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On the night of 14-15 April 1912, RMS Titanic of the White Star Line foundered during her maiden crossing of the North Atlantic. In so doing, she passed from being the second ship in a planned class of three nearly identical ocean liners to being the most famous ship of all times. Her story has been recounted in feature movies, television documentaries, books and numerous articles. It has been reported that the word "Titanic" is the third most recognized word in the English language.
To mark the 100th anniversary of her voyage, Miles Morgan Travel organized two Titanic theme cruises. Both of these would take passengers to the place in the Atlantic where the wreck lies on the anniversary of Titanic's sinking. As someone who writes about ships, I am familiar with the Titanic story and have written about it in the past. However, what intrigued me about these cruises was not so much Titanic but the cruises themselves. Because they were to commemorate a unique event - - the 100th anniversary - - they were unique and because of the worldwide interest in Titanic, they would almost certainly attract widespread attention. Also, I was interested in who would go on such a cruise and what would such a cruise be like.  |
I confess that I did have some doubts about going on a cruise to commemorate the sinking of a ship. Over 1,500 people died in the Titanic disaster. Wouldn't such a cruise be morbid? Furthermore, was this just an exploitation of that tragedy for commercial purposes?
Thankfully, these concerns proved unwarranted. The organizer's general approach was that of a historical study of this multi-faceted event. A mountain of information was presented by distinguished authors, historians and other experts. Also, the approach was generally respectful of the human tragedy. Indeed, the events that took place at the wreck site on the anniversary were quite moving and spiritually uplifting. For the convenience of the reader, I have divided this account into the following sections: Part I Overview Part II Who and Why Part III Lectures and Activities Part IV Dining and Period Costumes Part V The Port Day Part VI At the Titanic Site |
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Cruise ship article - - Titanic - - Titanic 100th Anniversary Cruise - Preface