Born of Death: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
By late January 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of losing World War II. On the Western Front, its offensive in the Ardennes failed. The Battle of the Bulge was a major Allied victory that saw German forces on the defensive for the rest of the war. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union’s…
In Memory of Bug Naked (2016-2024)
On December 27, 2024, Celebrity Cruises’ Captain Kate McCue announced that her famous feline companion Bug Naked had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away the previous day. My heart broke instantly.
The Wrecks of November: Gordon Lightfoot’s Shipwreck Songs
The old ship, tried and true, set sail on a routine voyage. Nothing seemed amiss that November day. But no one could have imagined the horror that was to come. The ship went down, and the events leading up to its demise still remain a mystery. The press covered the sinking with its usual zeal….
Forgotten Hero Ship: The Wreck of La Jenelle
The coast of Oxnard, California was stormy on April 13, 1970. Gale-force winds blew about and rocked the nearly 500-foot cruise ship until her starboard anchor began dragging. There was little that the two crew members aboard could do to stop it. Less than 30 minutes later, the ship grounded itself on nearby Silver Strand…
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition Las Vegas
As I mentioned in my last post, we recently visited Las Vegas for a quick little getaway. We stayed at the Virgin Hotel and planned to spend a lot of time at the pool. However, cool and windy weather forced us to change plans. One of the things we ended up doing was revisiting the…
Haunting Reminders of the Night: Titanic Artifacts and the Paranormal
Earlier this week, my wife and I were in Las Vegas for a quick little vacation. We decided to visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Luxor Hotel and Casino. We first went in September 2022, and I’ve been wanting to go back ever since. I’ll write about this recent visit in a future blog…
The Captain’s Table
Stories from the Golden Age of Ocean Liners to the Cruise Ships of Today
How it all started…
Over a decade ago, I started a blog called The Captain’s Table to tell the stories about the ships and people involved in the Golden Age of ocean liners. I was working as a tour guide aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA at the time and it was a way to help me both deepen my knowledge and explore a topic I’d been passionate about for a long time.
With this overhauled version of the blog, I’ll continue to explore the stories, ships, and people connected to the old ocean liners. But there’ll also be a new emphasis on cruise ships as well: they continue the traditions and history made famous by such ships as Queen Mary, United States, Mauretania, Caronia, and many others. I’ll be nerding out a lot, and I really hope that you enjoy this blog.
Zach Whitlow
Writer, Ship Geek, and Avid Cruiser