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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
| August 8, 2011 |
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Greetings!
Welcome to our latest edition of Enews! Hoping everyone is having a happy and healthy summer!
Sincerely!
Tom Cassidy |
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Unusual voyages! 
The small, deluxe Hebridean Princess, fitted for a mere 48 passengers & twice chartered to none other than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for "family cruises," is making two, rather unusual voyages this month. On Aug 14th, the all-inclusive ship sets off from Leith (very near Edinburgh) on an 8-night coastal cruise, stopping at Newcastle, Harwich & then finishing, with sailing along the famed Thames, at Tilbury (London). Then, on Sep 8th, the 2,200-ton ship casts off from Portsmouth (near Southampton) on a jaunt along England's southern coast --- to Poole, Portland, Dartmouth, Falmouth, the Isles of Scilly, Lundy and finishing at Cardiff (in Wales). That trip will be 9 days. |
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 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. |
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Bon voyage! 
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.
Lavish living at sea! One of the absolute pinnacles of luxury cruising are the Grand Duplex suites aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2, possibly the most famous ocean liner afloat these days. The suites are "fantasy accommodations" according to one Cunard traveler. The suites are on two levels, connecting by a grand, sweeping staircase & comes fully equipped from private dining room to personal butler. And oh yes, a personal fitness center is included as well. Almost always booked (famed singer Rod Stewart has been an occupant), the Suite sells for some $250,000 per person for the 151,000-ton ship's 108-night cruise around the world, departing next January. But Cunard has reminded us: "These top suites are often among the very first to be sold --- and on any voyage." |
 Word of mouth!
We've been hearing lots of good things about the "Yacht Club" accommodations aboard 3,274-bed MSC Fantasia & MSC Splendida. The "Club" facilities are actually a self-contained area of 99 suites and lounges. It has been called "a luxurious haven". Expectedly, the suites have all sorts of perks: full, marble bathrooms, ultra luxurious linens, a pillow concierge, complimentary mini-bar and laptop computer. |
New York - The big screen! 
Look for a unique festival: ocean liners as portayed in films and from the 1920s onward. Together with Robert Neal Marshall (producer of Mr Ocean Liner), I will be hosting, beginning Fri evening Aug 26th, for Cinematic Crossings: Ocean Liners on the Screen. It will all be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and will run for 5 days. Film titles will be diverse, over 20 in all, and include the likes of Astaire & Rogers in 1937's Shall We Dance and James Cameron's 1997 Titanic. More details to follow. |
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Ocean Liner Collectibles -Golden paintbrush!
British maritime artist Colin Verity passed away last June 24th. He was 87. Mostly, he painted 20th century maritime scenes, including many ocean liners. One of his great specialties was dockside & harbor scenes. His work was shown in many exhibitions & recreated in printed posters, and was gathered for at least one hardcover book. |
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Ocean Liner history - Biggest on the seas!
Back in 1924, White Star Line's Majestic, the largest liner in the world at over 56,000 tons and 956 feet from stem to stern, was the most popular passenger ship afloat. Sailing in the Company's express service between New York, Cherbourg & Southampton, the 23-knot liner was averaging 2,000 passengers per voyage. Intended to be the German Bismarck for the Hamburg America Line, she was taken by the Allies after World War I, allocated to the British and then given to White Star in compensation for their wartime losses. She remained in Atlantic service until 1936, being replaced by the likes of the then brand new Queen Mary, and then became a moored cadets' training school up in Scotland. She caught fire in 1939, however, became a total loss and was later demolished.
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 Good news for foodies!
Word from friends who have sailed the brand new, 1,200-bed Marinais that the "food in the ship's 4 specialty restaurants is more than wonderful!" They especially praised the olive oil menu in Toscana, the regional Italian restaurant, and the likes of the "magnificent cheese trolley" in Jacques, the French restaurant watched over by famed chef Jacques Pepin.
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 Titanic -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
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 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 |
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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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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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