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Latest Press Release from Celebrity
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Miami - Consistently striving to provide its guests with unmatchable vacation experiences, Celebrity Cruises is now offering guests an inside look into the fascinating world of cruise ship operations. A new addition to the unique and robust Celebrity Life onboard activities program, "Celebrity Inside Access" takes guests on a once-in-a-lifetime journey behind the scenes of Celebrity's renowned fleet, inviting them to discover the intricate details and functions behind modern luxury at sea. Celebrity's Inside Access program invites guests to join two intimate and exclusive activities, the "See How It's Done Tour" and the "Bridge Sail Away Experience."
Designed to provide a thorough and rich three-hour experience, the See How It's Done Tour guides an intimate group of guests through several otherwise non-public areas of the ship, including the bridge, mooring deck, crew gym, theater, engine control room, prep rooms and the main dining room galley. At each area of the tour, guests have the opportunity to interact with expert members of the Celebrity crew. Each tour is followed by a savory wine-paired lunch hosted by an officer in the main dining room.
The Bridge Sail Away Experience presents the opportunity for vacationers to join the navigational team on the bridge as the ship sails away from port. Beginning 30 minutes before and concluding 30 minutes after departing, guests are given a tour and an overview of the bridge conducted by a senior Celebrity bridge officer. Guests also have the opportunity to meet and take photos with the ship's captain.
"Celebrity has dedicated itself to providing guests with the finest in culinary experiences, award-winning service and engaging onboard activities," said Simon Weir, Director of Hotel Operations, Celebrity Cruises. "Now, with the addition of Celebrity Inside Access, vacationers can also satisfy their curiosity and gain rare, behind-the-scenes insight into a Celebrity ship's inner workings."
The Celebrity Inside Access program is offered on all ships and available for purchase onboard.
About Celebrity Cruises:
Celebrity Cruises' iconic "X" is the mark of modern luxury, with its cool, contemporary design and warm spaces; dining experiences where the design of the venues is as important as the cuisine; and the amazing service that only Celebrity can provide, all created to provide an unmatchable experience for vacationers' precious time. In addition to offering vacations visiting all continents, Celebrity also presents immersive cruisetour experiences in Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Europe and South America. One of the fastest-growing major cruise lines, Celebrity is one of five cruise brands operated by global cruise vacation company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE, OSE: RCL). Celebrity's fleet currently consists of 10 ships, with an additional Solstice Class ship, Celebrity Reflection, scheduled to join the fleet in Fall 2012. For more information, dial 1-800-437-3111 or call your travel agent. |
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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
from aboard Celebrity Silhouette
February 6, 2012 |
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Greetings!
We are currently planning our hosted cruise schedule. If you would like to join us on a cruise and would like to suggest a ship line or itinerary, please send me an email to membership@wocls.org.
If you have requested, and are waiting for, your 2012 Holland America Coupon please check your envelope containing your next Ocean & Cruise News.
Sincerely!
Tom Cassidy |
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 Under the microscope!
In the wake of last month's Costa Concordia tragedy in Italy, safety standards aboard the 100-plus cruise liners owned by Carnival Corporation are under strict review & even revision in some cases. While expressing sympathy to Carnival & Costa, Royal Caribbean, as the world's 2nd largest cruise operator, is reviewing their safety procedures as well. |
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Cruising the Eastern Caribbean
for 12 nights aboard the superb,
excellently run & served
Celebrity Silhouette!
Rattan chairs & soft ocean breezes! We have a delightful table for two in the spectacular Cuvee Restaurant, the ship's main dining room. But like Murano, we "venture out" and tonight it is the Lawn Club Grill, placed aft high up on Deck 14. It is all very casual, partly open-air, rattan chairs & run by a small army of friendly cooks & waiters. The highlight reads: "Grill Master Wanted". So, you can don an apron & grab a pair of stainless tongs and cook your very own version of, say, filet mignon, veal chops, lamb chops, even German Bratwurst. Then there's salmon or snapper, kabobs, lobster & cheese and something called dirty rice. You can cook (like Michael) or play the Maharaja of Jersey City like me & have it made to order. Wearing a Celebrity apron, Michael went to town --- he had to knead the dough, which meant twisting & pounding it and then tossing it high into the air (yes, it was so like that classic episode of I Love Lucy). He then added the ingredients and --- puff ---off into the oven & soon we had delicious flatbread pizza. Paula Dean watch out! Later, Michael went off to fridg to select the beef, sausage & components for the skewers. Then it was basting (with olive oil) and, with tongs in hand, it was over to the steaming grill. Smoke poured upward as Chef Michael, like a magician working a secret potion, seared the meats. And yes --- too, too delicioso! And the setting: from the tower-like views, 14 floors above the sea, the sunset is faint cinnamon in color, with distant hazy blue, slender strands of lingering clouds & the almost blue-black sea as the carpet below. Stars soon sprout, night falls like the Phantom's cape & a different magic & romance of the lighted, moving ocean liner takes hold.
South African connection: Polish-born, highly personable Karol is the manager the Lawn Grill. He is very friendly, smoothly competent & rather typical of Celebrity's staff & middle management. He has a rather distinguished background: He was a chef at the exclusive Mount Nelson Hotel. Now extended & gloriously restored with well over 200 rooms, it is an Orient Express property these days. The Mount Nelson was, of course, "the" hotel in Cape Town, the one used mostly by the rich, the famous & of course the titled that sailed the old Union-Castle Line passenger ships to & from England. It was once said, to avoid the grim English winters, the really "in" passengers left on the first sailing south after New Year's, spent 6-8 weeks in Cape Town & then caught a sailing home just in time to catch the English spring. In between, really fine travelers set-up "residence" at the Mount Nelson, which was, by the way, affectionately referred to as the "Mount Nelly".
Big hotels that float! Unquestionably, for me, the Celebrity Silhouette is one of the very best mass market, mega liners on the seas. She's a gem. And if I had to list my 5 favorite features for the 1030-ft long ship (that's 1 foot shorter than the original Queen Elizabeth & 5 less than the France), they might be in this order
1. Friendliness & helpfulness with that attentiveness of the staff & crew--- everyone works, helps & they follow through too.
2. Overall design of the ship --- well planned, thoughtful design, lots of extra & even little touches
3. Décor of the ship --- simply stunning, straight off the pages of some glossy decorative magazine
4. Variety in dining venues day & night --- from the gorgeous Murano to the unique Lawn Grill & Q & to some of the best hamburgers up at the Mast Bar Grill & to a healthy choice venue that's all salads, vegetables & those really good things
5. Care & maintenance --- everything shines, everything sparkles, everything in its place --- and that's a very good & commendable operation
For Michael, my good friend, cabin mate and now a veteran of a dozen cruises and having a keen eye and since, like beauty, cruise ship opinions are all in the eye of the beholder, his top 5 favorite features are:
1. The best casual dining area, the Oceanview Cafe, on all the seas: the arrangement, the flow, the wide openness & a really very good selection --- from Quiche to the over-easy eggs & much more.
2. The little touches like the Hideaway Lounge (aft on Deck 7) that's nothing more than a 24/7, self-service coffee bar --- a quick walk down the hall & then a really good cup of Java early in the morning or late at night --- no room service needed!
3. Variety in open-air deck spaces --- from broad areas to little hideaways, the big pool area to secluded top-deck nooks
4. Varied & smaller lunch venues, from the Masthead Bar (the greatest hamburgers & cheese burgers) & especially the Aqua Spa Café (for healthier, lighter options from grilled chicken salad to wild rice to Ahi Tuna)
5. Absolute friendliness, the sheer embrace, of the staff --- warm greetings, smiles, seemingly happy & genuinely happy. Our steward would run ahead & open the cabin door when we'd meet in the corridor.
And steppin' out! An Indonesian waiter wearing a white jacket with square orange-colored buttons & orange neck scarf, Mandaka was actually one of our waiters (the other 3 were more like assistants) and for no less than 8 courses in another of this ship's specialty restaurants, Qsine. Placed aft on Deck 5, it is the "trendiest" of all extra-tariff eateries here onboard: inverted, shaded chandeliers, muted colors, green grass placemats, soft New Age music & floor-to-ceiling windows facing onto the seas. A bit of an actor, Mandaka tells us, "Each course here is a journey. You will be traveling & exploring foods". There's no traditional menu, as a beginning, but you order from a large, glowing Ipad (and then your choices are flashed directly to Mandaka). Literally from soup to nuts, there's 20 categories, but often with multiple items in each & the final total might be 50 or 60 or maybe 75 items in all. And so altogether, the complete meal is huge. There's the likes of Disco Shrimp, Taj Mahal (Indian, of course), Persian Herbal, Meatball Trilogy, Popcorn Fish (served in a movie theater-popcorn cardboard box) and, even more unique, Sushi Lollipop and a concoction called Cheese & Martini. It all goes, it seems, on and on --- and on. Finally, on a large plate & under a huge silver lid, a twistable Rubric cube is unveiled and it contains 9 sides naming, yes, 9 desserts (I had the do-it-yourself cupcakes, complete with squeeze-on icings & delivered in leather-covered lunch box, followed by chilled chocolate balls on tall sticks that are selected from an ice-cycle filled serving tray). Yes, razz-mattaz! And, yes, Qsine is truly a journey, an experience! |
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News Desk! 
A large group of international salvage companies are being asked to make proposals on salvaging the 114,000-ton Concordia. A decision is to be reached by late March. |
Keeping the kitchens busy! 
The Bistro Café aboard the ultra luxurious Crystal Serenity & Crystal Symphony normally closed at 6 each evening. Now, the Café aboard each ship will offer food & snacks until midnight. |
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 Changing places!
Word is that the charter by the Japanese Peaceboat Organization of the 39,000-ton, 1965-built Oceanic is being dropped. Instead, the Organization will charter the 35,200-ton, 1981-constructed Ocean Dream. While the former ship is best known for her 20 years with the Home Lines, the latter is the onetime Tropicale, Carnival Cruise Lines' first brand new ship (and later the Costa Tropicale, Pacific Star and lastly Ocean Dream for Spain's Pullmantur Cruises, a company partly owned by Royal Caribbean). Otherwise, the fate of the aged Oceanic is unknown. |
Gala occassion! 
Along with an extraordinary 1,200 others, on Wednesday evening Jan 23rd, I attended the reopening of the South St Seaport Museum, closed for almost a year due to huge financial problems. All new components now of course, including management, and so recognized maybe only 5 people there (well, considering I had the "exalted" title of Curator of Ocean Liners there until last year & helped do the exhibit on the interior furnishings of the legendary liner Normandie). Lots of Wall St types (with Gucci loafers, tailored suits, etc) and many other City types, who I suspect, are linked to uptown's Museum of the City of New York, now the flagship partner of the Seaport. But managed for about a minute or two to meet the new Director, Susan Henshaw Jones, a very attractive lady who is charming & vivacious & expectedly high energy. |
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - South America bound!
A large, evocatively colorful poster for Royal Mail Lines, a British passenger ship firm that traded between the UK and the East Coast of South America including Rio & Buenos Aires, sold recently for $850. |
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Ocean Liner History - Eighty years ago!
The Depression had not reached devastating but international proportions by the winter of 1932. After a year's construction, work on the 1,018-ft long Queen Mary, building at the John Brown Shipyard at Clydebank in Scotland, abruptly stopped. Some 4,500 workers were laid-off, only 50 engineers & mostly watch men were retained and all while the intended 81,000-ton ship became quiet, lonely, a nesting for harbor birds. Rust formed on the hull of the great ship that would be the pride of the nation as well as the flagship of Cunard. |
 Changing schedules!
An untimely strike at Fincantieri's shipyard at Genoa will delay the brand new Riviera by a month. Her maiden cruise has been re-scheduled from Apr 24th to May 16th. The 66,000-ton ship, carrying up to 1250 passengers, is a sister to the highly praised Marina, completed last spring & recently voted World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society's "Ship of the Year - 2011" |
More changing schedules! 
The maiden world cruise for the 3,100-passenger Azura set for next January from Southampton has been scrapped. Instead, the huge, 115,000-ton ship will make UK-Caribbean cruises. |
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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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
Veendam - Bermuda (7 Night)
Jun 3, 2012 - Call for Currant Rates
Queen Mary 2 - Independence Day Cruise
July 1, 2012 - Call for Currant Rates
Queen Mary 2 - Canada / New England (11 Nights)
Sep 21, 2012 - Call for Currant Rates
*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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About Bill Miller 
Bill Miller is an international authority on the subject of ocean liners & cruise ships --- from those "floating palaces" of yesteryear to the current generation of cruise ships, the "floating resorts". Called "Mr. Ocean Liner," he has written some 80 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 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 450 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 Super Liners, 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 America, 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, deputy director of the New York Harbor Festival, served 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 1,500 miniature ship models, most of them being passenger ships.
By 2011, 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. In 2011, he hosted Cinematic Crossings: Ocean Liners on the Big Screen, a 5-day film festival at Manhattan's Lincoln Center. Currently, he spends some 200 days a year lecturing onboard ocean liners & cruise ships.
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!
Busy scribbling! Our good friends Anthony Cooke & John Maxtone-Graham have new titles out on the shelves. London-based Anthony has just released Favourite British Liners with 216 pages & 216 photos (96 of them in color). Check through Mainmast Books in the UK. Meanwhile, Manhattan-homeported John has just finished a new title on the immortal Titanic. It was published by W W Norton & Company.
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.
Great Passenger Ships 1910-1920
It was an age of evolution, when size and speed were almost the ultimate considerations. 'Bigger was said to be better' and ship owners were not exempted from the prevailing mood. While the German four-stackers of 1897-06 and then Cunard's brilliant Mauretania & Lusitania of 1907 led the way to larger and grander liners. White Star Line countered by 1911 with the Olympic, her sister Titanic and a near-sister, the Britannic. The French added the France while Cunard took delivery of the beloved Aquitania. But the Germans won out -- they produced the 52,000-ton Imperator and a near-sister, the Vaterland, the last word in shipbuilding and engineering prior to the First World War. They and their sister, the Bismarck, remained the biggest ships in the world until 1935.
But other passenger ships appear in this decade --- other Atlantic liners, but also ships serving on more diverse routes: Union Castle to Africa, P&O to India and beyond, the Empress liners on the trans-Pacific run. We look at a grand age of maritime creation, ocean-going superlative, but also sad destruction in the dark days of the First War. It was, in all ways, a fascinating period.
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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