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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
| May 23, 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 |
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Reflection of the past!
This company is having a 140-passenger sternwheeler built to cruise inland US river routes. She will replicate the elegant, romantic age of the riverboat. |
Canada - New life!
The popular ferry Scotia Prince, built in 1972 as the Scandinavian-routed Stena Olympica and used in recent years in the Canadian Maritimes, has gone out to the Indian Ocean. She's now sailing for Dubai operators, but on a service between southern India & Sri Lanka. |

Unusual visitor!
On Tue May 17th, the giant Queen Mary 2 used a Manhattan berth rather than her customary docking over in Red Hook-Brooklyn. The Caribbean Princess had, it seems, the "right of berth" at the Brooklyn terminal. Also sailing that same day from Manhattan were the Prinsendam & the Silver Whisper. Myself, I was aboard the elegant, 395-passenger Silver Whisper, setting off on a two-week cruise to Newport, the Canadian Maritimes, Ireland & then finishing in Southampton, England. |
Tranatlatic 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. |
India - More for the scrapheap! The 20,000-ton Pacific, long idle at Genoa, has reportedly been sold to shipbreakers in India. The 1971-built ship started her life as the Sea Venture (for Flagship Cruises) and then (in 1975) became the Pacific Princess for P&O-Princess Cruises, later immortalized as TV's Love Boat. Sold to Spain's Pullmanturs in 2002, she became the Pacific for alternating South American & Mediterranean cruising. Later sold to other Spanish cruise owners, Quail Cruises, she was to operate as the New Pacific, but this did not come about due to serious mechanical problems with the 40-yr old, 650-passenger ship. |

Japan - Emergency calls!
Five large, but otherwise laid-up Japanese ferries have been reactivated for use in emergency services in the disaster areas in the northern part of the country. |
| Photo Courtesy of Gare Maritime |
Ocean Liner Collectibles -Souveniers!
Zeppelins, particularly the big German ones such as the Hindenburg, are very collectible. They represent, among other reasons, the great age of travel, particularly in the 1930s, in the era of great & grand liners, trains, hotels, those Hollywood films. At a recent auction here in Manhattan, a chocolate cup & saucer from the German airship Graf Zeppelin sold for $1,500. |
Ocean Liner history - Time passes!
Forty years ago, in the spring of 1970, the 225-passenger Ariadne of Miami-based Eastern Steamship Lines was scheduled for alternating 7-night itineraries: one-week cruises between Miami & Veracruz and one-week itineraries to Port au Prince, Kingston & Nassau. Fares began at $175.
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Mishap at sea!
After a fire and being evacuated by her 522 passengers & 226 crew, the 23,000-ton Ocean Star Pacific (ex-Nordic Prince, 1971) has been towed to a port in Mexico for examination & repairs. |
Biggest yet! The brand new, 47,592-grt Spirit of Britain is the largest ferry to join Britain's P&O Ferries. Used on the Cross-Channel run, she can carry 2,000 passengers, 180 trucks & 195 cars. P&O Ferries is owned separately, however (by interests in Dubai) while P&O Cruises is part of the Carnival family of companies. P&O's cargo-container operation is now part of Denmark's huge Maersk Line. |
New look!  The 63,500-ton Pacific Pearl has had an extensive refit & facelift. There are new bars, cafes & restaurants aboard the 1988-built ship. Used in South Pacific cruising, she began her life as the proposed Sitmar Fairmajesty, but then Sitmar Cruises was sold to Princess before completion and so the 1,578-bed ship was completed as the Star Princess. In 1997, she joined P&O Cruises, making UK-based cruises as the Arcadia. In 2003, she shifted to a then new P&O division, Ocean Village, and began sailing as the Ocean Village. She transferred yet again, to P&O Australia just last year. |
Close call!
Somali pirates almost overtook the specialty cruise ship Spirit of Adventure on a recent voyage. The 350 passengers were ordered to take cover, but then the ship managed to outrun the pirates. |
Niche cruising!  The locally-run Quail Travel Company's Happy Cruises division now has three ships in regular service: the Happy Dolphin (the former Japanese-owned Orient Venus), the Gemini (the former Crown Jewel) and the Ocean Pearl (the onetime Song of Norway). |
Vancouver - Busy cruise port! The 960-passenger Crystal Symphony became the first cruise ship of the season at this very popular Canadian cruise port. She called on Apr 17th, reopening the Canada Place cruise terminal after a long winter's sleep. |
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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. |
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 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.

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

RMS Caronia: Cunard's Green Goddess
(co-authored with Brian Hawley) The History Press Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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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In either case you may renew securely using your Visa or MasterCard. This form features VeriSign's Secure processing so you know your vital information is secure. You may also mail your check to The World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society - P.O. Box 329 - Northport NY 11768. A renewal ($30/year domestic -or- $36/ year foreign) will extend your existing subscription to both this "E-News" Supplement and Ocean Cruise News a full 12 months from the end of your current subscription |
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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