The Boston Port Authority has made a $11 million makeover of its Black Falcon Cruise Terminal.   In 2010, 111 cruise ships called at the Massachusetts port, landing over 322,000 passengers.   Among the callers is the mighty Queen Mary 2.

One of my favorite bygone steamship companies was the British-flag Furness-Bermuda Line.   They ran two wonderful ships in later years, until 1966, on mostly cruise service out of New York.   There was the 1933-built Queen of Bermuda and her smaller consort, the 1951-built Ocean Monarch.   The Queen could carry 733 passengers, the Monarch had a capacity of 440.   They were best known for their 6-night cruises to & from Bermuda, with minimum fares of $150, but also offered occasional summer cruises to Canada & others to the Caribbean.  In later years, Furness ran cruises from Fort Lauderdale.   But with an aging fleet and in the face of new, very strict marine safety standards in the US, the Company pulled the plug on its liner operations in Nov 1966.  But Furness will, in ways, return to life this spring.

Ships' crew, who sailed on Furness Bermuda Line's Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch in the 1950s and early 1960s, are reuniting on Saturday, May 14th at The Merchant Seaman's War Memorial Society in southern England.

"Following the success of our first reunion in 2009, we are hoping to find more shipmates from across the globe for this next one," says Bill Cox, reunion organiser, "especially with the help of our own website at www.furnessbermudaline.com" .

Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch departed on Saturday afternoons from Pier 95 on New York's Hudson River to make the 700-mile voyage to Bermuda.  Stephen Card, born in Bermuda and renowned for his paintings of these and other ships, will be guest speaker at the reunion.  He recalls "the many Monday mornings when I would arrive by ferry in Hamilton and, instead of rushing to school, wait to watch the Queen slowly come alongside at No 1 dock.  On Wednesday afternoons, as sailing time approached, her triple-chime steam whistles could be heard all over the island."

He adds, "Queen of Bermuda was particularly famous for her profile.  Her grey hull and white superstructure were topped with three graceful red and black funnels and she was the only liner in history to have sailed with three, two and, from 1962, one funnel.

Greek-based Louis Cruise Lines has sold their 23,100-ton Aquamarine to Mexican buyers, Corporation de Cruceros Nacionales and who have renamed the ship Ocean Star Pacific.  The 1,160-berth ship began her life as the second ship in the then new Royal Caribbean fleet, the Nordic Prince, commissioned in 1971.   Then she carried 724 passengers, but was enlarged a decade later for over 1,200 passengers.    In '95, with new tonnage at Royal Caribbean, she was sold off to Sun Cruises and became the Carousel, mostly for British air-sea cruises.   Louis bought the ship in 2004 and renamed her Aquamarine, but then a German charter between 2006-2008 saw her in use as the Arielle.   She then reverted to Aquamarine for a variety of cruise services, including a shortlived run in the Indian Ocean.   ... Further update from Louis:   The 53-yr old The Emerald has been laid-up.   She too has had a long, diverse life --- having been built in 1958 as the Santa Rosa of the Grace Line.   Laid up in 1971 as Grace left the cruise business, she was idle until 1989 and then briefly became the Pacific Sun, then Diamond Island and finally Rainbow.   She joined now defunct Regency Cruises in '93 as the Regent Rainbow, but then passed to Louis in '96, becoming The Emerald.   Another idle ship belonging to Louis is the 1967-built Sapphire.   She started life as the Italian-owned Italia, but was soon on charter to then new Princess Cruises, sailing as the Princess Italia and mostly in US West Coast cruise service.   She was sold to Costa in '73 and then, in 1980, changed hands again, joining Ocean Cruise Lines and becoming the Ocean Princess.   She was nearly lost in '93, having partially sunk in the mouth of the Amazon River, but then was salvaged, towed to Greece and resurrected as the Sea Prince and then as the Princesa Oceanica.   She was later sold to Louis, renamed Sapphire and was used for frequent charter cruises.

We hear that the 105,000-ton Utopia might become a reality.    Seems that investors, namely the Frontier Group, are close to signing with South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries to build the $1.1 billion vessel.  She'll have 200 private residences as well as 200 guest rooms.   European subcontractors will create and build the interiors.   The ship, originally dubbed The Orphalese, would be commissioned in 2014 if all goes according to current plans