Captain's impeccable timing

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Our captain’s timing was impeccable yesterday with the first words of his daily noon cruise report.

A few seconds either way and Captain Robert Bamberg would not have attracted the applause of passengers in the Neptune Lounge who were listening to authors Jack Eaton and Charles Haas present their talk, A Titanic Mythallany.

Jack was saying the lack of a public address system was the one factor above all others, including the shortage of lifeboats, that had contributed to the loss of at least 400+ lives in the Titanic disaster when …. “Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking,” could be heard throughout the Balmoral.

More than 400 people died for no other reason than the lack of communication onboard the Titanic. While the available lifeboats could seat about 1600 people, 400+ seats were empty.

Jack said public address systems were not introduced to cruise ships until some years after the disaster. The only means Titanic crew had to alert passengers of the impending tragedy was to knock on doors. Captain Smith had only a loud hailer, which wasn’t sufficient enough to be heard on a ship the length of three American football fields and over the voices of people making their ways to the lifeboats.

In less than 24 hours, on Sunday, April 15, 2012, we’ll be listening to the onboard Vicar conduct a memorial service for all those lost in that disaster 100 years ago. We expect his voice will be heard on the ship’s public address system.

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Photos

Jack & Charles
Authors Jack Eaton and Charles Haas autograph copies of their books.

Book signing queue
The line-up for Jack and Charles's autographs.