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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
July 4, 2013
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Due to traveling this week's news contains news clips from me, and an overview article on Cruising by Bill.
We hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful 4th of July
Your Friend & Editor!
Tom Cassidy
Ps If your schedule permits, please consider joining our group, hosted by maritime artist Stephen Card aboard Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam this December.
Full details can be found in the flyer attached below
A Flyer On the Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Can Be Found Here. Please Invite Your Family & Friends!
For more information please
call (800) 229-2542
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Carnival has announced that CEO Mickey Arison will step down from his position as CEO. He will be replaced by 12 year Board member Arnold W. Donald. Mr Arison will continue is his position as Chairman of the Board.
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Demand and Pricing!
NCL's newest ship, Norwegian Breakaway must have broken some kind of record by raising prices in one of its restaurants after only one cruise. The Ocean Blue eatery went from $35 to $49 for its second cruise. The old price will apparently be honored for passengers who had booked the restaurant online before the announcement.
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Royalty to Canada
Princess Cruises has announced its new ship, the Royal Princess, will sail four cruises from New York to New England and Canada in the fall of 2014. Four seven-day cruises are planned, starting in late September. Ports include: Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, Saint John and Halifax.
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 More Quantum News!
Royal Caribbean International has announced that Quantum of the Seas will be making its inaugural 8-night westbound transatlantic voyage from Southampton on November 2, 2014, arriving in the New York area at Cape Liberty Port, New Jersey, on November 10. Quantum will be followed by her sister-ship Anthem of the Seas in spring 2015 and RCI has signed a contract with the Meyer Werft shipyard to construct a third Quantum-class cruise ship for delivery in mid-2016.
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World Cruise 2015
Silversea Cruises has opened the books on its World Cruise 2015. This grandest of travel adventures will commence on 5 January 2015 in Los Angeles, when the elegant, all-suite Silver Whisper is set to embark on a 115-day epic voyage, calling on five continents, 30 countries and 50 unique destinations.
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The voyage begins!
Viking Cruises has announced that it has cut steel in the construction of its first ocean cruise vessel, Viking Star, marking a major development toward the company's ocean product. The steel cutting took place at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard outside Venice, Italy. Viking Star is scheduled to be delivered in early 2015, with maiden voyages beginning in April 2015. |
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CRUISING 2013 by Bill Miller
The North American cruise market is booming! Over 14 million passengers took cruises three years ago; by 2014, it will reach over 17 million. Yet, almost ironically, only 20% of American vacationers have ever taken a cruise. Overall, worldwide cruise passengers amounted to less than half the annual visitors to Las Vegas. Obviously, there is a tremendously large untapped cruise market. The cruise lines see this. Alone, in 2013, there are 28 new cruise ships on order. The mass-market cruise industry began to grow in serious numbers in the 1970s. Entire new companies with brand new, purposely-built cruise ships came on line - companies such as Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines. Americans began to see cruising as an ideal vacation and one with excellent value. Furthermore, the cruise lines themselves made "friends" with their previous rival, the airlines, and created the very appealing air-sea vacation. Passengers could fly, say, from wintery, snowy New York and join a ship hours later at warm, tropical Miami and then head off on a sea-going vacation of 3-14 days. Then there was the creation of theme cruises - on topics ranging from gardening to ballroom dancing, from investing to writing your own murder mystery - that appealed to passengers that might not otherwise sail. Third, there was the impact of the hugely popular TV seriesLove Boat. It portrayed cruising in a fun, often younger light and each episode, seen by 35 million Americans each week, was said to generate as much as $10 million in positive advertising for cruising and the cruise lines themselves. Since 1970, when only 500,000 vacationers took cruises, there has been over 2000% growth in American cruising. Expansion continued - and almost beyond expectation, even imagination. Some 40 new cruise ships debuted in the 1980s and then 80 new ships in the 1990s. Another 100 ships were added by the end of 2010. Carnival's rebuilt, 38,000-tonFestivale with 1,400 beds was the largest ship in Miami-Caribbean service in the late 1970s; today, it is the 225,000-ton sisters Oasis of the Seas & Allure of the Seas, each carrying up to 6,400 passengers. Six new cruise ships, including the likes of the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway, are being added in 2013. Afterward, there will be 13 more new ships coming into service in 2014-15. New cruise lines are also emerging, such as Viking River Cruises, which is adding deep-sea operations (Viking Ocean Cruises) and with as many as four 50,000-ton, high-end, luxury cruise ships. American passengers are generally profiled at 46 years of age with an annual income of $93,000. There has been consistent growth in the family market - two adults and an average of two children. North American travelers come from every state in the USA and from throughout Canada. The states producing the most cruise passengers in the USA includes the likes of California, New York, Florida, Arizona, New Jersey and Texas. American cruise lines had a 102% occupancy rate in 2012 and this despite the international recession and decline in spending on luxury items such as vacations. The primary reason has been discounting - and often massive discounting. Cruises have been offered from 50% reductions to as much as 75%. The offerings were so attractive and appealing that vacationers could do, as example, 4 nights to the Bahamas on theNorwegian Jade for $149, 7 nights crossing the Atlantic on theQueen Mary 2 for $499 and two weeks in the Mediterranean on the Celebrity Eclipse for $899. These offerings represent very appealing per diems of less than $100 per person per day. Internet sales have also allowed for many last-minute deals, filling ships just weeks before departure dates. "It becomes almost irresistible," said Michael Hadgis, who started cruising in 2007 and now has 12 voyages under his belt. "It is almost cheaper to cruise than to stay at home." Cruise lines offset often deep discounting with the concept that passengers come aboard and then spend money during the voyage. Onboard spending includes the likes of casinos, gift shops, bars, shore excursions and photography. These create added income for the cruise lines. Overall, Americans spend the most while, as a comparison, Europeans spend far less while cruising. Another appeal to cruising is itineraries. More and more, vacationers see cruising as the ideal way to travel, to see new lands and cities. It eliminates the likes of often costly hotels, finding restaurants and creating entertainment. "The overall cruise concept is the ideal package of just about everything," added Margaret Webster. "You go can go ashore, say, after breakfast and do an all-day tour and then be back in time to the ship for a nap, drinks, dinner and a show. It is all perfect!" And the cruise lines are reaching out to more as well as diverse ports. Myself, in recent years, I visited Ghana and remote Principe Island off West Africa on a Crystal Cruises' ship; more recently, I visited off-the-beaten-track Albania on a P&O cruise and later cruised the Norwegian fjords but in deep winter and for the chance to see the fabled Northern Lights. Even the ships themselves are more appealing. They are more and more floating resorts - and they offer just about every amenity. There's cell phone access, Internet cafes, WiFi Zones, rock-climbing walls, zip lines, bowling alleys, surfing pools, shopping malls, sports bars, multi-room villas, multiple theme restaurants and expansive spas. The Oasis of the Seashas an ice arena (for shows as well as passenger use) and an open-air diving arena. Cruising can also be an alternative to flying. Many American travelers have grown unhappy with airlines, their reduced onboard services and increased costs (including those for baggage) as well as the airport processes (including long, sometimes delayed waits in security checkpoints). "Air travel, even for short distances, has become less and less appealing," said Scott Mitchell. "I try to avoid flying these days. Going by ship is much nicer and more appealing." For North American cruise passengers, the Eastern Caribbean - including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and St Maarten -- remains the number one destination. The Western Caribbean - including Mexico, Jamaica and Grand Cayman - is second. Alaska is third while the Mediterranean has become fourth. The busiest US cruise embarkation ports are all in Florida and are Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades in first place, then Miami and then Port Canaveral. Other US ports are busy as well, such as New York, which sees 1 million cruise passengers per year. Interestingly, with the great growth in European cruising, Barcelona is currently the fourth busiest cruise port in the world. On shore, in the US, the cruise industry generates nearly $36 billion a year in economic benefits, the cruise lines spend $17 billion a year in goods and shoreside services and altogether the cruise industry creates 314,000 landside jobs. Overall, the Caribbean accounts for 34.4% of the entire world cruise market followed by 21.7% for the Mediterranean, 10.9% for Europe (excluding the Mediterranean), 5% for Australia & New Zealand, 4.8% for Alaska, 3.9% for South America and 3.4% for Asia. Other, diverse cruise markets account for 15.8%. Asia and Pacific cruise markets are seen as the next great areas of growth and especially for the largely untapped Chinese market. Since 2008, Australia cruising has increased by 155% and Asian cruising by 302%. Mega-cruise lines such as Carnival as well as Princess and Royal Caribbean are deploying ships to the Australian market while Royal Caribbean is assigning two large liners to regular cruising from Shanghai and Tianjin. Meanwhile, Princess is assigning two of its big liners to the Japanese market. Other markets are growing as well such as Brazil, which employed 18 cruise liners last winter (the Brazilian summer). MSC Cruises offers voyages from South Africa as another example while Star Cruises has regular itineraries from Mumbai in India. There are, of course, periodic shifts in cruise markets - such a political troubles in the Middle East and in Egypt, piracy off East Africa, downturns in European economies (such as Greece and Spain), and even last year's tragic, headline-making sinking of the Costa Concordia. The recent, much-publicized breakdown of the Carnival Triumph sent some negatives ripples through the industry as well. New ships will continue to add more amenities - be more exciting, more appealing. The 144,000-ton Norwegian Breakaway, for example, offers a cupcake shop and dance classes by members of New York City's famed Rockettes while the 167,000-ton Quantum of the Seas, due in fall 2014, will offer virtual balconies for inside cabins as well as a circus school and a showroom complete with bumper cars. "Cruising is very addictive. I've done 50 cruises in the past 15 years," said Richard Goldman. "It is the most wonderful vacation. I hope to do 50 more cruises!" |
Ocean & Cruise News
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The Sands of Alang - Peter Knego
DVD Video All regions
Running time: 60 minutes
$30.00 USD + 6.95 priority mail shipping in the U.S. ($8.00 airmail for overseas) and 7.5% sales tax for California residents
The follow up to my first Alang documentary, ON THE ROAD TO ALANG, THE SANDS OF ALANG is about my second and third pilgrimages to the shipbreaking yards of Alang, India in the summer of 2005. The impetus for these treks were visits to the former EUGENIO C and former RMS WINDSOR CASTLE (which will be featured in the next volume). The video takes you on board the ex-EUGENIO while still intact and then a couple months later as demolition was well underway. It tells her story from cradle to grave with archival images and footage as well as the guest appearance of historian Maurizio Eliseo, whom I was able to film in the shipyard at Monfalcone where EUGENIO C was realized and built.
THE SANDS OF ALANG also tells the story of the EXPLORER, which was built in 1944 as the P2 troopship GENERAL W.P. RICHARDSON and went on to become LA GUARDIA, LEILANI, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, ATLANTIS, EMERALD SEAS and OCEAN EXPLORER I. There is a visit to the half demolished ship and guest historian Gordon Ghareeb, who is penning a book on her, tells of her varied careers with a special emphasis on her oft-overlooked time as LEILANI.
Soundtracks by the EUGENIO C's and LEILANI's onboard orchestras add poignance to the footage. Covered as well are the Danish train ferry KONG FREDERIK IX and the Kay Korbing-designed ferry PRINSESSE MARGRETHE, which were both ending their lives at the same time on the Indian beach.
Some of the footage is shocking and sad but unavoidably fascinating as the video chronicles the end of these ships' varied careers. Here is but one of many scenarios depicted in the film:
"When we were finally granted permission to visit the BIG RED BOAT II (ex EUGENIO C), the monsoon was in full swing. During the low tide, we took off our shoes and hiked out into the knee deep mud. At the water≠s edge, I climbed into a tiny dinghy with the foreman of the scrapyard -- only two of us could fit in the craft, holding on tightly as two men towed us out to the ship. For several minutes, while a squall passed through, we clung to the anchor chain (where I took the cover shot), then passed under the ship≠s mighty starboard bow, ribbons of water plunging through the openings in her bulwarks. Somehow, my drenched video camera kept running and I was able to record our approach to the Jacob≠s ladder, which dangled an intimidating height from the shell door entry. The foreman went before me, getting momentarily stuck half-way up the ladder, much to the amusement of the two men who towed us out there. As soon as I began my climb, they returned to the embankment to get the other people in our group..."
The order page also contains a link to a short trailer on YouTube:
http://www.midshipcentury.com/#!the-sands-of-alang/ckv
For those without computer access, please contact us at: PK Productions, 15485 Mallory Court, Moorpark, CA 93021
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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
* * * * * * *
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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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...
Scribblings |
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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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