Two special cruises will commemorate the fatal sinking of the Titanic on April 8, 2012. Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines and Azamara Club Cruises plan to operate commemorative cruises in April 2012. In addition, a new book reveals the sinking of the Titanic was due to a steering error. And in Southampton, UK, a new museum to pen in 2012 will display some 4000 artifacts from the sunken vessel.

The Cruises

Fred.Olsen Cruises

A century after the Titanic set sail on its fateful cruise across the Atlantic, an historic

recreation of the journey has almost sold out – 19 months before it hauls anchor.

The Balmoral sets sail from Southampton, England, on April 8, 2012. Aboard will be 1,309 paying passengers – exactly the same number as boarded the original cruise. 

It will follow the Titanic's exact route, passing by Cherbourg on the French coast and stopping at the Irish port of Cobh before steaming across the Atlantic.  On April 14  – the day the original ship struck an iceberg 100 years earlier – passengers will take part in a special memorial ceremony.

The Balmoral will continue its journey to Halifax, Nova Scotia – the burial place for many who lost their lives – before docking in New York City on April 19.

Among the history buffs, academics and passengers seeking a unique vacation experience will be relatives of the Titanic's passengers, eager for the chance to finally say goodbye.

"For me, it's about being able to stand above the wreck exactly 100 years after my great grandfather died, and to be able to throw a flower down for him," said Sharon Willing, from Arizona. Her relative, Herbert Fuller Chaffee, went down with the Titanic. His wife, Carrie Toogood Chaffee, escaped in a lifeboat. "I have grown up with this knowledge that my great grandfather died in that ship. This trip will bring closure to many people and it's going to be very, very poignant," said Sharon.

The Balmoral's cruise-goers come from 24 countries including the USA and Canada, Europe, Australia and South America.

During the 12-day trip, cruise-goers will eat dishes that would have been served in 1912. Music and entertainment will reflect the era, and passengers are planning to dress in period costume. World-renowned experts will give lectures, telling the story of the Titanic throughout the cruise.

New Jersey author Charles Haas, a co-founder of the Titanic International Society will be one speaker. He became one of the first academics to dive to the wreck of the Titanic in 1993. "Seeing the wreck was like nothing I have ever experienced, a mixture of many different emotions that have changed my life," he said. "Being where the Titanic went down is a very powerful, emotional spot to be in."

Miles Morgan, managing director of the Titanic Memorial Cruise, said, "The 100th anniversary is such a significant milestone in the history of the Titanic and it has really captured the imagination of people all over the world. "We've heard stories from guests who are having dresses created especially for the event, and requests from musicians who want to audition to be part of the famous string quartet." That quartet continued to play as the Titanic sank below the waves.

The last remaining twin cabins are available for $5,185 per person, double occupancy, with superior suites selling for $10,195 per person.  Prices include all on-board meals, lectures and entertainment.

The Balmoral is operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, whose parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. 

Azarmara Club Cruises

Willtiger Corporation and Azamara Club Cruises have announced Voyages! Titanic 2012, a once-in-a-lifetime experience aboard Azamara Journey commemorating the historic maiden trans-Atlantic voyage of the RMS Titanic.

Departing April 9, 2012, from Boston on a nine-night roundtrip itinerary, the voyage will arrive at the location of the final resting place of Titanic on her 100th anniversary and remain for three days, where Azamara Journey will be the exclusive cruise ship to receive live video feeds from a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) deployed from an expeditionary ship alongside. Throughout, guests will have opportunities to immerse themselves in the history and experience of Titanic. Bookings are now available via Voyages! Titanic 2012 reservation line at 1-800-294-5269.  “This exclusive charter, will be a unique experience to commemorate the most infamous passenger ship in history on its centennial anniversary,” said Bill Willard, president of Willtiger Corporation. “We’ll be at the exact site at the exact time one-hundred years after the RMS Titanic met its demise to remember those lost and the ship. Throughout, we will offer guests a deeper understanding of what Titanic’s passenger experienced through a great schedule of enrichment programs and memorials.”

Onboard, guests will be able to participate in three memorial services, a wreath-laying ceremony, as well as presentations by a prestigious line-up of maritime and fashion researchers and historians, executives from international Titanic societies, and survivors’ relatives. Dinner menus also will feature dishes from recipes served aboard Titanic and guests can learn the Irish dance with which the ship’s third-class passengers would have celebrated.

In addition to three days at the location of Titanic’s wreckage, Azamara Journey also will call at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where guests can choose excursion options that visit the Titanic cemeteries, the Maritime Museum and other memorial sites in the city that played a pivotal role in this historical event.

The Book

New Book Just Published On The Titanic Says Ship Sunk By A Steering Error

A new book disputes the established cause of the tragic sinking that the ship trying to set a record on her transatlantic crossing was going too fast to stop before hitting an iceberg off Nova Scotia. The book, as reported in a September 21 Daily Telegraph article written by Richard-Alleyne, claims that the ship had plenty of time to avoid hitting the iceberg but the helmsman panicked and turned the ship the wrong way. By the time the catastrophic error was corrected it was too late and the side of the ship sustained a fatal hole by the iceberg impact. Further, the book claims, even then the passengers and crew could have been saved if the ship had stayed put instead of steaming off again and causing water to pour into the broken hull.

The revelation, which comes out almost 100 years after the disaster, was kept secret until now by the family of the most senior officer to survive the disaster, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, who allegedly covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the liner's owners and put his colleagues out of job. Since Lightoller’s death, who was a war hero during World War I, the cause remained undisclosed fear it would ruin his reputation.

But now his granddaughter the writer Lady (Louise) Patten has revealed it in her just published novel Good as Gold. "It just makes it seem all the more tragic," she said. "They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder, she is quoted as saying.

The theory goes that the error on the ship's maiden voyage between Southampton and New York in 1912 happened because at the time seagoing was undergoing enormous upheaval because of the conversion from sail to steam ships. The change meant there were two different steering systems and different commands attached to them.

Some of the crew on the Titanic were used to the archaic Tiller Orders associated with sailing ships and some to the more modern Rudder Orders. Crucially, the two steering systems were the complete opposite of one another. So a command to turn "hard a starboard" meant turn the wheel right under the Tiller system and left under the Rudder.

When First Officer William Murdoch spotted the iceberg two miles away, his "hard a-starboard" order was misinterpreted by the Quartermaster Robert Hitchins. He turned the ship right instead of left and, even though he was almost immediately told to correct it, it was too late and the side of the starboard bow was ripped out by the iceberg.

"The steersman panicked and the real reason why Titanic hit the iceberg, which has never come to light before, is because he turned the wheel the wrong way," said Lady Patten who is the wife of former Tory Education minister, Lord (John) Patten.

While her grandfather Lightoller was not on watch at the time of the collision, her book Good as Gold reveals that a dramatic final meeting of the four senior officers took place in the First Officer’s cabin shortly before Titanic went down.

Bruce Ismay, chairman of Titanic’s owner, the White Star Line, persuaded the Captain to continue sailing. For ten minutes, Titanic went "Slow Ahead" through the sea, adding

enormously to the pressure of water flooding through the damaged hull, forcing it up and over the watertight bulkheads, sinking Titanic many hours earlier than she otherwise would have done. "Ismay insisted on keeping going, no doubt fearful of losing his investment and damaging his company’s reputation,” Lady Patten is quoted as saying in the article. "The nearest ship was four hours away. Had she remained at ‘Stop’, it’s probable that Titanic would have floated until help arrived."

The truth of what happened on that historic night was deliberately buried.

Lightoller, the only survivor who knew precisely what had happened, and who would later go on to be a twice-decorated war hero, decided to hide what he knew from the world, including two official inquiry into the sinking. By his code of honor, he felt it was his duty to protect his employer – White Star Line – and its employees.

To read the full article, click http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8016752/Titanic-sunk-by-steering-blunder-new-book-claims.html

                                                -- Excerpted from London Daily Telegraph article 9/21/2010

The Museum

New Interactive Museum Displaying Titanic Artifacts To Open In 2012

A new interactive museum Recently, Southampton announced it had restored the Titanic Engineers Memorial in Andrew’s Park and the city, which provided most of ship’s crew, is planning an interactive museum in the city’s former magistrates’ court, next to the civic center.  Southampton has a collection of some 4,000 artifacts from the TITANIC, much of it is currently in storage: plates and cutlery, letters and menu cards, even fragments gathered from the seabed.  Recordings of the recollections of about 70 survivors will become part of the new museum planned to be open in time for the centenary in 2012.