To mark the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the Titanic wreck by Dr Robert Ballard, Titanic Belfast will be holding a live Q&A with him from 5pm – 6pm on 1st September 2015.
Titanic Belfast
Titanic Belfast is an iconic six-floor building in the spot where the ship was designed and launched. Its nine galleries help you explore the sights, sounds, smells and stories of Titanic, as well as the city and people who made her.
We’ve been there and it’s great.
It’s high tech – one of the galleries is a a 3d screening room where guests are transported onto Titanic’s deck promenade where you can virtually walk on deck, look out to sea, hear the ocean, hold onto the railings and feel the ships engines rumbling as if you were on the ship itself. Of course, there’s a depiction of the famous staircase, immortalised in James Cameron’s movie, which was inspired by the staircase at Belfast City Hall.
State-of-the-art, for the time, facilities on board Titanic included a gym, pool, Turkish bath, squash court and a kennel for first class dogs. Updates to the exhibition include use of a “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion with Fredrick Dent Ray, a dining room steward and survivor. Visitors will hear what it was like to work on board at the Palm Court Café.
The Titanic lunch menu for 14th April 1912
Titanic Belfast – recreation of the cabins
Original footage of the launch is projected onto huge windows, slowly revealing the slipway outside where the ship was actually launched.
Original footage of the Titanic launch in Belfast
Outside is a life-size plan of Titanic’s Promenade Deck which is inlaid in white stone, where the ship would have been constructed, outlining where the liner’s lifeboats and funnels and benches on board would have been. Quite an impressive effect.
Titanic Belfast – ship outline
A gentle ride in a gondola takes you into the shipyard where you can see a recreation of the ship being built – hear the sound of rivets being hammered in and feel the heat of the molten metal.
The Shipyard ride – a much gentler way to discover working conditions at the docks
There’s a darkened room where just the sound of the morse code messages are heard and the sight of bobbing lights of the survivors’ life jackets. It’s quite moving after the excitement and excess of its ambitious creation.
The unsinkable Titanic
All Aboard – dressing up for the official photo at Titanic Belfast.
Titanic now lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, nearly two and a half miles (4000m) below sea level. There is no light at this great depth and little life can be found. At Titanic Belfast, visitors can view Dr Ballard’s high definition footage of what Titanic looks like today and can learn more about individual items in the wreckage using the interactive pods.
Where to stay in Belfast
Standing high on the slopes of the Holywood Hills, overlooking Belfast Lough and the County Antrim Coastline, is the magnificent Culloden Estate and Spa, Northern Ireland’s most prestigious hotel. It’s grand and luxurious and they bake an astounding Guinness bread.
A long night for “MANinBelfast” at The Culloden Hotel
Another option is the first 5 star guest house in Northern Ireland – Rayanne House with the best Irish breakfasts you’ll ever have. Think pork and prune sausages, black and white pudding and potato bread. Also on offer is a nine course “Titanic Dinner”
The award-winning Rayanne House in Belfast
Belfast – top city, highly recommended.
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