I wonder if they will have problems booking her?

If they don't have (undesirable) steerage, and a lot of it, it won't be a true replica. Now, will it?

We also now know that TITANIC's rudder should have had a larger surface area for improved maneuverability - should that improvement NOT be included in a new build? Will she burn coal?

The idea of a true replica is misguided. You cannot re-create the artistry and craftsmanship of the old days and its not right to refrain from utilizing improvements in navigation, engineering and safety technologies.

Some of these TV documentaries take a little liberty with the truth. Somebody probably told them "We're going to build it! We've got the financing! We're talking to shipyards! We're going to have her in the water by 2001!" and the TV show dutifully reports that TITANIC 2 will be plying the Caribbean a week Thursday.

This is of course, one of the fantasies about historic recreations. You can never truly recreate the past because the audience is in the present. The "residents" of Historic Williamsburg drive home to their modern houses at night and the guests stay in modern hotels instead of inns.

Having vented over this, let me say that I'm actually a big fan of that type of thing. I LOVE historical recreations. I just don't kid myself that I've truly stepped back in time.

By the way, I don't believe the story-line of Cameron's movie could have ever really happened either. Loved the ship, hated the movie.

"Exact" may have been my addition. I believe the program stated that they would replicate the design and interior furnishings. By today's standards, do you think that it would have the same feel of opulence?

1 - Nobody will tolerate steerage.
2 - Stokers are non-necessary because the engines will be diesel, like it or not.
3 - Only the spirit of the original will be left intact, i.e., she'll only look like the original. First class might still be included, but if you consider the alleged passage rates (generally anyplace between $10,000 and $30,000 US for a transatlantic!), the entire ship will be first class.
4 - Technologically speaking, she HAS TO BE state of the art because SOLAS regulations will not allow anything less.
5 - It will never happen because of the money and the superstition.

Concentration camps still exist, such as Auschwitz in Poland. People can still go too see it, if they require a reminder.

To recreate a model of the TITANIC, to me, is to make light of the fundemental tragedy of the sinking. Beneath all the hyperbole and films and all of that, lies a truly tragic story about arrogance, intolerance and death. It's not something to be made "trendy" or "hip". "Hey, let's sail on the TITANIC replica, and stand in the same place where the Strauses croaked together!"

I thought it was awful when they started bringing up artifacts. The show has been in Philadelphia, but I did not go and see it.

I did go and see the Titanic exhibition in London. I'm torn in half by the concept of recovering artifacts for the Titanic! Yes it's a grave, but it's also history. Museums would not exist without recovered artifacts from war and tragedy etc.

Someone made the point that there was nothing on the Titanic that is not in everyday use in our own houses. It's recent history. It can be argued that artifacts are only being recovered for morbid reasons.

I do think Museums go too far when they display bones and skulls. These belonged to real living people after all!

I just solved the problem! They should make a replica 'Olympic' instead I can't belive that they actually scrapped her!

Thanks again for your input, my friend. Regarding the OLYMPIC: I saw a documentary on the White Star Trio some months ago, and they said, when the OLYMPIC was sold for scrap, the sale of most of her fittings did not go as well as had been hoped because in 1935, people thought her interiors were too dated...can you believe that? Thank God her 1st class dining room staircase and some of her veneers were saved, Celebrity made a smart move in purchasing them, I am sure they are lovely...we never appreciate things until they are gone. And by the time Art Deco came back in vogue in the 60's and 70's the majority of liners featuring that particular decor had been scrapped.

Olympic Dinning Room (Millenium)