on that filled the width of the ship on D Deck. For those who desired a more intimate atmosphere, Titanic also offered a stately le carte restaurant, the chic Palm Court, and Verandah restaurant, and the festive caf Parisien. She offered two musical ensembles (rather than the standard one) of the best musicians on the planet, many of them lured from rival liners. There were two libraries, first- and second-class. Even the third class (steerage) cabins were more luxurious than the first-class cabins on some lesser steam ships, and boasted amenities (like indoor toilet facilities) that some of the Titanic’s emigrant passengers had not enjoyed in their own homes (Paramount 3).The original design called for 32 lifeboats. However, White Star Management felt that the boat-deck would not look cluttered, and reduced the number to twenty, for a total lifeboat capacity of 1178. This actually exceeded the regulations of the times, even though the Titanic was capable of carrying over 3500 people (passengers and crew) (4).The journey began at South Hampton on Wednesday, April 10, 1912 at noon. By sundown, Titanic stopped in Cherbourg, France, to pick up additional passengers. That evening she sailed for Queenstown, Ireland, and at 1:30 PM on Thursday, April 11, she headed out into the Atlantic (4).The seasoned transatlantic passengers were deeply impressed by the new ship. She was so massive that they barely felt the movement of the sea at all. Her huge, powerful engines produced almost none of the annoying vibration common to other steamers, and their noise was barely perceptible. And she achieved this extraordinary level of comfort while traveling at 22 knots, not the fastest boat on the route, but certainly one of the top five (5).Weather was pleasant and clear, and the water temperature was about 55 degrees. The winter of 1912 had been unusually mild, and unpredictable amounts of ice had broken loose from arctic regions. Ti...
