Regal Princess/Belfast
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Sunny,
58F
Janie on the bow of the Titanic
Port of Belfast
Early this morning, 8:30 a.m., we disembarked
the Regal, hopped on the Princess shuttle ($17 RT each) to the Belfast
visitor center, bought tickets for the Titanic Museum Experience (25 GBP
each), and easily caught a bus (1.80 GBP each) to the site where the Titanic
was built, and the museum was created.
First, I couldn’t believe we were in
Belfast, and it is a lovely big city with a population of 348,000. Béal Feirste in Irish, it is the capital city and
the principal port of Northern Ireland and stands on the banks of the River
Lagan, connected to the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Exterior of the RMS Titanic Museum
This was one of the cars for the ride
Furnace for ironwork
Launching the Titanic
The launch, witnessed by 100,000 people
This is a partial view of a first class stateroom
My photos of other staterooms did not turn out
and because of my photo issue I cannot edit them
By the time we were finished with the
experience we felt as though we had helped build the Titanic and joined the passengers on its maiden voyage.
Since this ship was the largest ever built
at the time, many people from Ireland and Belfast were involved, from metal
workers, carpenters, to seamstresses, officers, and crew, and so much more. The story, shown in enlarged photos on the
walls, drew us in.
One could easily imagine the noise, the
need to finish the work on time, the last minute details. There is even a ride reminiscent of an
amusement park ride that takes the rider up and down several stories of the
hull as it is being built.
After the building of the ship, one sees
the first, second, and third class staterooms, china, carpeting samples, tickets,
handbills, and so on that make one feel part of the ship. TK and I were thoroughly engaged with the workers
and the passengers, and then the ports of call as the Titanic picked up passengers
in Southampton, Cherbourg, and Cobh.
Everyone knows the ending to this story. Toward the end of the museum experience,
Robert Ballard’s film of the Titanic undersea as it rests today was shown in the most unique
way, two stories down, under glass. We could see the fated ship as the camera passed over it—it
was almost as if we were viewing it from beneath the ocean too.
On a nearby wall was a list of the
survivors and those who died. I noted that there were three Phillips men who
died, and two Phillips ladies who survived.
There was a Bennett woman who survived, and a Walker male who died. An
estimated 1517 people died and 712 survived, 32% survivors. When one is introduced to this ship so
personally while walking through, and then feels the impact of the sinking ship
and the results, it is very very overwhelming.
The people of Belfast, who so proudly created this ship were monumentally
affected too.
At the very end there are placards that
state causes and changes since the Titanic:
- Weather-- I did not realize that the weather had been a little warmer
and the icebergs floated further south into the planned route of the Titanic.
The
warm and wet year 1908 created the conditions for a huge iceberg to travel in
the early autumn of 1911 near southwest Greenland. Today the U.S. Coast Guard monitors icebergs.
- Ice
Warnings—necessary but not
done
- Binoculars—no binoculars in the crow’s nest. That is
a maritime regulation today
- Speed---the captain did not feel the ship should slow down, that it
could plow through the ice
- Flooding—bulkheads were not high enough to prevent water from flowing
over them
- Lifeboats—there were 20 lifeboats, but they were sent off with few people
in them. Also, there weren’t enough lifeboats. Today there has to be lifeboats
with capacity for every passenger and crew.
- Evacuation—lack of safety drills. Today cruise ships
cannot leave port until every passenger has viewed the TV safety drill and
reported to their Muster Station (this is how Princess does it)
- Distress Calls---the nearest ship did not hear the
distress call because the crew member had gone to bed. Today someone must
monitor the radio system 24 hours in every ship at sea.
After this emotional visit, we toured the SS
Nomadic, the last remaining White Star Line ship in the world.
It served as a tender boat for the Titanic and other White Star ships. It was much larger and opulent than any tender
I have been on!!
SS Nomadic, a Tender boat
A beautful interior on a tender, like I have never seen!!
I really hate to say this, but now TK has caught the same disease I have--taking photos in the bathroom, today on the Nomadic---------------I don't know if this is the sink or urinal and I
am not going to ask
Toilet paper holder
Toilet part
Aside to Donna: We need to lobby for tenders like this
again!!
We hopped on another bus to go to St.
George’s Market and Victoria Square. This time I found sfogiatelle, the best
pastry on the planet—called “shell” here in Belfast, but the vendor was Sicilian. Florida, Trader Joe's, Germany, now Ireland! This little Italian pastry goes far!
Janie at the Market in Belfast
Cheeses
Italian baked goods, including sfogiatelle
Janie's favorite (top right)
Many items for sale at the market
On our way back to the ship-------------------
The
two great yellow-painted gantry cranes Samson and Goliath have
become
icons of Belfast, dominating the entire city skyline.
Constructed to service
the vast new graving dock at
Harland and Wolff, Goliath (the smaller at
315 ft)
began work in 1969, and the 348 ft Samson five years later
After dinner I went to the Production show,
“John and Paul.” These two men from Liverpool sound exactly like Beatles John
and Paul—and they played early favorites. Priming us for Liverpool tomorrow!!
I also stayed in the theater for Pete Best, who came on
the ship for a program. TK knew who he was, and I bet some of you do too—the Fifth
Beatle! He told wonderful anecdotes about how they played in his mother’s
Coffee House, the Casbah, played in Hamburg, Germany, and some troubles they
got into. I read about him before the show
at https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/pete-best/
It is late now and I do have nice photos,
but I fear I must get off to bed for another early start tomorrow. I’m hoping I wake up to a text from my brother
about the “Gender Reveal” party we are missing tonight in the States!
