Review by Gareth and Genevieve Mc Bride
During a recent trip to Las Vegas to cover the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, we had the chance to visit the beautiful Luxor hotel and resort to explore and cover the Titanic exhibit. The exhibit has toured various cities prior to arriving at the Luxor where it will be in residence for ten years.
The exhibit is comprised of pictures, recreations, and artifacts from the doomed luxury liner and is a very captivating and moving experience. Guests have the option to do a self-guided tour or to use an audio device which provides a greater depth of understanding to what they see as they walk through the exhibit.
We opened the visit by posing for pictures on a recreation of the bow of the ship before moving into the first room which was comprised of pictures and text concerning the building of the ship as well as displays of the rivets and other parts that went into the construction.
Photography and video recording are not allowed during the tour, which is a smart move. To appreciate the moving and memorable accounts of individuals on the ship one has to be “present” and view the display with their own eyes, and not through the viewfinder of their camera. To be touched by the vast array of everyday items ranging from dishes to brushes and razors means you are connecting to the story behind every item.
One room contained a re-creation of what a First Class cabin looked like. In today’s currency, the room would cost over $100,000 while a Steerage class ticket would be about $900.00 if bought today. This helped illustrate the wide gaps in diversity of the ship’s passengers which ran from the social elite to immigrants on their way to what they hoped was a better life in America.
The brief, personal biographies of several passengers and crew that adorned the walls provided a glimpse into the life and social structure of the era. In each story there was hope and promise that was heartbreaking knowing the stark reality of the doomed voyage.
A recreation of the Grand Staircase was an elegant find and also allowed us another opportunity to pose for pictures which we were able to view and purchase at the well-stocked gift shop at the end of the tour.
It also served in some ways as a transitional point in the tour as we soon came upon a recreation of the dark night where the liner met her fate. The room was chilled and had an ice wall to help simulate what a night in the North Atlantic was like.
A computerized re-enactment outlined how the ship struck the iceberg and how flooding resulted which doomed the unsinkable ship. It pointed out how such decisions like removing lifeboats to improve aesthetics, not having binoculars for the crew, running full speed into a known ice area combined with the calm and dark conditions made for sadly disastrous maiden voyage.
Another area contained a hanging piece of the ship’s hull which weighed several tons. It was the largest part of the ship recovered to date and was also difficult to transport. The room also contained information on the salvage process of the ship and shared more amazing facts.
When you start the tour you are given the name of an actual passenger and upon completion of the tour, you are able to look up the passenger and see if they were among the 700 or so who survived the
disaster. There was a segment about the last survivor from the ship who recently passed away as well as one on how the disaster caused several changes to maritime rules to prevent a disaster like this from ever happening again.
Aside from the tragic loss of life, we were moved by the response of ships such as the RMS Carpathia which was first on the scene to rescue survivors. Upon receiving the radio message they sped to aid the sinking ship and arrived as dawn broke to pull the survivors to safety.
The exhibit was as fascinating as it was moving and for a history buffs, highly enlightening. When combined with the Luxor’s numerous shows, attractions, shops, and dining experiences that are offered, this is a must-visit attraction when in Las Vegas.
