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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller

 

April 25, 2011

Greetings!


I recently had the opportunity to try Apple's new iPad2 that belonged to a member I know. He showed me how he had downloaded the PDF versions of Ocean & Cruise News from the links contained with our weekly Enews Supplement and then stored each issue in Apple's included "iBook" app.

 

While I had never considered reading Ocean & Cruise News in its electronic form I must say it was easy to read, great to navigate and offers the ability of being able to "pinch to zoom" when the reading glasses are not nearby!

 

Members please remember we have many "Hosted Cruises" in 2011 or 2012 and are adding more. 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 

Carnival Cruise Line

Bermuda bound!   

 

Carnival is increasing its number of sailings to Bermuda.Cruises will be made from a selection of US East Coast ports, including New York.

Celebrity LogoAlso Bermuda bound!

 

Living in Northern New Jersey, the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal is ideally convenient. I am boarding the Summit on Jun 12th for a 7-night cruise to beautiful Bermuda & back. I will be a guest speaker aboard that 90,300 ton, 2,034 passenger liner.

Growth! Cunard Logo
 
Know your Carnival UK, the parent to both Cunard and P&O Cruises, predicts great growth in the years ahead for the Britich cruise market. Some 1 millions British vacationers took cruises from UK ports last year. Cunard --- with the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria & Queen Elizabeth --- is said to be the "most recognized" name in the British cruise market while P&O is said to be the "most repeated". Both companies look to further growth and we even hear whispers of a fourth Cunarder, possibly a ship purposely for long, luxurious cruising similar to the fabled Green Goddess, the Caronia, which sailed from 1948 until 1967.

Cargo to Cattle!Mitsui-OSK

    

The container ship Aurora Ace was built in Japan in 1984 for the Mitsui-OSK Lines. Later, she went on to become the Merlion Ace. But in 2009, she was sold again, but to Singapore-based owners, who renamed her Ghena and had her converted (in a Singapore shipyard for $4 million) to carry livestock. It has been quite a transformation!

Holland AmericaTrans-Atlantic tradition!

  

It is a celebration of the great history of the grand Holland America Line --- two Atlantic crossings this July aboard the 59,600-ton flagship Rotterdam.    The westbound voyage, from Rotterdam to New York, stops at Southampton;   the return eastward passage stops at Cobh before Rotterdam.   Along with superb marine artist Stephen Card & others, I will be along to give talks on the great Atlantic ocean liners, but about Holland America's rich history & fleet as well.   A lounge aboard the 1,300-passenger Rotterdam will be specially converted to a Holland America Line history museum for the entire roundtrip voyage.  

Ocean Liner Collectibles-Dutch colors! HAL Flag

 

A vintage Holland America Line houseflag solf for $450 at a recent Manhattan auction.

ss FranceOcean Liner history    

 

Fifty years ago, just as the stunning, brand new France came into service, the French Line announced that the smaller, slower, 800-bed Flandre would be withdrawn from her seasonal Le Havre-Southampton-New York service  & reassigned to fulltime Le Havre-Caribbean service, with emphasis on the French colonial outposts of Guadeloupe & Martinique.  After 1962, the 2,000-passenger France would handle the New York service for the French Line singlehandedly.

High celebrations! P&OLogo

 

On Jul 3rd 2012, the entire P&O cruise fleet will sail at the same time from Southampton.   The occasion:   to grandly celebrate the 175th anniversary of the history P&O, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited.   P&O, which began sailing to the Mediterranean, then thru Suez and to colonial India, and then out to Australia & New Zealand, and finally on full round the world voyages.   Over the years, the Company has owned hundreds of passenger liners, ships such as the Medina, Ballarat, Rawalpindi, Viceroy of India, Stratheden, Himalaya, Arcadia, Orsova, Oriana & Canberra. P&O bought Princess Cruises in 1974 and was itself bought out by the Carnival Corporation in 2003.   The celebratory cruises departing in Jul 2012 range from a 3-nighter on the Ventura to 17 days on the Aurora to 21 days on the Adonia.
Growth in Italy! Princess Logo
 
It has been over two months since construction began on the 141,000-ton Royal Princess at the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone..   Among the design specialties, the "wow factors," the 3,600-berth ship will have an over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed enclosed walkway on the ship's starboard side extending more than 28 ft beyond the edge of the vessel.   The sea itself will be 128 ft below.   On the port side, there will be a uniquely cantilevered SeaView Bar, featuring drinks coupled with exceptional views.   The Royal Princess, due in the spring of 2013, will be followed by a sister that arrives in 2014.  
RCI LogoFacelift!
 
The giant, 4,200-bed Freedom of the Seas has just come out of dry dock at Freeport, Grand Bahama.   New touches include amenities more closely matching the larger Oasis of the Seas & Allure of the Seas.
Sad news!  Silversea Logo
 
We forgot to mention  that 98-yr old Antonio Lefebvre d'Ovidio, the founder of gold-plated Silversea, passed away last Feb.   A maritime attorney who later invested in Mediterranean ferries, he became a co-owner (with the Monte Carlo-based V Group) in the late '80s and then, in '94, founded Silversea.   Sitmar was absorbed, of course, by P&O-Princess and, these days, Silversea has grown to 5 cruise ships. ... Trans-Ocean!   I'm a guest speaker on the trans-Atlantic crossing of the yacht-like, 382-bed Silver Whisper, departing from Manhattan on May 17th and calling at Newport, Halifax, Sydney (that's Nova Scotia), St John's (Newfoundland), Cobh, Waterford, Fowey (in Cornwall) and ending at Southampton.  It is a fourteen-day trip on this yacht-like ship.
WindStar cruisesWindstar - Auction block!
 
This 3-ship company is for sale following the bankruptcy of its parent, Ambassadors International.
Ocean & Cruise News

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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.

About Bill Miller  Bill Miller "Mr. Ocean Liner"  

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 Americ

a, 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 and past cruise experiences...

Scribblings  

William Miller Books!

 

The presses keep rolling and another new book!  In a joint effort, Brian Hawley & I have penned the history of Cunard's legendary Caronia, the famed "Green Goddess" (yes, a big liner painted in several shades of green) and, in the 1950s, said to be the most luxurious passenger ship afloat.   Happily, the book is very pleasing (you are never, ever sure until the printed copy is before you) and so here's to good sales ahead.  (Some 375 copies reportedly sold in the first week!) It is RMS Caronia:  Cunard's Green Goddess by Amberley Publishing over in the UK.   And more happy news:   several of my own current British books are going into 2nd printings!

 

Ocean liners in words & pictures!  An updated list of my published ocean liner books ... and available thru bmce48@yahoo.com.

 

 

The Last Atlantic Liners

 

 

 

Last Atlantic Liners:  Getting There is Half the Fun  (Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2011

 

  

 

 

 

Rms Caronia Book

 

 

RMS Caronia:   Cunard's Green Goddess 

(co-authored with Brian Hawley)  The History Press Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2011

  

 

 

 

 

Floating Palaces

 

 

Floating Palaces:   The Great Atlantic Liners(Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2011

  

 

 

 

 

 

Great British Passenger Ships

 

 

 

 

Great  British Passenger Ships  (The History Press Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2010)

  

 

 

 

 

ss Nieuw Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

SS Nieuw Amsterdam:   The Darling of the Dutch  (Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2010)

  

 

 

Cunard's Three Queens

 

 

 

Cunard's Three Queens:   A Celebration  (Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2009)

  

 

 

 

 

Under The Red Ensign

 

 

 

Under the Red Ensign:   British Passenger Liners of the '50s & '60s  (The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2009)

 

 

 

 

 

ss United States Speed Queen

 

 

 

SS United States:   Speed Queen of the Seas  (Amberley  Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2009)

 

 

 

 

And yet to come.....

 

Great Passenger Ships 1910-20  (The History Press Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, due Sep 2011)

 

I Was Born in Hoboken:  Memories of the 1950s & '60s  (Hoboken Historical Museum, Hoboken, NJ, due fall 2011)

 

Along the Hudson:   Great Passenger Ships at New York in Photos  (Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, due 2012)

 

The Last Great Dynasty:  The Royal House of Windsor  (Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, due 2012)

 

Great Atlantic Liners of the 20th Century in Color (co-authored with Anton Logvinenko;  Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, due 2012)

 

Great American Passenger Ships  (The History Press Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, due 2012)

 

The Cunard Yanks (co-authored with Ian Wright;   pending but due 2012)

 

 

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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.

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