Captain Edward John Smith
Here in Belfast, the birthplace of Titanic, the city prepares to welcome thousands of tourists for the 100th anniversary of its ill-fated maiden voyage.
Photo: virgin media.com
On that date, the legendary liner RMS Titanic met its fateful end after colliding with an iceberg in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.
Photo: Daily Mail.
Cruise: The Fred Olsen liner Balmoral, pictured, will take the exact route of the Titanic leaving from Southampton on the 8th April and stop off at Liverpool and Belfast before returning to the initial port of departure. With its course set across the icy seas, this is a trip to chill the heart in more than one sense.
The new Titanic cruise route
Photo: Daily Mail.
Intrepid passengers will mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking by retracing the doomed liner’s maiden – and only – voyage.
And if you think that sounds a little too macabre to prove popular, you would be wrong. All 1,309 places on this memorial cruise across the Atlantic were snapped up more than a year ago, even with tickets costing up to £5,995.
Interest in Titanic Belfast has been building steadily for years now, but there has been a massive surge in recent months, with enquiries and group bookings from across the world arriving on a daily basis.
Worldwide interest in the Titanic story is huge and already nearly 35,000 visitors through pre-booked tours and over 100 event bookings at the Titanic Suite.
Tickets are also selling well online, with buyers from Australia, USA, Canada, Germany and Spain having already purchased tickets.
They will be among the 400,000 plus visitors we expect to attract in our first year, 110,000 of who will be out of state, placing Belfast very firmly at the forefront of global tourism.
dribblingpensioner 
Amazing! It would definitely be interesting to retrace the journey.
Veggiewitch ♥
What if history repeated itself on the voyage 🙂
A very real concern, i think. /shivers
That will be a really interesting thing to be part of. Every time I hear about Titanic, I think of Celine Dion 🙂
Think most people do 🙂
I think I heard that many people with ancestors who died on Titanic will be participating on the ship taking the same route. So very sad.
Yes AGL a lot of of passengers had people on the Titanic, there are people from 22 countries.
Another reason to go back to Belfast. I have yet to be to any of the Titanic sites in Ireland. You will be over run more than normal this season!
We will indeed and that’s what everyone hopes for, Northern Ireland has changed so much over this past ten years its hard to keep up.
My niece was just there in February for the All Ireland Dancing and I think is still there for the World’s. She placed 14th for the Worlds. We were first in Belfast in 2006 for her first World’s competition and loved it. I hope the tourists are plenty (and kind to Ireland!) this year.
The world’s were last weekend, your right.
We don’t go near the Irish dancing, but i know to get 14 th place she must be very good.
I don’t know that i would like to be on board…
I don’t think i would like to be either JO.
Nice to hear from you, hope all’s ok.
Yep…just needed some time to sort out family stuff Harry…and the computer problems were driving me crazy with frustration. Got the laptop working again – so that’s one down. The family stuff…spent Easter trying to work through that…now who knows. I am missing the blogging fraternity heaps. If the muse would return then life might be on the up and up. Appreciate your concern more than I can say !!!
🙂
Pc problems i have them now as well, but i’ll sort them.
Jo look after yourself and the family business it comes first, there will be plenty of time for blogging.
Oh, it wouldn’t happen again just because the ship is following the same route. But who has time to take such a long trip these days?
Retired people like me, but i can’t afford it 🙂
I don’t think I would be brave enough to take that route. It would make things more real though. You would really feel what it was like to be in the middle of the ocean with no one around. Crazy.
Scary Lily if the engines break down thousands of miles from land.
hi Harry
It is a bit macabre, but of course interesting. I hope nothing bad will happen, somhow I get this jinxy feel about doing this… It is like challenging fate? (perhaps I should have drunk my coffee first lol)
Ina, its jinxed already, the ship had to turn round for a medical emergency 🙂
!
Great post! Really interested in the Titanic. Found a post on some cool facts too: http://blog.easytobook.com/cool-stuff/titanic-facts/
Might be interesting for someone else too?
raissalien, thanks for visiting and that is a very good link.
interesting post….
I think I will pass on it,
though I would like very much to wander through Ireland…
Take Care..
)0(
maryrose
Maryrose, yes pass it on, thank you for calling and following my blog, i will call over later.