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Latest News for Members from Regent Seven Seas Cruises
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Regent Seven Seas Cruises has made a very special offer to members of the World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society for select voyages.
In order to learn more about this offer members must call Beth Schmidt at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009 and mention the special offer for members.
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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
August 13, 2012
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Greetings!
Please remember we have two great voyages currently awaiting members who wish to join us for a hosted cruise, with more to follow;
First we welcome you to join us for a celebration of our friend, and maritime artist, Stephen Card's birthday aboard a short 4-day cruise aboard Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess departing on October 27th, 2012
Next we have a wonderful cruise to benefit a great cause aboard the new Celebrity Reflection on January 26, 2013. This 7-Night WOCLS cruise will benefit the American Cancer Society a cause very close to the heart of our friend and writer (and former cruise line executive) Art Sbarsky. This very worthwhile project will see a portion of your fare donated to this cause and will be hosted by Art. The cruise will have many perks, benefits and of course great rates.
For either cruise please call our coordinator Beth Schmidt at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009 for more details details. still looking for a great cruise experience in 2012 and want to know more about this special offer for members, please call Beth at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009. She will be happy to give you all the details.
Sincerely!
Tom Cassidy
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Airlines - Less worries!
Latest news is that lost & misplaced bags on airlines is now less & less possible, Better equipment, say in scanning destination bar codes, has been a major contributing factor. Lost bags now have a 98%-plus recovery factor.
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Lido deck remedy!
The biggest complaint poolside on cruise liners, so it seems, is passengers reserving deck chairs with towels, paper back books, even cabin keys. Some chairs actually go unused for hours. Carnival is responding -- deck stewards are now to place a 40-minute holding period & then remove personal items.
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Cruising - A different kind of cruising!
On Tuesday night, August 7th, I was a guest narrator aboard a 2-hr North River cruise -- that's the Hudson River -- in fabulous New York harbor. We departed from the South St Seaport along the lower East River & then rounded Manhattan island and sailed north (aboard the 500-capacity Zephyr), passing the new World Trade Center, the Chelsea piers, Luxury Liner Row, Riverside Drive & then hugging the Jersey side on the return, passing Edgewater, Weehawken, Hoboken & Jersey City. This trip was sponsored by Working Harbor, a fine organization that brings the Port & maritime subjects to the public. It might not have been a "real" ocean voyage, but the mood, being on the water & certainly the sights was just like a first class ticket.
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Looking forward to next year!
Have you made your cruise plans for 2013? You might like to join me on a modern-day "floating palace?" As you know, I lecture about the great liners and ocean travel of yesteryear, the age of the "floating places." I consider Crystal Cruises' Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony to be true "floating palaces." Without question, they continue the sheer glamour - the elegance, great comfort, and style - of those glorious bygone days. So, I am thrilled to share with you that I will be sailing on three Crystal Cruises next year:
May 23-June 4, 2013, North Atlantic Explorer, from NewYork to Reykjavik, aboard Crystal Symphony (v.3212). The 12-day adventure begins with a shipboard overnight in NY and calls in Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, St. John's and concludes with an overnight in Reykjavik.
November 2-16, 2013, America's First Cities, from New York to Miami aboard Crystal Symphony (v.3228). The 14-day voyage opens with a shipboard overnight in NY and calls at Baltimore, Wilmington (NC), Jacksonville, Turks & Caicos, Curacao, Aruba and concludes in Miami, Florida.
December 21- January 5, 2013, Tropical Holiday, round-trip from Miami aboard Crystal Serenity (v.3332) The 15-day holiday celebrates Christmas and New Year's, with calls in Turks & Caicos; Curacao; Santa Marta and Cartagena, Columbia; Roatan Island, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; and Key West.
As cruise aficionados like me, I'm sure you'll find Crystal's days at sea to be the best treat of all. Please join me and return to the Golden Age aboard any (or all!) of these grand voyages in 2013. To plan and book your cruise vacation, please contact your WOCLS Cruise Coordinator.
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New Jersey - On the waterfront!
The classic, 1905-built ferryboat Binghamton was retired from Hoboken-Lower Manhattan service in November 1967. She was then the last of the Eire-Lackawanna Railroad ferries on that trans-Hudson route. It took 20 years before ferryboat services on the Lower Hudson were revived (by Port Imperial Ferries). Even the Hoboken rail & ferry terminal has been carefully and lovingly restored. The Binghamton found further life but at Edgewater, New Jersey (just south of the George Washington Bridge & opposite West 125th Street in Manhattan) as a floating restaurant. She was hugely popular & I often visited for a good meal & a good dose of nostalgia. I rode the Binghamton many times in the 1950s and '60s, and was aboard the rather tearful final voyage. But since 2007, the old ferry has faced hard times -- bankrupt, closed, unwatched and even vandalized. Lately, she has been collapsing into the Hudson & creates a sad sight. Recent word is that she will soon be removed. A link to a golden age in New York harbor history will be severed.
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Next step!
NCL is now charging for infants under 2 years of age. |
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - Nice visuals!
A set of 9 black & white photos from the famed Queen of Bermuda, which sailed between 1933 and 1966 on the Furness Bermuda Line's service between New York & Bermuda, sold recently for $600.
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Ocean Liner History - Blazing Glory!
Eighty years ago, in 1932, Italy's largest and fastest liner, the 51,000-ton Rex, entered service. Indeed a "floating palace," she made regular runs between Naples, Genoa, Villefranche, Gibraltar and New York. The first class fares for the 10 days from Naples to New York in 1937 was priced from $255.
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Future plans! 
Rumor is that Royal Caribbean might order a new ship or two before the end of the year. One might even be for subsidiary Celebrity Cruises. RCI already has two of the 150,000-ton, 5,000-berth "Project Sunshine" in the works. It is further rumored that one of these Sunshine ships will be used for periodic New York cruising, replacing the current 3,600-berth, 2000-built Explorer of the Seas.
plus downturns in segments of the European market, is forecasting losses for at least half of 2012.
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Ocean & Cruise News
Current & Past Issues Members can download a PDF of current and past issues using the following links
OCN-Jul 2012 OCN-Aug 2012
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
Queen Mary 2 - Canada / New England (11 Nights)
Sep 21, 2012 - Call for Current Rates
Caribbean Princess - Bermuda (4 Nights)
Stephen Card's Birthday Celebration
Oct 27, 2012 - Call for Current Rates
Celebrity Reflection - Caribbean (7 Nights)
WOCLS cruise benefitting the American Cancer Society
with Art Sbarsky
Caribbean (7 Nights)
January 29, 2013 - Call for Current 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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 WOCLS E News & Renewals
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