Poster advertising 1912 saling of the RMS Titanic

Everyone is all excited about the maiden cruise of the new Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, the largest ever built, and touted to be the most luxurious in history.

However, another cruise liner that advertised itself as the most luxurious in history left England in April 1912 on its maiden voyage to America. As the history books and a dozen movies tell us, within just a few days at sea, the ship hit an iceberg and sank. Is that the end of the sad story of the voyage of the RMS Titanic? Well, not quite.

Conducting a memorial sailing to honor the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, another cruise ship will follow the same sea route of the Titanic. The voyage will be by the Balmoral, a cruise ship owned by the Olsen Cruise Lines, descendant of the company that built the Titanic, Harland and Wolff.

The Balmoral will imitate many features of the Titanic, with cabin design, printed menus, onboard activities and crew members dressed in authentic 1912 Titanic-era uniforms. On board will be 1,309 passengers, the exact same number as sailed on the Titanic. As the original ship did in 1912, the Balmoral will sail from Southmapton, England, on the anniversary date of April 9, 2012, and repeat the visit to the Irish port formerly called Queenstown, now Cobh. Then the Balmoral will head out on its Atlantic voyage.

In mid-cruise, the Balmoral will conduct a memorial service at the same ocean location where the Titantic sank, and then complete its trip in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and then on to New York City.

If you’re interested in joining this memorial cruise, you can inquire about booking passage now. A limited number of passenger ticket sales for the Balmoral sailing are now available from Miles Morgan Travel. For more information, go to www.titanicmemorialcruise.co.uk.