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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller

 

July 25, 2011

Greetings!


    Great News! Our good friend, WOCLS writer and author of our Enews Bill Miller will be aboard our January 29th voyage of Celebrity Cruises' beautiful Silhouette.
    Please plan to join us. It's a great way to meet WOCLS friends old and new!

     All the best!

 

Sincerely!
  
Tom Cassidy 

Carnival Cruise LineSteady growth!

 

It is estimated that 16 million international vacationers will take cruises this year.   12 million of them come from North America.   Overall, this represents a 6 ˝% incease over 2010. With a fleet of some 2 dozen liners under the direct Carnival banner (amongst the 100 or so cruise liners owned by the parent Carinval Corporation), Carnival has expanded its US operation to include more user-friendly American ports and has increased its own European schedules.   Overall, the 100 ships owned by the Carnival Corporation reflect an almost mind-boggling operation: they will visit 565 ports in 139 countries during 2011. One Carnival spokesman noted, "In this current recession, we have dropped prices, managed to fill ships & were still profitable. And the lower pricing introduced more & more people to the joys of cruising."

 

Europe bound! Celebrity Logo
 

Deploying more & more ships on European itineraries, especially to the Mediterranean, Celebrity as well as other cruise lines (including their parent Royal Caribbean), are seeing great growth in Europe.   5 ˝ million cruisers enjoyed European itineraries in 2010.   "Europe is the fastest growing cruise market in the world," noted one top executive.   "Europe is the new Caribbean. It is a Number One destination!"

Crystal Cruises Tales of bygone liners! 

 

I will be aboard the splendid Crystal Symphony's Aug 13th cruise from San Francisco to beautiful Alaska as well as charming Vancouver & Victoria. I will be giving talks on the grand age of the great liners as well as the current generation of floating resorts. 

Bon voyage! Cunard Line

 

Reminiscent of the golden era of the original Queen Mary & Queen Elizabeth, I am crossing from New York to Southampton on the Queen Mary 2, departing on Sep 5th, and the returning immediately, but on the Queen Elizabeth, leaving Southampton on Sep 12th.   I will be a guest speaker on both 7-night voyages.

 

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

 

Added ideas!

 

This important UK-based cruise operator is adding 3 theme nights to its ships:   Nautical Night, Rock'n Roll Night & International Night.

 

 
New York - Hudson River cruise! New York City
 
Last month, on Jun 28th, I was the guest speaker for a "Hudson River Cruise" aboard the sleek harbor passenger vessel Zephyr.   It was a 2 ˝-hour cruise that departed from Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan & then rounded Manhattan island and sailed northward, clinging to the Manhattan waterfront, to a point off West 90th Street. We then crossed the mighty Hudson (also known as the North River) and, sailing south, clung to the New Jersey shoreline (passing Edgewater, West New York, Weehawken, Hoboken & Jersey City) before pausing at the Statue of Liberty.   As a conclusion, we crossed the Upper Bay and sailed to the Brooklyn waterfront, to the Red Hook section and passing along the Buttermilk Channel.   The event was organized by the Working Harbor (www.workingharbor.com) and their summer schedules includes other harbor tours --- cruising the length of the Brooklyn waterfront as well as special trips over to New Jersey, to the container terminals at Newark & Port Elizabeth.   These trips, even for the mildly interested in the City & its harbor, are highly recommendable.

 

Ocean Liner Collectibles -Banana boat!

 

An exquisite, highly detailed, 10-ft long model of the Amapala, a 1924-built "banana boat" that also carried some 50 passengers, sold for $26,840 at a New York City auction.   The model had last been in the collection of the Seamen's Church Institute's headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

Ocean Liner History - Bound for the Med!

 

Nearly fifty years ago, in the summer of 1963, you could sail on the Independence, a 1,100-passenger liner belonging to the American Export Lines, on a 21-night cruise from New York to Madeira, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Naples, Genoa, Cannes, Gibraltar & then back to Manhattan's Pier 84.   Fares in cabin class quarters started at $478. 

STX ShipbuildingShipbuilding!

 

Shipyards everywhere are "hurting" in the current international economic slowdown.   In the cruise industry, new building has dropped by 50% since 2007-08.   22 new cruise ships are building for this year & 2012, but beyond, new orders drop considerably. One expert noted recently, "For shipbuilders, especially in Europe, these are hard times". The big STX yard in Turku in Finland, recent builders of the 225,000-ton, 6,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas & Allure of the Seas, has all but closed due to lack of work. Among the major cruise ship builders, however, Fincantieri, STX at St Nazaire & Meyer Werft have some orders that will keep their workers busy for several years.   
TitanicTitanic -Interest mounting!
 
Miles Morgan Travel in the UK has chartered Fred Olsen Line's Balmoral to retrace the Southampton-New York maiden voyage of the infamous Titanic just in time for the 100th anniversary.   The voyage has been a sell-out, 1,400 passengers in all --- and from 24 countries.   Now, but with a 7-night itinerary to and from New York, the Titanic's ultimate destination, Morgan has chartered the 694-passenger Azamara Journey.   The ships will meet on Apr 14th-15th, the exact site of the Titanic tragedy.   I will be aboard the deluxe Azamara Journey as one of the guest speakers.   See www.milesmorgantravel.com.
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!

 

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 

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