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Three Speakers Lined Up To Celebrate Holland America Line's
Transatlantic Heritage in 2011
Author Bill Miller, maritime artist Stephen Card and naval architect Stephen Payne will all lecture on board the
ms Rotterdam, flagship of the Holland America Line, which will make two commemorative Transatlantic crossings in 2011.
PRESS RELEASE
It has been forty years since Holland America Line last offered a regular Transatlantic service and in celebration of this the line has announced that its flagship, the Rotterdam, the sixth Holland America ship to bear the name, will make two special Transatlantic crossings in 2011 to mark this heritage, which dates back to the company's founding in 1873.
The 1,320-guest Rotterdam, still flagship although larger ships have since joined the fleet, will leave her home port of Rotterdam on 3 July 2011, and leave Southampton on 5 July on her way to New York. In New York, she will turn around and offer an eastbound 12 July departure for Rotterdam, with a call at Cobh for Cork. Southampton and Cobh have both been chosen for their historical roles in the Transatlantic trade.
The Rotterdam‘s Crows Nest lounge will become a Maritime Museum at Sea and as part of this celebration the line has engaged author and ocean liner expert Bill Miller and marine artist Stephen Card as lecturers for both voyages.
Miller is the author of dozens of books about liners, including "Great British Passenger Ships," "The Last Bluewater Liners" and "Passenger Liners American Style," not to mention "Going Dutch: The Holland America Line Story," and he has lectured on more than fifty cruise ships. Miller has recently also become the subject of a documentary film by Robert Neal Marshall entitled "Mr Ocean Liner," which previewed on Queen Mary 2 in New York on 1 July 2010.
Card, a master mariner and maritime artist, now has ship portraits hanging on every ship in the Holland America fleet, not to mention a few Cunard and Costa ones. A native of Bermuda, he is the author of "Holland America Line: The Spotless Fleet" and "Cunarder: Maritime Paintings," as well as co-author of "Queen of Bermuda and the Furness Bermuda Line."
While both Miller and Card will be on board for the full round voyage, Stephen Payne OBE, vice-president and naval architect for Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding, and master designer of the Queen Mary 2, will be on board for the 12 July eastbound crossing from New York. Payne is also an author, having written "Grande Dame: Holland America Line and the s.s. Rotterdam." Each of the three lecturers thus has a Holland America Line title to his name.
Transatlantic voyages are nothing new for Holland America, which has been in the business for 138 years. The line offered nine such crossings in 2010. The two special 2011 voyages, however, marking the 40th Anniversary of the end of Holland America’s regular Transatlantic liner service, will be nine nights long instead of the usual fifteen it now takes for a Transatlantic cruise with multiple ports of call.
The Rotterdam will also perform a couple of those longer crossings in 2011, taking 16 nights to sail from Fort Lauderdale to Zeebrugge via Cobh, Dublin, Liverpool, Ilfracombe, Cherbourg and Dover in May and 15 nights to return from Rome to Fort Lauderdale via Ajaccio, Barcelona, Cartagena, Malaga, Tangier and Funchal in November. Holland America will perform sixteen Atlantic crossings in 2011, including the two commemorative voyages.
The Cruise People Ltd has special fares and shipboard credit for the 3 July 2011 crossing. For further information and availability please contact The Cruise People at 020 7723 2450, Freephone 0800 526 313 or visit their web site www.cruisepeople.co.uk.
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Notes to editors:
1)For enquiries and reservations, please contact Miri Lopusna of The Cruise People Ltd on 020 7723 2450 / cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.
2)The Cruise People specialise in niche cruise markets including ultra-luxury, small ship cruising, expedition voyages and freighter travel. For more information on their range of itineraries and vessels please contact Kevin Griffin at The Cruise People.
Enquiries & Reservations 020 7723
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Posted 9th December 2010