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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
| March 28, 2011 |
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Greetings!
We would love to have you join us upon one of our many "Hosted Cruises" in 2011 or 2012. For full details on these cruises, please contact our sole WOCLS cruise coordinator Beth Schmidt at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009 We hope to see you aboard. Thank You! Tom Cassidy |
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Baltimore - Future Unknown!
The nuclear-powered merchant ship Savannah, an innovative ship and a great pride in the US merchant fleet in the '60s, has been idle since 1972, however. The 13,000-tonner was problematic & very expensive to operate, and had difficulty fitting into the private sector (she was operated under charter by the American Export Lines) and so has languished first as an unsuccessful museum and then mothballed by the Federal Government. In recent years, she has been berthed in Baltimore harbor, in the hopes of being restored for museum ship purposes. But much needed funding has been cut. The 595-ft long ship now faces, from this spring, the prospect of being retired to the US Government mothball reserve fleet in the James River, Virginia. ... In other harbor news, the onetime booming Bethlehem Steel Shipyard at Sparrows Point, Maryland is now all but closed. The slipways are empty & the cranes idle. A plan in more recent times to use the facility to scrapping surplus American tonnage did not succeed.
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Canada - Familiar friend! 
Long used on in the Canadian Maritimes ferry service (from 1983 until '99), the 13,000-ton former Bluenose arrived in India last December for demolition. Built in 1973 as the Swedish-flag Stena Jutlandica, the vessel finished her days as the Euroferrys Atlantica and, on her very final voyage, as the Ace II. |
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 Cruise liners diverted!
Cruise liners diverted from Egyptian ports in recent weeks include the Thomson Celebration, Norwegian Jade, MSC Magnifica and MSC Splendida.- |
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 A bygone favorite!
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. |
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 High luxury!
The 39,500-ton Europa 2, being built at St Nazaire in France and due out in May 2013, will be a most luxurious ship. Carrying an intimate 526 passengers, she will have a crew of 360. |
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New entrant! 
An added member to the Spanish cruise market, Happy Cruises, has added already added a second vessel: the Ocean Pearl. The 1,400-passenger ship is, in fact, a great veteran of the cruise industry. She began sailing back in 1970 as Royal Caribbean's very first cruise ship, the Song of Norway. Then carrying 740 passengers, she was lengthened & expanded a decade later. In '97, she was sold off, long replaced by larger Royal Caribbean liners, and renamed Sundream for British-based Sun Cruises. Sold off again in '04, she became the Dream Princess and then, for Israeli owners in '05, as the Dream. She was nearly lost in '07 when a ballast pump failed & the 22,900-ton ship all but capsized. Repaired, she was sold to Danish buyers, renamed Clipper Pacific and chartered to Japan's Peaceboat Organization. On her round-the-world cruise, she was declared unsafe by the US Coast Guard and her charter curtailed, however. Refitted in Bulgaria, she became the Festival in 2009, again chartered for Eastern Med cruises for Israel's Caspi Cruises. She is now cruising in the Spanish market. Her running mate is the 19,000-ton Gemini, a ship built in '92 as the Crown Jewel and later marketed as the Cunard Crown Jewel. She was sold in '95 to Malaysian-based Star Cruises and became the Superstar Gemini. Bought by the Danish Clipper Group in 2007, she has mostly been cruising under charter in the Spanish market ever since. |
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 Los Angeles - Record day!
Some 13,000 cruise passengers were handled in a single day last January. Four ships were in port: the Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess, Crystal Symphony & Deutschland. |
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 New York- Higher & higher!
The Port of Authority of New York & New Jersey has decided to raise the roadbed of the 1931-built Bayonne Bridge from 151 to 215 feet. Costing some $1 billion, the project will allow larger container ships to use New Jersey terminals following the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in Aug 2014
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Ocean Liner Collectibles!
Sales & more sales! A Cunard Line "VIP" cup & saucer set, used exclusively in the suites aboard the original Queen Mary & Queen Elizabeth, in the late 1940s and '50s, recently fetched $400 at a New York City auction. |
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Ocean Liner history 
Sixty years ago, in April 1951, Furness-Bermuda Line's yacht-like Ocean Monarch arrived in New York harbor for the first time. Fresh from her British shipbuilders, the handsome 13,500-tonner could carry 440 passengers, all in cabins with private bathroom facilities (something of a novelty for those days). Owned by the Furness-Bermuda Line, the 516-ft long Ocean Monarch was designed purposely for 6-night New York-Bermuda cruise service as well as occasional two-week cruises to the Caribbean and, in summer, to the St Lawrence & the Canadian Maritimes. |
 Revival!
The once popular French cruise line, last owned by Costa, has been revived & is now being expanded. Together with Costa, they restored operations last year with the 28,500-ton Costa Allegra. Used mostly for cruises from Marseilles, that ship has proved insufficient, however, and Paquet has now chartered the 48,200-ton Grand Mistral from Spain's Iberocruises, also owned by Costa. The 1,667-bed Grand Mistral was built in '99 as the Mistral for the now defunct Festival Cruises and then transferred over to the Spanish in 2005. |
Port Canaveral 
The local port authority is borrowing some $42 million from the Federal Government for a total $100 million redevelopment & expansion of its cruise facilitiesow your target audience. Who are your most important customers, clients or prospects, and why? Know what is important to them and address their needs in your newsletter each month. Include a photo to make your newsletter even more appealing. Inserting a link in your article lets you track which topics attract the most interest. |
 Rotterdam
Following a $200 million transformation & conversion, the splendid, 1959-built Rotterdam is now operating as a hotel, convention centre & museum in the port of Rotterdam |
Saga Cruises 
While demolished last summer & fall at Jiangyin in China, some fittings from the 1965-built Saga Rose, the onetime Sagafjord, have found their way to local hotels & restaurants in & around Shanghai. |
ss United States 
The SS United States Conservancy, in charge of the idle superliner as of this winter, are seeking "partners" to develop the ship as a moored attraction/hotel/casino/convention center/museum. The Conservancy is suggesting Philadelphia, Miami or, most preferrably, New York. |
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 New destinations!
For the first time in her career, the 110-passenger Clipper Odyssey will sail European waters. She'll sail North European as well as Mediterranean waters. Built back in 1989 as Japan's Oceanic Grace, she became the Oceanic Odyssey in '97 when she joined Spice Island Cruises. St Louis-based Clipper Cruise Line bought her a year later and later rechristened the 5,300-tonner as the Clipper Odyssey. |
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Ocean & Cruise News
Current & Past Issues Members can download a PDF of current and past issues using the following links
Past Issues of this "new" Email Supplement beginning with the Feb. 21, 2011 issue can be found by clicking our logo below
The above listed items are copyrighted material and are for the exclusive use of paid members in good standing. Any unauthorized duplication, transmission or distribution of this material without the written permission of The World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society is strictly prohibited. |
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About Bill Miller 
Bill Miller is an international authority on the subject of ocean liners & cruise ships. This includes those great ships of the past, those "floating palaces," as well as the current generation of cruise ships, the "floating resorts". Called "Mr. Ocean Liner," he has written over 75 books on the subject: from early steamers, immigrant ships and liners at war to other titles on their fabulous interiors, in post card form and about the highly collectible artifacts from them. He has done specific histories of such celebrated passenger ships as the United States, Queen Mary, Rotterdam, France, Queen Elizabeth 2, Costa Victoria, Super Star Leo and Crystal Serenity.
In all, he has also written over 1,000 articles for newspapers, magazines and nautical journals & newsletters. He even had his very own ocean liner quarterly, the Millergram. He has made nearly 350 voyages to date: Atlantic crossings, tropical cruises, coastal runs and even trips on container cargo ships and exotic banana boats. He has appeared in some three dozen video & television series, both in the USA, Britain, Europe and Australia, including Castles of the Sea, The Floating Palaces, The Superliners, Inside the World of a Cruise Ship, Disasters at Sea, Deco: Age of Glamour, and Lady in Waiting: The Story of the SS United States. He has also appeared on The Today Show, CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, NBC Evening News and many other news broadcasts. He has been guest lecturer aboard over 50 different liners, sailing with the likes of Crystal Cruises, Cunard, Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Radisson-Seven Seas, Saga Cruises and others. Miller was a public school teacher, in middle school and for social studies, for 32 years. He was named "Teacher of the Year" in 2002.
A native of Hoboken, New Jersey, the once busy port just across the Hudson River from New York City, Miller was named Outstanding American Maritime Scholar in 1994, received the United States Maritime Preservation Award and also the Ocean Liner Council's Silver Riband Award, both in 2004. Also, he has been chairman of the Port of New York Branch of the World Ship Society, serves on the selection committee for the American Maritime Hall of Fame, created the passenger ship database for the Ellis Island Museum and currently serves as Curator of 20th Century Maritime History at Manhattan's South Street Seaport Museum. He has also organized a 14-week college course on liners, and helped to create & then served as historian at the US Merchant Marine Museum. His private collection includes 4,000 books on ships, over 15,000 photos and some 1,000 miniature ship models, most of them being passenger ships.
By 2010, Miller had 10 new books in the works, was curator to Decodence (an exhibit at the South St Seaport on the design & décor of the grand French liner Normandie) and himself was the subject of a one-hour film documentary aptly titled Mr Ocean Liner. (Updated 8/10).
Follow Bill's look back at ship's of yesteryear..
Heard Along the Boat Deck
And his current cruise experiences...
Scribblings
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 WOCLS E News & Renewals
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WORLD OCEAN & CRUISE LINER SOCIETY'S
HOSTED CRUISES
One of the great things about being a World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society member is joining us aboard one of our "Hosted" member cruises. Each cruise features low group rates, special amenities plus onboard lectures and events
Rotterdam - Transatlantic (9-Night)
July 3rd, 2011 - from $1,499*
(Rotterdam to New York)
Rotterdam - Transatlantic (9-Night)
July 12th, 2011 - from $1,199*
(New York to Rotterdam)
(Bill Miller and Stephen Card will be on both of the above voyages!
Eurodam - Canada & New England (10-Night)
Sep 30, 2011 - from $1,699*
Noordam - Southern Caribbean (10 Night)
Dec 2, 2011 - from $1,019*
Silhouette - Eastern Caribbean (12 Night)
Jan 29, 2012 - from $1,499*
*Rates are per person based on double occupancy.
Government fees are additional |
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