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Latest Press Release from Oceania Cruises | |
Oceania cruises Launches first-ever theme cruises for 2012
Oceania Cruises will offer theme cruises for the first time. The new "Signature Sailings" are comprised of 10 voyages exploring culinary, wine, music and health & wellness themes. Guests will enjoy seminars, hands-on classes, concerts, wine tastings and more. Depending on the voyage, Chef Jacques Pépin, up-and-coming jazz
musicians, and noted editors will be special guests.
"We are delighted to introduce theme cruises for 2012," said Bruce J. Himelstein, the line's president. "While groups that share the same interests have regularly sailed with Oceania Cruises in the past, our new 'Signature Sailings' create a special opportunity for guests to experience the cruise in the company of fellow travelers who share their passion for the theme."
Food and Wine Feature Prominently on 2012 Signature Sailings
Jacques Pépin Cruise
Master Chef Jacques Pépin has served as Oceania Cruises' executive culinary director for eight years. On this sailing, he'll be sure to hold court in Jacques - his first namesake restaurant - as well as in the Bon AppétitCulinary Center leading Q&A sessions, cooking demonstrations and signing books.
Marina "Tuscan Artistry" - May 12, 2012; 10 days, Barcelona-Rome
Spring Music Fest
A broad range of jazz styles will be featured. Six guest musicians, including four headliners, will perform individual main stage shows in addition to more casual jam sessions. There will also be special dance sets and dance instructors.
Nautica "Mediterranean Tapestry" - May 14, 2012; 10 days, Athens-Barcelona
Oceania Club Reunion Cruise - two sailings
Oceania Cruises loyal past passengers are the guests of honor for two special reunion cruises, which include memorable surprises both onboard and ashore.
Riviera "Iberian Odyssey" - June 17, 2012; 10 days, Lisbon-Rome
Regatta "Radiant Rhythms" - March 6, 2013; 12 days, Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro
Italian Wine Immersion Cruise
Highlights include lectures, tastings and special Wine Bars, where guest experts and special musical performers will create the perfect vibe to explore and experience great wines.
Regatta "Italian Interludes" - July 27, 2012; 12 days, Rome-Venice
Vitality & Wellness Cruise - two sailings
In addition to healthy eating and fitness tips, guests will gain insights on enhancing their mental wellness to live life to the fullest. Spinning, yoga and Pilates classes are also offered at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub and gourmet Canyon Ranch spa cuisine is available.
Regatta "Pearls of the Aegean" - August 8, 2012; 10 days, Venice-Athens
Riviera "Accent on Italy" - October 24, 2012; 10 days, Rome-Venice
Bon AppétitWine & Food Festival - two sailings
Epicureans rejoice! The experts at Bon Appétit magazine are assembling culinary stars and wine experts or editors for a palate-pleasing voyage.
Riviera "Enchanted Grandeur" - October 14, 2012; 10 days, Athens-Rome
Marina "Temples & Palaces" - October 22, 2012; 10 days, Athens-Istanbul
President's Cruise
Oceania Cruises President Bruce Himelstein and his wife Brigitte will host a 10-day voyage through Southern Europe. Special highlights are in store, both aboard ship and ashore.
Nautica "Mediterranean Tapestry" - October 26, 2012; 10 days, Barcelona-Athens
Discover the World in Comfort and Style with Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises' 684-guest Regatta and Nautica are intimate ships acclaimed for their open-seating gourmet dining (no surcharges), luxurious public rooms and accommodations, and warm, attentive service. Facilities include four open-seating, gourmet restaurants, casino and Canyon Ranch SpaClub.
The 1,250-guest Marina and new Riviera were purpose-built for epicureans with six open-seating, gourmet restaurants - including a French bistro by Master Chef Jacques Pépin. Facilities also include a Bon Appétit Culinary Center and Artist Loft enrichment center. Interior design highlights include a Lalique-designed grand staircase, elegant public rooms, spacious accommodations and Owner's Suites furnished exclusively in Ralph Lauren Home.
For more information on the above Signature Sailings, see a professional travel agent, visit OceaniaCruises.com or call 800-531-5658.
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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
October 31, 2011 |
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Greetings!
In an effort to serve our members better we have changed our phone number to a toll-free number.
Please make note of this number. While there is supposed to be a message on the old number for some reason the phone company is struggling with this request. Our new number is (866) 631-0611.
Sincerely!
Tom Cassidy
P.S. There is still space available to join us aboard Celebrity Cruises' Silhouette on January 29th at great rates! Please contact our cruise coordinator Beth Schmidt at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009 if you would like to join us. We would love to see you! |
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On the block! 
Costa, an arm of the Carnival empire, has the 25,441-grt Costa Marina up for sale. Built in 1969 at the Wartsila Shipyard at Abo in Finland, the 572-ft long ship was originally the Axel Johnson, a container cargo ship owned by Sweden's Johnson Line. The 19-knot ship was sold, however, to Greece's Regency Cruises in 1986 with the intention to rebuild the vessel as the cruise ship Regent Sun. The project never materialized, however, and instead the hull was sold off to Italian buyers, also with cruise liner conversion plans. She was renamed Sea Venture and then Italia. But the completion of the conversion was left to Costa, who bought the ship in 1988 and, after a two-year rebuilding, introduced her as the 1,025-passenger Costa Marina. She cruised the Med in summer, South America in winter & later did charter cruising as well. A sister, the onetime Annie Johnson, is the Costa Allegra. |
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 Port of Registry!
It was made official last week: Cunard is changing its registry to Bermuda. This is of course a first in the 171-yr old Company's history, but allows the Line's three ships --- the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria & Queen Elizabeth --- to remain under the Red Ensign of the British Merchant Navy as Bermuda is still a British colony. Replacing Southampton with Hamilton as homeport by the end of the month, the switch allows Cunard to offer shipboard weddings, which were not permitted under the British flag. There is also some financial savings involved, especially regarding to the payment of non-British crew. |
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Glory days of the 1950's! 
If you have anecdotes, materials, photos, etc & which you might share, I am penning yet another new book called Classic Liners: The Ile de France & Liberte. |
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - Replica!
A 74-inch long, highly detailed model of the American passenger-cargo liner Panama, built in 1939, sold recently for some $3,400 at a New York City auction. Carrying 215 passengers, the 10,000-grt Panama later became the President Hoover of American President Lines & then the Regina and later Regina Prima for Chandris Cruises. |
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Ocean Liner History - Maiden cruise!
In Aug 1968, the newly converted, 910-passenger Amerikanis of the Chandris Lines sailed on her first cruise, a 7-night trip from New York to Bermuda. She departed from Pier 84 on Aug 23rd. She had been extensively rebuilt & lavishly redecorated after having been the British-flag Kenya Castle, built in 1952 for the Union-Castle Line's London-Around Africa passenger & freight services |
 Phillipines - Last link!
When she was built in 1952, she was the largest Italian liner of her day. The 27,000-grt Augustus & her twin sister, the Giulio Cesare, were part of Italy's post-Second World War "maritime renaissance". The nation was coming out of the ruins of Mussolini's War years and the merchant fleet needed to be restored and rebuilt. Using Fiat diesels that had been created in 1939, just before the War began, but then not used, the 680-ft long Augustus was constructed by a Trieste shipyard that is today producing mammoth cruise ships. Built to carry 1,180 passengers in total and which were divided between 178 in first class, 288 in cabin class and 714 in tourist class (which included some dormitories for low-fare immigrants), the 21-knot ship was designed for the Italian Line's South American trade. Together with the Giulio Cesare & other liners like the Conte Biancamano & Conte Grande, they were routed from Naples, Genoa, Cannes, Barcelona & Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo & Buenos Aires. In 1957, following the loss of another new Italian liner, the Andrea Doria, the twin-screw Augustus was moved over to the summer season, mid Atlantic run to New York. This continued for three years before she returned to fulltime Latin American service. While her sistership, the 22-year-old Giulio Cesare, had mechanical problems and was scrapped in 1973, the Augustus continued sailing for the Italians until 1976 when she was sold off to Far East interests (using the flags of the Seychelles and then Panama) and being renamed Great Sea. At one point, it was rumored that she would be restored as a cruise ship, sailing from Australian ports. She was rarely used, however. In 1980, she was sold again, this time to Philippine interests and soon raised the Philippine flag. In succession, but again rarely used, she was renamed Ocean King, Philippines & President. She was resold to Hong Kong buyers in 1987 and again renamed, this time as the Asian Princess. She was back under the flag of the Philippines in 1990 and soon was berthed in Manila harbor, being used as a moored hotel ship, convention center and training ship for crews. With ships like the Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo & Raffaello gone, she became the last survivor of the great Italian Line. In the 1990s, there were enthusiastic rumors that she might be sold to the Italians, towed to Genoa and used there as a museum & convention center. This never came to pass, however. By 2011, she was especially intriguing to maritime & ocean liner buffs, being 59 years old and the last, nostalgic link to the well remembered Italian Line. Her future looked bleak. That summer, she was finally sold and soon towed to Alang in India for scrapping. Her long career was over.man & the Gulf are preparing for a record winter cruise season. |
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Shipboard nominations! 
Well-cruised shipmates from recent Seabourn voyages called to tell me of the favorite destinations seen from the decks of a cruise ship: Sydney, New York, Stockholm, St Petersburg & Dubrovnik. But then there are other nominations such as Barbados, Barcelona, Istanbul & Venice. |
 Postcards from friends!
"These ships accommodate just 55 couples in all-inclusive luxury. These really are like private yachts with a very 'outdoorsy' style of cruising!" |
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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. |
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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!
In the works! The presses are rolling over in England, at the History Press. I've penned a short, 10,000-word overview of passenger ships entitled The Great Liners. It should be out soon. It will be followed, at the same publishing house, by Great Passenger Ships 1910-20 and then Great American Passenger Ships. Happily, my finger keeps on typing ... and happily, there are still photos and anecdotes and maybe something new to be shared.
Another new book project! Happily, I have been signed to do another edition of the Classic Liners series for the History Press over in the UK. In the wake of our book on the Caronia, Cunard's "Green Goddess," this project will deal with two of the most popular, most beloved post-Second World War French liners, the Ile de France & Liberte. The Ile was built for the French but back in 1927; the larger Liberte came to them as post-war reparations, having been the German Europa of 1930. The Ile sailed the Atlantic between 1949 and 1958; the Liberte ran between 1950 and 1961. They transported thousands on the regular run between New York, Southampton or Plymouth and Le Havre, and even had occasional cruises. They were of course predecessors to the much larger, faster France, commissioned in 1962. If any of our readers has anecdotes, reflections, comments and shared materials on these great liners, please contact me through Ocean & Cruise News.
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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 WOCLS E News & Renewals
If you've been receiving this E-news but not the monthly print publication chances are your subscription has expired. Please renew now as your E-news will stop shortly. Please renew online using the following link http://www.wocls.org/renew.htm
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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 |
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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
Noordam - Southern Caribbean (10 Night)
Dec 2, 2011 - from $1,019*
Silhouette - Eastern Caribbean (12 Night)
Jan 29, 2012 - from $1,499*
Veendam - Bermuda (7 Night)
Jun 3, 2012 - from $799*
Queen Mary 2 - Canada / New England (11 Nights)
Sep21, 2012 - from $2,695*
*Rates are per person based on double occupancy.
Government fees are additional.
For Reservations and Information Call WOCLS Group Coordinator Beth Schmitt at (800) 828 4813 Ext 1009
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