O C E A N L I N E R S O C I E T Y
Previous South East England Talks
The 'Annual' Nigel Lingard Talk. Tuesday 15 November 2005
Nigel
Lingard, Marketing Director for Fred Olsen cruises has spoken to the society
members every year for the past 3 years. Like previous events this was
standing room only and once again Nigel left no one disappointed. In a witty
insiders tale of life in a family run cruise business, Nigel was able to
illustrate, with real examples, the challenges which smaller operators face
in a world of giant cruising conglomerates. How does a line find ships the
right size when the industry giants won't sell to competitors? How do you
maintain critical market share in the fastest growing section of the travel
industry? How do you ensure you continually deliver what passengers want and
expect?
Nigel's tales were of a friendly industry, which has demography and economics on its side; of a family business where no detail is overlooked. In addition to the marketing challenges Nigel provided a series of photos of the Black Watch refit, illustrations/ artists impressions of Boudicca and even told us a little more about how she got that name!.
And as if that wasn't enough we had a general question and answer session about the state of the industry too. If you missed this talk check out on the forthcoming talks page or in Sea Lines for dates for the 2006 version of what we hope will continue to be an annual event for many years to come.
A View From the Bridge. 7pm. Tuesday 17th January 2006
Bill Mayes, the OLS' very well-travelled Chairman, presented his annual round - up of Mr Chairman's travels. From Adriatic Italy, thru the splendour of the Croatian coast (and some of the ugliest ferries afloat), via the delightful Ancona and other ships formerly familiar in British Waters, Bill and his slides made it feel like you were there too, one could forget all to briefly the damp January evening.
An early summer Baltic odyssey taking in the incomparable Finnjet, the pretentions of some cross baltic ferries and the spectacular Color Fantasy provided a mid point interlude prior to the absolute highlight, a Southampton - Southampton via New England and Canada cruise on the delightful QE2. The ship that still draws the crowds was shown in all her glory and views of her alongside some of the more modern builds were rather sobering.
Classic Cruising. 7pm. Tuesday 20th February 2006
Colin Miell, organiser of the group of OLS members travelling on Oceanic,
came along to regale members with his tales of travels on classic ships. He
included some splendid shots of old favourites such as Funchal, and even a
couple of Canberra shots. Colin showed that travel on classics is still
possible. Enjoy it whilst you can.
Rolling down to Rio. 7pm. Tuesday 21st March 2006
The ever eloquent Tony Cooke brought an early summer to the Ocean Liner Society, with his fascinating talk on the liners on the run to South America. Illustrating some beautiful ships and some colourful tales, tony managed to bring Royal Mail lines, cattle, Eva Peron and the Graf Spree all into the same superb highlights of the lesser known of the atlantic liner trades. Some of the enormous conglomerates which existed back in the heyday of the run would rival even the supremacy of the Carnival cruise empire now and Tony brought them all to life with anecdotes, asides and illustrations. A truly fascinating evening.
Passengers via Southampton. Tuesday
18th April.
Bert Moody has lived in and photographed ships at Southampton for more than
eighty years. Members who attended his wonderful talk in October will have
realised what an unbelievable cornucopia his slide collection represents.
The ‘biographer’ of the Docks, this time he will raid the archive to show
the passenger side of the port’s development (to be confirmed).
The Annual Nigel Lingard Talk - Tues 17th October
Nigel has established himself as the speaker not to miss. In 2003 he amazed us with a candid, hilarious account of how a ‘Black Watch’ cruise itinerary is planned and costed. In 2004 he built his audience further with a wide-ranging talk on cruise industry trends and Fred.Olsen’s place in it. In 2005, the audience by word-of-mouth now packing the room, he told us all about the Line’s acquisition of ‘Boudicca’ and of the wonderfully homespun approach to her refurbishment. What this year? This year we learned about the acquisition of Balmoral - the next ship to grace the fleet, her planned alterations and where Fred. Olsen is heading.
2006
June
July
September