Just Cruises Plus

We had a record response to our trivia question, “What was the name of the man who canceled his sailing on the Titanic, was a railroad tycoon, had controlling interest in the White Star Line and whose name is associated with a major investment bank?”  We did not fool very many of you.  Of 38 responses to our Titanic trivia question,  31 were correct.   Congratulations to Lisa Torre of Roslyn, PA, our gift card winner, whose name was randomly drawn from those who responded correctly. 

The correct answer is JP Morgan, who had his own private suite and promenade deck on the Titanic.  It is said that he was supposed to join her for her maiden voyage, but canceled passage. 

Some folks thought that the owner was J. Bruce Ismay.  However, he was the managing director of White Star Line and survived the sinking.  He has been severely criticized for his behavior during the sinking.  It has been said that he ordered Captain Smith to run the ship fast despite warnings of ice.  He was also alleged to have dressed up as a woman in order to get into a lifeboat.  There is no evidence to support these charges but just the fact that he survived made him unpopular with the press.

There were also a couple of  “Alfred Vanderbilt” responses.  That response is fascinating because Alfred died in the sinking of the Lusitania which was torpedoed during WWI.  Ironically, he had been scheduled to cruise on Titanic’s disastrous maiden voyage 3 years earlier but cancelled at the last minute.

Exactly 100 years ago at 11:40 PM on Saturday night, the Titanic struck an iceberg.  Less than 3 hours later on Sunday morning, she was gone along with more than 1500 people.