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WOCLS Cruise Coordinator
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LONG TIME MEMBER JERRY DAVIS TAKES OVER AS WOCLS CRUISE COORDINATOR
I would like to take a moment to thank my friend, and long time member Jerry Davis for graciously agreeing to become the official coordinator of all of our upcoming WOCLS "Hosted" Cruises.
Choosing an agency partner is never an easy task and when you're President of an organization that represents thousands of members, many of who themselves are agents and are also your friends, this becomes increasingly difficult.
Yet to have these cruises, which so many love, operate requires us to choose an agency as members must book into one group under the line's rules to receive the perks we provide.
While I know of several dear friends who would have stepped up to the plate, I was very pleased that Jerry responded to my request and agreed to handle this task.
Bill Miller and I have personally known Jerry for decades and while he is President of Alice Travel, I have always shared a great relationship with him.
Prior to calling on him to handle this task I had thought of asking him to host a cruise (booked elsewhere) because he brings far more to the table than what he does 9-5pm
Jerry is an avid ship lover with countless cruise experiences under his belt. He is also and avid photographer and world traveller. I believe members will thoroughly enjoy what he has to offer over and above his services, and hope he will share some of his great photos with us on our Facebook page.
.........Tom
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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
April 22, 2013
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Greetings!
My friend, and maritime artist, Stephen J, Card will be joining me as co-host of a very special WOCLS cruise aboard Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam on December 8, 2013.
In March of 2014 Ocean & Cruise News writer and former cruise line executive Art Sbarsky will be hosting his second "Relay for Life" cruise to benefit the American Cancer Society aboard Oceania Riviera.
Come join Art aboard this beautiful ship, for a fantastic time, while helping a great cause!
I hope you have the time in your schedule and will consider joining us. There will be special rates and events on both of these cruises and we are sure to have a great time.
A Flyer On the Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Can Be Found Here. Please Invite Your Family & Friends!
For more information please
call (800) 229-2542
Your Friend & Editor!
Tom Cassidy
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 First Appearance!
Germany's largest cruise line and part of the huge Carnival group as well, AIDA Cruises has announced its very first US-based cruise operation - from Miami, beginning in winter 2014-15. The cruise schedule, destined for Caribbean ports, will be run by the 1,600-bed AIDAvita. AIDA is primarily a German-speaking cruise line but also comes under the ship management of another Carnival held company, Costa Cruises.
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Cuba - Off the beaten track!  Canadian-based Cuba Cruise is offering 7-night "Circle Cuba" cruises aboard the chartered Greek cruise ship Louis Cristal. Cruises begin at Havana or Montego Bay and will include 4 stops in Cuba.
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 Reopening!
After closing to cruise ships following a local outbreak of gastro-intestinal disease, Grand Turk reopened (to Carnival & Princess ships as starters) on Apr 8th. |
Down Under! 
The Oosterdam as well as the Volendam are headed for Australia & more cruising there. The Oosterdam carries 2,388 passengers; the smaller Volendam has a capacity of 1,837. |
Israel - End of the line!
Operated recently by Haifa-headquartered Caspi Cruises, the 16,700-ton Venus has just gone for scrap. The 790-passenger is being demolished close by, at Aliaga in Turkey. Built back in 1971 as the Southward, owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, she was then a development of NCL's initial Sunward, Skyward & Starward - all pioneers in 3-7 day Florida-Caribbean cruising. We cruised on her in 1990, but by then out on the West Coast, on a 3-night voyage from Los Angeles to Catalina & Ensenada. She was a classic, mass market ship. Sold in 1996, she was replaced by larger, superior, more competitive ships in the booming US cruise market, she became the Seawing for discount, UK-based cruise operator Airtours. Later, she passed to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines, becoming the Perla and later Aegean Pearl. She went on charter to the Israelis in 2010, running Eastern Med cruises from Haifa. Her final year was clouded in financial difficulties, however, and so an uncertain future. She was laid-up, but under the name Rio in the very end. Now, only the ex-Starward and ex-Skyward remain of NCL's initial fleet of some 45 years ago.
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - Sitting in the smoking room!
A striped armed chair from the Holland America liner Statendam, dating from 1957, sold recently for $675. An attractive piece, the chair was classic 1950s European modern, part of an era now dubbed "Mid Century" and becoming more and more popular.
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Ocean Liner History - Winter service!
Fifty years ago, in the winter of 1963, the German liner Hanseatic cast off from Fort Lauderdale on a series of sun-seeking Caribbean cruises. One of them was a 5-nighter - to Kingston & Port au Prince. Minimum fare was $150. The ship's owners, the Hamburg Atlantic Line, enthusiastically advertised the 30,000-ton ship as having "All staterooms with private facilities ... 2 tiled pools ... 3 orchestras ... unsurpassed cuisine & service."
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Another German operator!
The German cruise market is now the 2nd largest in the world, only surpassed by the huge North American market. TUI, a joint venture with Royal Caribbean, is building a pair of 99,000-ton ships, Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 4, that will be quite innovative. A bar & 2 restaurants will be built over the stern and these will resemble a multi-faceted diamond. The ships will also have a glass-bottom lounge, a lap pool, performance hall, 12 bars & 11 restaurants and hammocks on balconied cabins.
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Turkey - Another ending!
It seems we are reporting more endings to older cruise ships. Under the temporary name of Antic, the former Fairsky of Sitmar Cruises has just been delivered to scrappers at Aliaga in Turkey. Built in the south of France in 1984, this 46,000-tonner was the very first newbuild for Sitmar since their prior liners were all rebuilds (such as the Fairsea & Fairwind, which had been Cunarders, the Carinthia & Sylvania). Oddly, however, the 1,200-passenger Fairsky was built with steam turbine machinery rather than more efficient, more contemporary diesels. Increasingly, this made her expensive as well as troublesome. When Princess bought Sitmar in 1988, she was renamed Sky Princess. In 2000, she was swung over to P&O Cruises, but to their Australian division and redubbed Pacific Sky. Unable to find her proper place, so it seemed, she was sold in 2006 to Spain's Pullmanturs, becoming their Sky Wonder for Mediterranean cruising. Again, she was not successful - nor an operational success. In 2009, she was renamed Atlantic Star for a new project for Pullmanturs: running cruises for the Portugese from Lisbon as well as Madeira. More mechanical & operational problems followed. The ship was soon laid-up at Marseilles, but without any buyers in sight. Her varied career is now over.
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 Growth & Development!
Interesting how Windstar, owned by Xanterra Parks & Resorts, has now doubled in size. The three, recently upgraded & modernized Windstar "sail cruisers" are soon to be joined by the similar-sized, 208-bed Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit & Seabourn Legend. Meanwhile, Seabourn itself - now largely under the keen, watchful eye of Holland America out in Seattle - is seemingly content with their 3 remaining ships: Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn & Seabourn Quest. But rumors are strong that Seabourn is looking to build at least a 4th new ship & so reinforcing the Seabourn deluxe product. |
Ocean & Cruise News
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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
Crystal Symphony
New York to Miami (14-Nights)
Visiting Baltimore,MD; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Jacksonville, FL; Turks & Caicos, Grand Turk; Curacao/Willemstad;Oranjestad, Aruba, Miami, FL
Sailing: November 2, 2013
Exclusive WOCLS Events with Bill Miller
- Special WOCLS Q&A with Bill Miller
- Welcome cocktail reception with Bill Miller for our guests
- Bill Miller will host a dinner in a specialty restaurant with our group
Special Book Now Fares (book by 4/30/13):
You will receive a shipboard credit of $250.00 per person
Outside Stateroom from - $4450*
Balcony Stateroom from - $6060*
Suitex from - $9700*
*Rates are cruise only, per person, based on double occupancy. Government Fees of $685 are not included
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Oceania Riviera
Sailing roundtrip from Miami and visiting Tortola; St. John's; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; Gustavia and Miami March 28, 2014 (10-Nights)
Exclusive WOCLS Events with Host Art Sbarksy
Special WOCLS Q&A with Art Sbarsky as he takes you through his career in the cruise industry.
This is a Fundraising Cruise for Art's favorite charity.
The American Cancer Society.
- Welcome cocktail reception with Art Sbarsky for our guests
- Art Sbarsky will host a dinner in a specialty restaurant with our group
- Includes airfare from most Oceania gateways or an air credit
- Includes a special $150 per cabin shipboard credit
Inside cabin from - $2899*
Window cabin from - $3199*
Balcony cabin from - $3499
Suite cabin from - $4999*
*Rates are cruise only, per person, based on double occupancy. Includes government fees
CRUISES MUST BE BOOKED WITH THE WOCLS GROUP
COORDINATOR TO PARTICIPATE IN WOCLS EVENTS!!
For more information please
call (800) 229-2542
cruises@wocls.org
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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
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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!
 Great Atlantic Liners of the 20th Century in Color (co-authored with Anton Logvinenko; Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK. $29.95
 Ile de France And Liberte - France's Premier Post War Liners The latest in the Classic Liners series evokes the glamour and ambience of two of the most beloved liners of the 1950s Île de France, completed in 1927, was a hugely famous prewar liner, a ship with unique style and character. She was said to offer "the cheeriest way to cross the Atlantic." After wartime service as a valiant troopship, she was restored with what Paris fashion calls a "new look," relaunched in 1949. The Liberté was built in 1930, originally the German Europa, but ceded to France as reparations in 1946. She was de-Germanized and restyled in French Line luxury as the Liberté, recommissioned in 1950. The Île de France sailed until 1958; the Liberté until 1961, and this illustrated book concentrates on their heydays in the glorious, post-World War II years, when they were the largest and grandest liners under the French flag. Both ships were famed for their service and onboard ambience, but most especially for their cooking, and they were said to be the best-fed liners on the Atlantic...$25.00
 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)
The Cunard Yanks (co-authored with Ian Wright; pending but due 2012)
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