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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller

 

May 9, 2011

Greetings!


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 

Bora Bora CruisesCollapse!   

 

This niche cruise line, which operated the 74-passenger Tu Moana and Tia Moana, has folded, a victim of the international economic downtown.   

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Maersk.com

 Cargo ships - Biggest of all!

 

Denmark's Maersk Line, the biggest & busiest cargo ship operator in the world, is building a series of "Triple E" super-large container ships, the largest of their type ever.   Triple E stands for Economy of Scale, Energy Efficient & Environmentally Improved.   Each ship will carry over 18,000 containers in 23 rows across.  They are due in service in 2013-14.  

 

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Record breakers!

  
Some of the world's longest ships are;

Maersk 18,000-capacity mega-containerships ...1280 ft long
Berge Stahl(ore carrier) ......................................1049 ft long
Allure of the Seas..(cruise ship)............................1198 ft long
Queen Mary2...(ocean liner).................................1132 ft long
USS Enterprise (aircraft carrier) ...........................1090 ft long

Maersk LogoFreighters - Name change!

    

The 49,000-ton containership Maersk Brooklyn, owned by the British-flag arm of the Copenhagen-based Maersk Line, has had a name change.   Now, her name has been shortened to Brooklyn.

Greece-Off to the boneyard! Greece Flag
 
The 28,900-ton Mona Lisa has reportedly been sold to Indian shipbreakers.   The 722-passenger ship, which began sailing in 1966, was the Kungsholm, Sea Princess, Victoria and Oceanic II.  There's another, but still vague report that the 1984-built Atlantic Star, long idle at Marseilles, might also soon go to Indian scrappers.   That 43,000-ton ship had been Sitmar's Fairsky and later the Sky Princess of Princess Cruises, and then the Sky Wonder.  ... And writing of the breakers, the 55-yr old Greek cruise ship Hermes has been sold to Turkish scrap merchants and was delivered last February.   The 2,200-ton vessel dates back to Tito's Yugoslavia when she and two sisters were built for the state-owned Jadrolinija for Adriatic Sea coastal cruising.   She was then called the Jugoslavia.   The Greeks, the Epirotiki Lines, bought her in 1976 and have since used her mostly in day cruising from Piraeus.

HapagLloydShipboard amenities!

  

The new Europa 2, which is under construction in St-Nazaire, France and due out in 2013, will feature 7 specialty restaurants and an anti-ageing facility.

Tranatlatic tradition! Holland America

 

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.  
LeHarve - Ship visit!
 
While visiting the cruise ship Marco Polo at his native Le Havre, French ocean liner historian & dear friend Philippe Brebant found the ship's original bronze bell, from her days as the Soviet-owned Alexandr Pushkin.   The 20,000-ton ship, built in 1963, has been sailing as the Marco Polo since 1993. 

 Red Star

Ocean Liner Collectibles-Poster art!

 

A century ago, the Red Star Line ran a trans-Atlantic service between Antwerp & New York with ships such as the Zeeland, Lapland & Kroonland.   Later, they operated the famed cruise ship Belgenland as well.   Recently, at a New York City auction, a 1910 Red Star poster sold for $2,000.   Colorful, rich & evocative, it is just wonderful art!

Arosa StarOcean Liner history

 

In April 1970, the plan to make the Miami-based cruise ship Bahama Star, built back in 1931 and which sailed as the Borinquen, Puerto Rico & Arosa Star, as a "feeder ship" on Lake Guatemala has fallen through.   Instead, the 7,114-ton ship has gone off to Central America for further use as a floating hotel.   In fact, the 650-passenger ship was resold & sent off to California to become a floating motel, renamed as the La Janelle.   She was wrecked, however, in the summer of 1970.

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Expanding!
 

Star Clippers is moving into the seasonal North European market beginning in the summer of 2012.   The 170-berth Star Flyer, completed in 1991, will offer itineraries including departures from Hamburg.
Ocean & Cruise News

Current & Past Issues

 
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          OCN-Dec 2009         OCN-Dec 2010 
  
Past Issues of this "new" Email Supplement beginning with the Feb. 21, 2011 issue can be found by clicking our logo below

 

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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!

 

On the horizon!   Brian Hawley is penning a new book, filled with lots of photos, about the Olympic, the White Star liner completed in 1911 and sister to the infamous Titanic

 

 

 

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.

Government fees are additional 

JOIN

TODAY

 

The World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society is always looking for new members. A year membership includes 12 issues of our monthly newsletter "Ocean & Cruise News", plus a free subscription to this electronic E News. Postage costs have soared over the past few years and yet the Society has maintained our rates. We hope to continue this but can use your help. Please reommend us to your family and friends or buy them a gift membership.
  
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Checks should be made payable to World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society and mailed to: WOCLS - POB 329 - Northport, NY 11768. Checks should be in US Funds & drawn on a US Bank. You may also join securely by credit card online using the following link.
  
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