronia was all about the "detail", from the moment you stepped aboard. Cunard might have employed us and almost paid us too. What mattered was looking after those who properly employed and generously paid us! The result being that we cleaned and polished that ship half to death. I can absolutely claim that there was not a cleaner working-alleyway aboard any other ship, British or foreign.
Anyway, a couple of my saved menus got rather foxed as they aged and then I found a world-wide auction Web site. A whole world of Caronia memorabilia kind of fell at my feet, with information I was totally unaware of. Things like menus and daily programmes I knew all about, but original cruise brochures and shore-tour programmes, they were a complete revelation.
One of my bidding competitors, unbeknown to one another at this stage, was a certain CGTNormandie, so I can vouch for his assiduous bidding! Oh boy, did he cause me grief... Nevertheless, as my bank-balance dwindled, I was still slowly amassing quite an archive of material which was making the avoidance of buying duplicates rather difficult. At that time I was also busy making dBase III do its stuff, so it became very tempting to record my material into a database.
Also, I was in the throes of learning about building Web sites. Now, that brought with it some excitement but also a few particular challenges. When I searched through the Web for sites about Caronia the results were very disappointing. Don't get me wrong, they were indeed factual and illustrated, but they were only telling the story of the metal and wood. There was very little of a human interest element. Also, it became very clear that "history" had not been kind to this ship after her Cunard demise.
All that aside, I then had to consider my approach. The big advantage of building the site was that others could contribute their stories too. No doubt, I could probably trace where in World this grand cruising ship was on any particular day so building a timeline seemed logical. However, the biggest question was whether I had enough information to not only bring life to this ship but also do proper justice to all my fellow travellers, passengers, officers and crew.
At the back of my mind was that any Web site with such a far-reaching ambition was going to be very closely scrutinised and I wasn't going to let it be found wanting! The resulting 20 year journey has been an absolutely joyful experience with all and sundry "adopting" the timeline as their own. The outcome is a site that I have "edited", with so much information and original content coming from enthusiastic contributors. If ever I need a lift, I only need to look back through my feedback archive. Some of the emotions expressed by visitors will have me welling-up
As time progressed and major internet outfits just got greedier and greedier, so access to items from America got more difficult and more or less dried-up. The huge increase in postage costs and the artificial "duty" on non-taxable items made it impossible to justify any purchase. This is where my old bidding adversary stepped in and really saved the day. As the amount of Caronia material has inevitably dwindled, I now have an avid ally ready to mop up what are quite often exceedingly rare items.
While I'm obviously going to thank Ross for his very kind words, I really want to pay tribute to his absolute and unstinting generosity. There are many, many pages on the Timeline where you'll see images that come from the "Blouin Collection". Just try and imagine how dull those pages would be without them.
Job, jobbed! Ross' contributions have acted as wonderful aide-memoires and enabled me to add further information relevant to the moment. While I'm obviously happy to accept any plaudits, I do want to emphasise that the Timeline is not all my own work and could have never achieved its current status without the many, many contributions by fellow travellers. My gratitude is complete and heartfelt!
After 20 years I'm now stepping back a little, though once you get this collecting bug there is no antidote. There will no doubt be additions here and there when the rarest items are gathered or a new story emerges. Meanwhile, there are over 1,000 pages for everyone to explore, all written in homage to a much-loved ship.
Please step aboard and allow yourself to be transported into an age of travel unlikely to ever be repeated...
Regards,
Steve (Peter S.)