Cruise recreating Titanic's fated voyage sells out
Right now, near Prypiat, Ukraine, chances are a group of nervous tourists are navigating the site of history’s most damning nuclear disaster.
That site, of course, is Chernobyl, which was not only where fatal catastrophe struck 25 years ago, but now where voyeuristic visitors come to tour the grounds, too.
It’s called “extreme tourism,” and people love this stuff. They consume tragedy as their own way of tribute to the dead, but also, I imagine, in part for the same macabre reasons serial killer memorabilia has become a real thing.
In any case, extreme tourists – or simply history buffs, however you want to label things – will have another chance to tempt fate next April. That's when they’re recreating the Titanic.
Yes, the hottest thing in tourism right now is a ticket to hop onboard a ship in England next spring that will sail the doomed path the Titanic did 100 years ago.
*Bing: Why were there so few life boats on the Titanic?
The cruise line Fred Olsen, a British company, will send a vessel named Balmoral on the fated voyage in April, when it will depart Southampton, England, a century after the RMS Titanic first sailed.
From the U.K., the Balmoral will sail for five days to the coordinates off the coast of Nova Scotia where the Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight of its fifth day, sinking early in the morning of its sixth. At 2:20 a.m., a memorial service will be held on board the Balmoral; passengers will arrive at Halifax the next day to visit Fairview Lawn Cemetery, where Titanic’s victims were interred.
On day eight of Balmoral’s voyage, it will arrive in New York, where 2,223 people were to safely dock in April, 1912.
Miles Morgan, the man behind Titanic Memorial Cruises, doesn’t want to hear controversy: “I take my lead from those people who are coming on board who lost relatives in the disaster or whose family members survived,” he told the Independent when asked it the voyage could be considered voyeuristic. “They have all said that they could not think of any better way to mark the memory of those who were lost than being at the site of the sinking to pay their respects.”
Still, the real story is how popular the Titanic homage trip has become. Tickets, which cost as much as $9,500, sold out so feverishly that even the waiting list for cancellations has been closed. There are too many people on it already.
And this Titanic tribute thing might have legs. Not only are some boarding the Balmoral having costumes made to recreate what the original passengers wore, but a Russian-built submarine is planning voyages next summer to visit the sunken ship’s wreckage.
Cost to board the Russian sub? About $59,000 per person.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
*Wikipedia photo.
Posted by: Kathy Dowsett | Dec 29, 2021 7:56:15 AM
The Titanic is the most famous shipwreck of all time. The story fascinates many people, including myself. The price for this trip is way "overboard"! However, it is comforting to know that memorial services will be held for those that lost their life 100 years ago.
I have visited the cemetery in Halifax where many of the passengers were buried. It is sad to see most of the headstones do not have the names of those lost. With that being said, I am sure, especially for the time, that most of the people could not be identified. There is a stone for a "Jack Dawson" a third class passenger, who name was the leading character in James Cameron's movie the "Titantic". Interesting, when I visited, there were flowers at his headstone.
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Posted by: gregg | Dec 29, 2021 2:33:39 PM
What ever happened to the company that was rebuilding the replica of the Titanic to be built and sailed on the 100th aniversary??
That I could see being a sell out and high prices, but the Balmoral??that leaves me scratching my head...
that Fred Olsens line is way overpriced, if Im going to pay that kind of money it will be on Silverseas not Fred Olsens line...
As for the memorial, its a good idea, but it was mans mistake on that ship, it was doomed from the beginning on how it was built and how it was being misused by who was running that vessel.
That ship didnt have a chance with all the shoddy work done on it. Its a shame.
I lost my great grandfather on that ship and I take this as an honour but it would have been more if a replica was made for special cruises. I think it would have been a hit and success....not everyone likes these lego box ships, and they arent sea vessels thats for sure, you bob around in them like a cork.
Posted by: sue | Dec 29, 2021 11:37:22 PM
i also visited the burial site. An interesting story is printed in the visitors guide.A baby's body was burried at the feet of a woman.They didnt know who the baby belonged to. Years later they discovered that the baby belonged to the woman they buried him with.