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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
September 24, 2012
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Greetings!
We still have space aboard 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 details please call our coordinator Beth Schmidt at (800) 828 4813 ext 1009
Sincerely!
Tom Cassidy
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Bangladesh - Last Pieces!
It is reported that the 12,000-ton Discovery Sun, built in 1968 as the Freeport and long popular on the Florida-Bahamas overnight cruise trade, has been demolished completely at Chittagong. In her time, the 500-passenger ship was the newest, largest and finest passenger ship on that short-haul trade to Nassau & Freeport.
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Britain - Maritime Casualty!
Britain's oldest shipping company, Stephenson Clarke Ltd, has gone under in the country's double-dip depression. Newcastle based, the last ship in the fleet was sold off in July. Stephenson Clarke dated from 1730, from the reign of King George II, and has spanned the ages -- from sail to steam to modern-day containerization.
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Cargo - High & Low Points!
Several large, internationally-trading cargo lines are facing hard, often very tough financial times. The latest to hit rough financial waters is the big Shipping Corporation of India. Others such as France's giant CMA-CGM are tightening their belts, Japan's Sanko Line has filed for bankruptcy and even COSCO, China Ocean Shipping Co is facing trading downturns & losses.
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Fincantieri - Added business!
The big Italian shipbuilder has been contracted to build 30 caissons (with a combined weight of nearly 12,000 tons) for use in the refloating of the capsized Costa Concordia. Fincantieri is facing hard times, especially struggling with a noted loss of cruise ship construction orders.
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Unique voyaging!
This year, Hapag's 184-berth Hanseatic made a 3-week passage across the Arctic from Nome, Alaska to Reykjavik, Iceland. Unique, different & adventurous, it was also highly successful. Next year, Hapag plans a 2-ship passage with each going in the opposite direction.
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 India - New Addition!
The rising Indian middle class has spawned more & more local travel as well as another cruise line. The Amet Shipping Co, based in Chennai, has purchased a ship from Malaysia's Star Cruises that will be used as a cruise ship as well as maritime training school. Renamed Amet Majesty, she is cruising from Indian ports to Sri Lanka. |
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New York - Port Development!
A possible auto terminal is in the works for the Brooklyn waterfront, at the foot of 39th Street. The facility would handle the likes of huge Grimaldi Lines auto carriers, ships with 5-8,000 capacities.
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - Vive le France!
A 27-inch long poster print of the illustrious French super liner Normandie, a extraordinarily luxurious liner completed in 1935, sold recently for $575. Created by French artist Marin Marie, the scene depicts the 83,000-ton, three-funnel liner departing from New York.
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Ocean Liner History - Looking Back!
Although normally used on the San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu run, the 760-passenger Lurline of the Matson Line was sent on alternative cruise itineraries in the late 1960s. In November 1969, the grand, two-funnel liner set from San Francisco's Pier 35 on a 28-day cruise to Los Angeles, San Diego, the Panama Canal, Curacao, La Guaira, Trinidad, Barbados, Martinique, St Thomas, San Juan, Port au Prince, Kingston, Balboa, and Acapulco.
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 Adventures ahead!
P&O will offer 3 long, world cruises in 2014. They will be aboard the Arcadia, Aurora & Adonia.
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Changing Nationalities!
The sale of France's only cruise line, Compagnie du Ponant or Ponant Cruises, has all but been completed. The new owners are Britain's Bridgepoint Investment Group. |
 New Entry!
The 2,632 ??? Andrea has been sitting in lay-up in recent years, following the collapse of its owners, Croatian-owned Elegant Cruises. She was a rebuild, having been the 1960-built Harald Jarl and part of Norway's Hurtigruta coastal fleet. Now, the 117-bed ship has re-entered service as the Serenissima for newly created Premier Cruises. She'll cruise the Med, Norway & around the British Isles.
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 Name Selection!
Following her sister Royal Princess, the second of the 141,000-ton, 3,600-bed ships will be named Regal Princess. Being built by Fincantieri in Italy, she will be delivered in 2014.
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Good Deed!
Last month, the giant 225,000-ton Allure of the Seas rescued 58 Haitians who were adrift in the eastern Caribbean.
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The Last 14 Days! 
The doorbell rings & it's the butler -- well, butler-ess -- a charming Filipina in white tie, tails & immaculate gloves. She arrives to introduce herself & jot down my preferences. Did I prefer green or dark grapes? Well, it is just the lap of luxury here on the yacht-like Silver Whisper. She says, "I am butlering!" Spaciousness is a byword here. I need a road map & that's just for the bathroom attached to my suite. The suite itself is huge, yes maybe even my own ballroom dance classes, and comes complete with a good-sized terrace. There's all the extras: 9 choices just for pillows, Bulgari toiletries & super soft Italian linens as well as towels. I could run a small country from the size of the desktop unit. And of course monogrammed stationary for those notes & letters. We were crossing the great North Atlantic -- two weeks from Southampton to New York but with some very nice diversions along the way: Plymouth, Waterford, Cobh, then across to St's John's, Sydney & Halifax. Cozy! We're two-thirds full -- 250 out of a max of 380. Americans dominate but the Brits are in a close second followed by an Aussie contingent. The staff is too divine -- very efficient, often flawless service blended with a soft friendliness. Amazingly, many remember me -- but that's very much a 6-star touch. It's that coming-back-to-a-good-hotel feel. The cruise director is an old friend (from Celebrity) while the hotel director hails, from of all places, from Linden, New Jersey (and of course not too far from my home in more northern Secaucus). Among the guests, it is a very friendly ship -- dinner at the same 6-seat table each evening, but different guests each day. I am sort of a host. Within a day, I've met or dined with guests from Houston, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Birmingham (the one in Alabama), Kingston (near London), Lincoln (not Nebraska but in northern England) and -- oops -- I can't forget Pittsburgh, Wales and of course Manhattan. So, I get to chat with a great variety of people (and let's forget lunchtime). Mostly, it is a "retired" ship -- ex-businessmen & assorted tycoons with their well manicured, designer hand-bagged wives in tow. And of course there's a contingent of singles. About 95% of the guests, and I am just guessing, are devoted Silversea repeaters. And in this deliberately relaxed & indulged floating world, there's only 3 formal nights out of 14. There's a great, up-to-date library & daily, oversized, printed-out versions of several top newspapers. And a huge DVD collection for in-suite viewing. All drinks & tips are included, but the tours, I feel, are a bit expensive ($199-299 seems to be the common denominator and many of these are only for half-day outings). Gold-plated crossing! In all, it was a silver-plated crossing on Silversea! |
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
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!
 Along the Hudson - luxury Liner Row in the 50's & 60's
In the 1950s and '60s, countless passenger liners called at New York and usually berthed at Luxury Liner Row along the City's West Side. The cast includes the Cunard Queens, the Ile de France & Liberte, United States, Independence, Gripsholm & Queen of Bermuda. It is a grand assemblage of great ships -- both large & small. $29.95
Great American Passenger Ships  The story of American passenger ships over the 20th century -- from the Leviathan to the Lurline, Santa Rosa & America to the brilliant United States. Interesting text accompanied by lots of black & white photos as well as color. $29.95.  Great Liners Story
A fascinating "little book" about the great liners, those floating palaces, of the 20th century -- from the grand German four-stackers to the age of the Oasis of the Seas. Mostly color in this hardcover book. $15.00.
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.....
I Was Born in Hoboken: Memories of the 1950s & '60s (Hoboken Historical Museum, Hoboken, NJ, due fall 2011)
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)
The Cunard Yanks (co-authored with Ian Wright; pending but due 2012)
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 WOCLS E News & Renewals
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