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E NEWS SUPPLEMENT...by Bill Miller
from aboard Crystal Serenity
Week of December 30th, 2013
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Welcome to another issue of our Enews Supplement.
I hope everyone had a great New Years celebration and hope you all have a very prosperous and healthy year ahead.
I also hope to see many of you one one of our cruises. If you would like to join one of our groups, Bill and I will be hosting a cruise aboard the Royal Princess on October 11, 2014. Information can be found here
Royal Princess 2014
If you haven't joined us on Facebook yet, here's anotherof the great images you will find there.
Holland America has provided us once again with Shipboard Credit coupons good for sailing through 2014. These are available to members in good standing. They will be shipped with the next issue after your renewal has been received. If you have already renewed, just send us an email at membership@wocls.org and we will ship them to you. If you haven't yet renewed you may do so online here..
Regards
Tom Cassidy
You May Renew Your Membership Here
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 Dinner at Eight!
Begun on the December 8th sailing of the Carnival Glory, the Line is introducing two new dining ideas - American Table and American Feast. |
 Unique Voyage!
Contracts were signed last October and it seems the salvaged, remains of the 114,000 of the Costa Concordia, which capsized off Italy's Isola del Giglio in in January 2012, will eventually be loaded into the huge floating dockship, the Dockwise Vanguard. The 965-ft long liner will be, it is rumored, taken to a port in Italy and then scrapped. The loss of the $600 million ship has been the most expensive job in history. ... Meanwhile, Costa itself is expanding. Along with the giant, 4,000-passenger Costa Diadema, due out later this year, the Company is adding the 48,200-grt Grand Mistral, which is to become the Costa Neoriviera. The 1999-built Mistral had belonged to now defunct Festival Cruises and then went to Spain's Iberocruises, which, like Costa, is part of giant Carnival Corporation.
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Facelift!
She's one of my favorites. I was aboard the maiden cruise back in July 2003 and penned her commemorative commissioning book. The 68,000-grt Crystal Serenity left a Spanish shipyard in early December and then crossed to Miami on a trans-ocean cruise following a major facelift and modernization. Friends onboard her Atlantic wrote, "She's better than ever! More beautiful than ever - just stunning!" I am currently aboard her Holiday cruise, which began Dec 22nd. More news to follow.
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 Piano Man!
We were aboard the Queen Mary 2 when famed singer-musician-songwriter James Taylor entertained aboard a crossing. His two concerts were, in the ship's 1000-seat Royal Court Theater, standing room only. Taylor was a huge success and, quite happily, returns on next summer's Aug 27th crossing from New York to Southampton with a stop at Halifax on the way. I'll be aboard - giving lectures about the great liners and sea travel in bygone days. |
 Dancing Shoes!
Myself, I am a big - and very loyal - fan of TV's Dancing with the Stars. Cleverly, HAL has taken it to sea with Dancing with the Stars at Sea and it gets better - star performer and award winning dancer Derek Hough will be aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam's Jan 12th cruise. How about a wild Tango?
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Greek cruising!
After a long lay-up, it was said that the 17,000-grt, 814-passenger Ocean Countess was returning to Mediterranean cruising this spring. But on Dec 6th, while undergoing repairs at Chalkis in Greece, the ship burned out. Evidently, she was afire for days and had to be abandoned. Itself, the ship has had a long history. Built in 1976 (constructed in Denmark and then outfitted and completed in Italy) as the Cunard Countess, long used on 7-day Lower Caribbean itineraries out of San Juan. Her twin sister was the Cunard Princess. The Countess was sold off in 1996, however, becoming the Awani Dream 2 for tour operators out in Indonesia. That failed quickly and, in 1998, she passed to Greece's Royal Olympic Cruises and became the Olympic Countess (later restyled slightly as the Olympia Countess). We cruised on her in 1999, sailing from Piraeus to the Greek isles and Turkey. Royal Olympic later folded and then, in 2004, the ship passed to Majestic International, becoming the Ocean Countess, but then was soon chartered out to Germans, who renamed her Lili Marleen. Afterward, she was back to Ocean Countess in 2006, but then became the Ruby when she was chartered to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines in '07. Then it was back to Ocean Countess before, in 2009, becoming New Pacific for Spain's Quail Cruises. Then, once again, it was back to being Ocean Countess for a charter to Cruise & Maritime Voyages. Spending the winters in lay-up, that charter ended last year. Some reports following the fire are that the 37-year-old ship might be scrapped instead of repaired.
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Big Business!
The Super Bowl is coming to the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey and hotel rooms are expectedly in great demand. NCL to the rescue - they've chartered the brand new, 4,000-bed Norwegian Getaway for use as a moored hotel along Manhattan's West Side. Guests can be bussed to the mega sports event. The 144,000-grt Getaway is headed for year-round cruising from Miami.
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Ocean Liner Collectibles - French style!
Just about anything from the extraordinary French super liner Normandie, an Art Deco dreamboat that sailed for only 4 ½ years, between 1935 and 1939 but left an indelible impression. Many consider the 83,000-grt French Line flagship to be the finest Atlantic ocean liner ever to sail. Last month, at a French auction, 84 pieces of Christofle silver fetched $18,000. One collector-friend noted, "The Normandie is more than ocean liner collectibles, she reflects Art Deco and pure high design."
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Ocean Liner History - Holiday cruises!
In times long past, liners would gather in New York during the week before Christmas and then set off on two- and three-week Holiday cruises, most often to the sunny Caribbean. The ships were usually booked to capacity and often months in advance. Recently, I found a photo in my files, an aerial view of Manhattan's Luxury Liner Row. Dated nearly fifty years ago, Dec 22nd 1965, it showed a panorama of liners about to sail and included the Atlantic, Constitution, United States, Michelangelo, Franconia, Empress of Canada, Olympia and Brasil. These gatherings concluded for a few more years, until 1970.
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 Exciting mounting!
The innovative Quantum of the Seas enters service next fall, cruising from New York. RCI has announced that guests aboard the 4100-bed liner will have added entertainment: full production of Mama Mia. ... In other news, RCI has announced that the Quantum's sister, the Anthem of the Seas, due in 2015, will divide her cruising time: winters from Port Everglades, the remainder from Southampton, England.
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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
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
Join or Renew Here
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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!
 In the world of ocean liners, those built for French lines were the epitome of style and panache, and SS Normandie perhaps the pinnacle of this. When she entered service in 1935, she was the largest, longest, fastest and certainly the best fed ship of her time, serving the finest food imaginable in a dining room longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Normandie embodied high glamour and was a firm favourite of many, albeit for a short time. Times were changing and even the French government's massive subsidies to the builders, an attempt to make Normandie a flagship for the drive out of the Depression. could only work for so long, as the Second World War drew nearer. She might have been a valuable troopship, and served a the USS Lafayette for a time, but caught fire at her New York pier in 1942. The great ship was salvaged, but with an expensive restoration in prospect she could not escape being scrapped in 1946-47. Through beautiful illustrations and evocative writing, William H.Miller presents the story of one of the most lavish liners ever to cross the seas. $29.95 plus postage & handling
 Union Castle Liners - From Great Britain to Africa 1946-1977 - William H. Miller
It was one of the most important British liner routes of all - the express run from Southampton to the South African Cape. Carrying passengers as well as cargo, including the all-important mail, it was a byword in travel - 'every Thursday at 4', as one of the big Union-Castle liners set off for Cape Town and beyond. By the late 1950s, these mail ships included the Arundel Castle, Carnarvon Castle, Winchester Castle, Athlone Castle, Stirling Castle, Capetown Castle and two post-war sensations, the Edinburgh Castle and Pretoria Castle. Three new liners arrived in 1959, the last great ships built for Union-Castle. They were Pendennis Castle, Windsor Castle and Transvaal Castle.
The route was not just to the Cape - for Union-Castle also offered a service down the East coast of Africa and a round-Africa route too. In 1977, with the mail contract and passengers lost to the jet and cargo to container ships, the service ceased in October that year and Union-Castle was no more. Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK. $29.95
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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