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| Tom Cassidy Updates | |
REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES UNVEILS 2013-2014 WINTER COLLECTION
Free Post-Cruise Luxury Hotel Package When Booked by Dec.31, 2012
Regent Seven Seas Cruises announced its new Winter Collection, featuring voyages from Nov. 2013 - May 2014 to South America, Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean and Alaska. All sailings include two-for-one fares, free air and bonus savings of up to $15,000 per suite when booked by December 31, 2012.
As part of the introduction, the ultra-luxury line is offering a complimentary one-night, post-cruise luxury hotel package on all 2013-2014 Winter Collection itineraries booked by December 31, 2012. Additional collection highlights include three new ports, five Grand Voyages with exclusive amenities, and special offers on pre- and post-cruise land programs.
Recognized as The Most Inclusive Luxury Cruise Experience™, all Regent Seven Seas Cruises sailings also include all-suite accommodations, 97 percent with private balconies, gourmet cuisine, premium spirits and fine wines, free shore excursions, gratuities, and a pre-cruise luxury hotel stay, at no additional cost.
2012-2013 Winter Collection Highlights
From November 2013 through June 2014, the all-suite, all-balcony Seven Seas Voyager visits the South Pacific and Asia with stops in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, China, Japan, and India offering guests a variety of itineraries ranging from 10- to 136-nights, including four Grand Voyages.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers aspecially priced three-night pre-or post-cruise land program for $499 per person on select South Pacific and Asia itineraries. These include Angkor Wat, Beijing and the Great Wall of China, Hong Kong, Sydney, as well as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, two new land programs.
Seven Seas Mariner returns to South America where guests can sail along the mighty Amazon, cruise around Cape Horn, explore the Panama Canal and visit the largest Magellanic Penguin colony in the world. Sailings range from 10- to 70-nights, including the coveted "Circle South America" Grand Voyage.
In March, the 700-guest, all-suite, all-balcony ship heads back to the Mediterranean with a grand crossing from Rio de Janeiro to Barcelona featuring maiden calls in Dakar, Senegal and Tangier, Morocco.
The newly refurbished, all-suite Seven Seas Navigator explores the tropics from November 2013 to April 2014 with 16 departures roundtrip from Miami to the Eastern and Western Caribbean ranging from seven- to 24-nights including a maiden call in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The ship then departs Miami on April 21, 2014 for an 18-night voyage to San Francisco transiting the Panama Canal to begin its highly popular cruises through the natural beauty of Alaska.
All Grand Voyages offer an array of exclusive amenities such as free Business Class air, an upgraded pre-cruise hotel stay with ground transfers, visas, internet access, and more.
The American Queen Steamboat Company today announced it will raise fares beginning January 1, 2013, as a result of unprecedented demand for the upcoming second season of the American Queen. According to the operator of the 436-passenger riverboat, many of next year's sailings are selling out, particularly voyages between the paddlewheeler's homeport of Memphis and New Orleans. Overall bookings are up 300% compared to 2012 and the fare increase will be an average of $200 per guest per voyage.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Line's Queen Victoria on Tuesday December 13 to mark the fifth birthday of the ship, which The Duchess named in December 2007.
This will be the third occasion Her Royal Highness will have visited the ship. She will be escorted aboard by Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line, and Captain Peter Philpott, master of Queen Victoria. The ship's crew will line the three tiers of the Grand Lobby when The Duchess arrives, while embarking passengers will line the tiers for her departure.
While on board, The Duchess will witness the unveiling of a specially-commissioned portrait of her by noted Royal artist Richard Stone and will also meet 12 Prince's Trust apprentices who will have participated in the Trust's "Get into" work experience program. The Prince's Trust was founded in 1976 by The Prince of Wales with the mission to change young lives by developing key workplace skills for disadvantaged youth in the United Kingdom
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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
January 2, 2013
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Greetings!
HAPPY NEW YEAR !
As the new year begins I want to wish all our members and their families a happy and healthy New Year!
Wishing you all the best.
Your Friend & Editor!
Tom Cassidy
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 Belgium - On the move!
During a visit to Antwerp in the 1990s, we came across a moored passenger ship, used as a hotel & casino, and named Diamond Princess. I did some checking - she used to be one of the Norwegian Coastal Express steamers, the Haakon Jarl, built in 1952. Well, now it seems the 2,100-ton ship has been sold again - this time going to Moroccan buyers and eventually heading south.
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Change in plans!
Last October, a 16-night Med cruise out of Southampton onboard the 2,000-berth Queen Victoria had to be cancelled. Urgent repairs were needed on one of the 90,000-ton liner's Azipods.
Onboard the Queen Mary 2 on Christmas Day!
Glitter & gold! The ship looking especially gorgeous - lights, carols and an enormous Christmas tree in the lobby. Captain's Service (with more carols) in the Royal Court Theatre - and we all prayed to God and for the Queen! An excellent Christmas show after dinner: dancing elves, carols with trumpets, sentimental readings & even falling snow.
Freedom voyage! Lunch today with a lady who escaped the Nazis in 1940, even after the War had started, went into hiding, made her way across Europe and finally finished-up in neutral Lisbon. Being Jewish, her life was saved - she finally managed to get passage on a rare wartime passenger voyage to New York aboard a Portugese ship, the Nyassa, which had neutrality status.
Taking great care! Cunard has imposed more visible & stricter rules to avoid the dreaded Norovirus. There's little if any self-service, for example, in the Kings Court Restaurant, condiments have been removed from tables & teams of cleaners are almost constantly wiping down facilities & furniture. The virus has become one of the biggest problems for the cruise industry - yesterday, the Crown Princess reported over 100 cases and, just last month, P&O's Oriana had 417 cases out of 1,700 passengers. The virus knows no limits, of course, and can strike any ship, any line, any location. (PS: Later today, precautions are heightened - even all doors on Deck 7 are opened to "flood" the ship with fresh air. Soft breezes fill the ship -- it has all become like some tropical P&O liner, say in the 1920s, on a voyage to sizzling India. Armies of crew are wiping, cleaning, sanitizing. Even a single use of the those leatherette-covered menus in the dining room - ordering even dessert at the beginning - and of course salt, pepper, etc all removed. And strongly suggested, even urged, that we wash our hands up to a dozen times a day.)
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 Dubai - Changing hands!
Just before Christmas, it was reported that the 70,000-grt Queen Elizabeth 2, waiting in Dubai since November 2008 for conversion to a hotel & apartments, had been sold to Chinese buyers for $30 million. The 43-yr old ship was, so it was reported, to be scrapped and that 20 Chinese crew had already boarded the ship. Then came rumors that she was in fact being sold to Singapore interests for further use. Meanwhile, an on-again, off-again plan to make the 963ft-long ship a moored hotel in London was back in the running. All very intereesting for this much loved ship -- but for now, stay tuned! |
A change in the wind!
Apart from the likes of Southampton, Dover and London-Tilbury, Fred Olsen Lines - which caters largely to a British market - is now also offering cruises from Portsmouth. They're using the Boudicca, a 22,000 tonner that has had a slew of former names beginning with Royal Viking Sky.
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Liverpool - Great Maritime history!
Liverpool, the great British port of ships, ship building & home of the Beatles, is still going - and going quite strong. Involved mostly in container cargo shipping these ships & some slight cruising, the city was named recently as "top port of the world".
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London - Famous name!
Several times in the 1990s during visits to beautiful London, I gave talks to the local Ocean Liner Society. Their meeting venue was often a lounge aboard the vintage, twin funnel, 1933-built steamer Queen Mary. Built to serve on Scotland's Clyde River, she had to become the Queen Mary II for many years after Cunard commissioned their famous, far larger, Atlantic liner. The smaller ship finished up on the Thames, serving as a reception & restaurant ship. She was to have been sold last year to French buyers and towed away, but now comes word that the deal failed and the old ship is lying in the London Docks, at Tilbury. Again, she is for sale.
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Memory lane!
The Binghamton was a Hudson River ferry that commuted between Hoboken & Barclay Street in Lower Manhattan. Beginning back in the 1950s and for 25 cents, I made the crossing dozens & dozens of times. It was operated by the Eire-Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, when old ferryboats & their daily operations had become uneconomic. I was on the very last run, the red-suited Hoboken High School Band included, on Thanksgiving eve. Pure nostalgia, chats of bygone days, maybe a few tears as well. The 1905-built Binghamton proved the last survivor of that Hoboken-based fleet --- she went on, beginning in 1975, to become a restaurant moored at Edgewater, farther north along the Hudson and opposite 125th Street in Manhattan. Often, I went back for dinner --- sipping the calm chowder & sampling the fried shrimp specials, but also the memories, my youth on the River & watching ships of every type and size. Sadly, the restaurant operation went bust in 2008 and the old ferry slipped --- and very quickly --- into neglect and later even began to sink. She's now to be demolished & so a photo visit today. And how melancholy --- decks collapsing, cracks in the hull, one end submerged, windows broken and even touches of the inevitable graffiti. The shoreside entry is boarded shut, a thick lock dangling to all but conclude the scene. It is too, I think, the utter silence --- the commotion, chatter & even laughter of passengers & then diners now replaced only by the sluggish lapping of River waters against that crumbling hull & the cry of the occasional harbor bird. Goodbye dear Binghamton --- and thanks for all those summer trips to & from Manhattan!
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - Sailing in Style!
The French Line had an impeccable reputation for grand crossings of the Atlantic. They had ambience, fine service & the very best food of all. An evocative poster of their liner Paris from the 1920s sold recently for $3,900.
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Ocean Liner History - Business Expansion!
The Orient Line, which operated the very popular Marco Polo, was thinking of expanding back in 1998. With one ship, they were very successful - carrying 33,000 passengers & making $17 million in profits. They were bought that same year, for $54 million, by the far larger, commercially stronger Norwegian Cruise Lines. In a flash: The plan, also in '98, was to buy Cunard's Vistafjord and make her the second Orient ship.
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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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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
We are currently putting together our cruises to follow our Jan 26, 2013 Celebrity Reflection cruise. Please stay tuned, or...
Call out WOCLS Group Coordinator Beth Schmitt at (800) 828 4813 Ext 1009 for details or help with any other cruise.
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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
Join or Renew Here
If you receive both...we ask you to please help us keep renewal mailing costs down. Renew today before we need to send you a notice.
In either case you may join or 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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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...
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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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