Titanic: The Exhibition

I’ve always been very curious about man-made disasters, even from a young age. The first disaster being the sinking of the Titanic. I was both horrified and intrigued by how the grandest ocean liner of its time could slip away to the bottom of the Atlantic on its maiden voyage. Even worse, I was shocked by how many people died such a preventable death due to both arrogance and negligence. The irony of branding the Titanic as “The Unsinkable Ship.”

I don’t know where my morbid curiosity comes from. Maybe I have this sense of duty to educate myself on past disasters to cope and prepare myself for the future horrors of the world. However, it seems to only make me more paranoid and fearful of any form of transportation. I’ve been terrified to step foot on a cruise ship since learning about the Titanic. You could say my fear is quite irrational, considering a mass casualty event involving a cruise ship is extremely rare. I’ll be dismantling this fear very soon, hopefully with great success.

Even so, my fascination with the Titanic is never ending. When I saw this exhibit would be coming to NYC, I was automatically interested. Tickets seemed to be very pricey, but judging from reviews, people enjoyed the experience. Overall, I was underwhelmed by the exhibition. You mostly walk around the museum space listening to the guide on a headset, looking at pictures on the wall. I had envisioned a more interactive experience, in which you could take photos in replicated settings from the Titanic like the Grand Staircase. There was a small recreation of Titanic’s hallways but it is hard to take a photo with no one in the background during crowded times. The most interactive experience I got at the exhibit was the iceberg you were allowed to touch to get a sense of how cold the Atlantic Ocean was on that dreaded night.

One of the highlights of the exhibit were the personal items on display that have been preserved from both victims and survivors of the disaster, including jewelry, clothing, postcards and letters. There isn’t much in the museum that is actually from the Titanic however. Many of the recreations and artifacts come from the Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship that was commissioned in 1911. It is understandable why they have few artifacts from the ship herself. It took us 73 years to find her location on the ocean floor. Not much of the ship seems to be preserved or salvageable after the damaged it has sustained. It is still fascinating that parts of the Olympic have been maintained after all these years.

The guided tour was very informative and provided an in-depth look into the stories of many victims and survivors onboard the ship. I found the misconception that all third-class passengers were poor most interesting. Most people had to save up money for at least five years to afford a third-class ticket to emigrate to America. While I felt the exhibition experience was lacking, the historical background given by the guided tour of the Titanic was great. I also found the tickets to be overpriced for this experience, but I did enjoy the information provided at the exhibit, so I guess it's up to your discretion if you want to spend your money on this type of exhibition. If you're a history buff and fascinated by the story of the Titanic, then you’ll enjoy this self-guided tour. The entire experience only takes about 90 minutes to get through, if you're not looking to spend a lot of time at this exhibit. If you’re like me and looking for an interactive IG hoe moment, then you might be disappointed.