A Little Bit Of Ship Banter: A Mid Ship Cinema Podcast

Audio companion to the video on the MidShip Cinema YouTube channel! Peter Knego digs through many hours of original archival footage he took of the S.S. NORWAY (ex FRANCE) in the late 90s through 2000 to present this countdown of the thirteen things he loved about this historic and much lamented ship. Fans of the NORWAY, please chime in with your comments about what you liked most.  #ssnorway #oce...

In this edition of A Little Bit of Ship Banter , co-hosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg provide an essential update on some of the world's most beloved classic vessels. Our focus this episode includes:   NS Savannah: An in-depth look at the current efforts to preserve this historic icon in Baltimore.   SS United States: The latest updates regarding her current reefing status.   Retrospectiv...

In this eight "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter" podcast with hosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg, those pesky YouTube algorithms are at the forefront as the two banter and yes, kvetch, about the frustrations and rewards of hosting a channel devoted to ocean liners and cruise ships in a realm inundated with influencers and AI.  Also discussed are the latest scenarios for the SS UNITED STAT...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! Peter Knego has returned from a three night stay on board the SS ROTTERDAM with some good and some concerning news. In this 60 minute video, Knego's history with this favorite ship is documented in photos and video, from the first time he saw the SS ROTTERDAM (in 1975) to the ship's final cruise in 1997, which Knego experienced. Knego also intervie...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! Peter Knego spent a few hours on board Princess Cruises new 178,000 gross ton, 4,300 guest "Sphere Class" STAR PRINCESS during the ship's maiden call at Los Angeles. He had enough time to capture many of the ship's impressive deck areas as well as some disappointingly bland and generic interior spaces and capped it off with an epicurean d...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! Peter Knego has just returned from a pilgrimage to Gent to pay his final respects to the MV ASTORIA, which was built in 1948 as Swedish American Lines STOCKHOLM and is best known for her collision with and sinking of the ANDREA DORIA on July 25, 1956. The STOCKHOLM went on to a long career as the East German cruise ship VOLKERFREUNDSCHAFT and was ultimatel...

The audio companion to our latest video on our YouTube channel! 2026 marks the historic DELTA QUEEN's 100th year, which is a major milestone for any ship or boat to achieve. I spent a day on board at Houma, Louisiana, where she has been laid up since 2015, last month and look forward to sharing a full top to bottom tour and history of this American treasure soon. In the meantime, she is still...

The companion to our latest YouTube video! Despite having been having been completely stripped after being sold for scrap in 2024, the steamboat AMERICAN QUEEN and as of February 2026, is still structurally complete and lying at a scrapyard in Houma, Louisiana.  This video shows the AQ in mid-February of 2026 and then nostalgically traces her nearly 30 year career with footage taken between 1996 a...

The audio companion to our latest video on our MidShip Cinema YouTube channel. This sad update with footage taken on 19 January 2026 shows the MV ASTORIA undergoing demolition at the Galloo Scrapyard in Ghent, Belgium. After an overnight tow from Rotterdam where the ship languished for years, she arrived at the yard on July 4, 2025. The stripping process took months, followed by the removal of the...

The audio companion to our latest YouTube video! In February of 2026, Peter Knego traveled to Mobile, Alabama to bid farewell to the SS UNITED STATES, which has been undergoing preparation to become the world's largest artificial reef.  Scheduled to be sunk some 22 miles off the coast of Destin, Florida in mid-April of 2026, the famed ocean liner has been cut down to allow clearance once she i...

The companion audio to our YouTube video! This detailed history and top to bottom tour of one of maritime's greatest treasures, the 1907-built SS KEEWATIN, now preserved at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston, Ontario, covers her story from Scottish shipyard origins to the present day. The last surviving Canadian Pacific liner of a once vast fleet of liners great and small, she is also one of t...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! Host Peter Knego takes you aboard the QUEEN MARY 2 when she came to Long Beach to "meet" her namesake, the QUEEN MARY in February of 2006 and captures the two ships meeting for a second time from a harbor cruise boat where they actually get much closer to exchange whistle salutes in the gorgeous morning light. Music licensed from Artlist: "P...

Hosts Dan Trachtenberg and Peter Knego reunite for Episode Seven, the first "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter" podcast of 2026.  They don't hold back about lack of proper planning for the second "Royal Rendezvous" meeting of QUEEN MARY and QUEEN MARY 2 with the photobombing CARNIVAL RADIANCE in the mix and discuss a variety of topics, including the beautifully preserved HIKAWA M...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! This is a detailed history and top-to-bottom tour of the only surviving ship with a link to the great French Art Deco liners of the late 1920s and early 1930s , the NYK HIKAWA MARU, which was built in 1930 and decorated by preeminent French designer Marc Simon.  HIKAWA MARU is also the only major Japanese liner to survive World War Two, where she served he...

The companion audio to our latest excursion video, also on our YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4hPZuuv4Q This 35 minute video captures the essence of a perfect Antarctica cruise on board ‪@AtlasOceanVoyages‬ M.V. WORLD NAVIGATOR, a 2021-built, state of the art deluxe expedition ship. From zodiac excursions through the ice fields and pods of humpback whales to sea kayaking and hi...

The audio companion to our YouTube video! Ambassador Cruise Lines 70,000 gross ton, 1,500 passenger MV AMBIENCE was designed by Italian starchitect Renzo Piano (The Pompidou Center, Shard, etc.) and features a distinctive dolphin/whale inspired profile that sets her apart from any other cruise ship. Built in 1991 as Princess Cruises REGAL PRINCESS, she now sails in the British market, offering a g...

Thank you, dear YouTube viewers, for helping us reach the 10,000 subscribers milestone!  I'm hoping this is just the beginning and that there will be many more milestones to celebrate at MidShipCinema in the near future.  In the meantime, I realize it's been a while since my last post, so I wanted to give you an update on what I've been up to.  I was off on @AmbassadorCruiseLine AMBIEN...

The audio companion to our YouTube channel video! Join Peter Knego for a seven-night "Wild, Woolly and Wow with Glacier Bay" adventure from Juneau on board the replica vintage steamer WILDERNESS LEGACY. With a capacity for just 86 guests, the LEGACY visits small inlets, hamlets and bays that the big ships cannot reach, offering kayaks, skiff tours, and wilderness hikes in lieu of the big, commerci...

The companion to our YouTube video, now live on our channel! The largest ship in UnCruise Adventures' fleet of expedition vessels, the 1,472 gross ton, 86 passenger WILDERNESS LEGACY is also one of the cruising world's most beautiful.  Built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay steamboat, the LEGACY has enjoyed several careers in her long life but is now enjoying her most rewarding and successful,...

The companion to our YouTube video, now live on our channel! The largest ship in UnCruise Adventures' fleet of expedition vessels, the 1,472 gross ton, 86 passenger WILDERNESS LEGACY is also one of the cruising world's most beautiful.  Built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay steamboat, the LEGACY has enjoyed several careers in her long life but is now enjoying her most rewarding and successful,...

In this latest episode of "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter", ship historians Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg discuss Knego's latest cruise to Alaska on board UnCruises' vintage coastal steamer-inspired WILDERNESS LEGACY. Everything from the Northern Lights to calving glaciers and pods of orcas was featured. The two also discuss new and encouraging developments with the sleek, nuclea...

In this latest episode,  after Dan Trachtenberg shares some new developments on the S.S. UNITED STATES reefing project, Peter Knego recalls his 1992 visit to the former S.S. AMERICA in a Greek anchorage near the very end of the ship's long, extraordinary life.  Laid up for 13 years after two failed attempts to revive the historic liner for cruise service, the former AMERICA, then called ALFERD...

In Episode Four of this MidShipCinema Podcast hosted by Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg, we have the latest on the dismembered funnels of the SS UNITED STATES, reveal a favorite new cruise and ship-oriented website, discuss the advantages of small ship cruising on the WIDERNESS LEGACY of Un-Cruise and our main topic, how Knego started going to the scrap yards of Alang, India to rescue treasures f...

In episode three of "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter", cohosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg discuss the latest developments with the SS UNITED STATES reefing project in Mobile with the ship's funnels, masts and last remaining screw now removed.  We also look at some of the renderings for the proposed museum, which will incorporate the funnels and mast in a Florida setting not far fro...

Hosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg return for episode two.  We discuss the origins of the show's title -- with a major nod to the band Sparks;  provide an update on the situation with Customs and Border Patrol removing crew from cruise ships in the U.S. with no legal recourse for the accused; discuss the latest on the SS UNITED STATES reefing project; celebrate the Steamship Historical Soc...