Titanic 2 - Recreating A Legend

Published on February 25, 2014

How exciting! The Blue Star Line has contracted to build Titanic II.

The ship is being financed by 59 year old Australian billionaire mining tycoon Clive Palmer, the chairman of Blue Star Line. The CSC Jingling Shipyard in Nanjing, China was contracted to build the new cruise ship which will sail from Southhampton, England to New York, USA for her maiden voyage.

According to Australian newspaper The Courier Mail, Palmer wants Titanic II to be built bigger and better than the original, and to give passengers a real feel for the experience of sailing on the Titanic, including replica furnishings, menu, and ship design. He is not giving details of the cost of this undertaking and this writer could not find any articles giving an estimate.

Originally, his sales pitch was to book up to 1000 passengers to dine on stew and potatoes, and to dance the Irish jig in an effort to recreate the ambiance of traveling on the 1912 Titanic.

Early newspaper accounts say there will be circa 1910-1920 era costumes placed in state rooms as part of the ticket fee, to help passengers recreate the original Titanic experience from class to class. One report says that first class passengers won't be able to mingle with second or third class passengers. Instead they will exchange places and spend a few days in each of the class quarters, which is why the clothing is being provided.

With 21st century cruise passengers expecting to be pampered in luxury, I wonder how many passengers will take Clive Palmer up on his offer. Thankfully, all this marketing talk for the Titanic II is still in pre-planning stages. The details of the onboard experience have not been finalized nor have the tickets been put up for sale.

Here's hoping it is not a perfect replica of the original Titanic and that the ship has more than a few modern amenities.

This will be the first cruise ship contracted to the Chinese shipyard. They excel at building ships used for carrying coal and there is much speculation whether this might be too big a job for them to complete on time and within the budget.

I found this interesting:

Here we have a shipyard with no experience in building cruise ships and a billionaire with no experience in the cruise industry. Palmer's past investments and expertise lay in coal and iron ore, building golf courses and hotels, and investing in a horse stud.

Palmer is banking on the name "Titanic" to propel him into the world of cruise commerce and China is banking on the name "Titanic" to propel them out of building coal cargo ships and into luxury cruise liners.

Sounds like a perfect match!

Wanna buy a ticket?

The Titanic II promises to serve three distinctive classes, hopefully upgraded to today's standards. "Steerage" was the lowest priced ticket on Titanic I and will still be the lowest ticket on Titanic II. However steerage class will have many of the amenities that 21st century cruise passengers have come to enjoy and expect.

Although some news reports differ on the launch date (late 2016 to early 2017), the occupancy numbers are unanimous. Titanic II will hold 2600 passengers and about 900 in crew. The ship will have 850 cabins and 18 lifeboats, which is supposed to be enough for everyone on board. carrying 2,600 passengers in 850 cabins. It will employ about 900 crew members.

Let's hope the maiden voyage is not the last voyage.

Since the majority of readers (and myself!) will not be sailing on the Titanic II, and we clearly have missed the boat (thankfully) on Titanic I, I thought visiting some of the museums about the original Titanic might be fun.

The work and the effort that the "crew" do to making these museums an enjoyable experience is astounding. Each museum in each city brings something unique to the experience. Relatives and/or descendants of survivors have given their stamp of approval on either the museum they visited or the videos they viewed of the museums. It truly is an awesome experience.

While there are many museums, I have only chosen six videos. Although I have my own opinion which of the following videos would make me want to go visit their museum, I have placed a poll before the videos alerting you that your opinion is requested. After you view the videos, please come back to this poll and place your vote for the best presentation.

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting my hub about Titanic II. I hope to be able to write another article after the ship completes her maiden voyage in three years.

Mary McShane, 2/25/2014