Caronia - The Major Dollar Earner
For the 1957 Great World Cruise and the European Spring Cruises the Caronia had earned Cunard over $5.5million just in fares! The decision to fit Caronia with air-conditioning throughout during her 1956 overhaul was clearly paying off. From this year onward the fares schedules would carry a large diagonal banner declaring the air-conditioning throughout.
I've read elsewhere that the Caronia rarely made a profit from her cruises. According to the New York Times report, the Caronia had also taken many thousands of dollars more in her bars and shops.
In these days when ships’ values are measured in 100s of millions of dollars, these figures may seem quite paltry. However, it should be borne in mind that when launched, the insurance value of Caronia was actually less than $5million!
