# I want to build Titanic II ! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807 "2017-11-05T19:51:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/1 "2017-11-05T19:51:01Z")
Let’s suppose my distant Piper cousin who made billions in Silicone Valley croaks and leaves his billions to me. I decide I want to re-create the _Titanic_ experience. I want to re-build it and sail from Southampton to New York. I’m willing to have some modern equivalents. Fuel oil instead of coal, to make fuelling easy. Non-brittle rivers and steel plates - no-brainer! Maybe even some night-time radar… And, of course, enough life boats for everyone on board. But all the hand-work, like the great staircase, has to be reproduced exactly, by hand. So, how much would it cost to build _Titanic II_? How much of my inheritance do I have to spend? And then, what would te operating cost be, for the trip to New York? What sort of rates would I have to charge to make a profit? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/2 "2017-11-05T20:00:44Z")
That should be “non-brittle rivets” of course. Non-brittle rivers are way too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/3 "2017-11-05T20:10:42Z")
[500 million](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_II). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/4 "2017-11-05T20:11:31Z")
You might want to build the iceberg out of soft rubber, though. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/5 "2017-11-06T00:54:43Z")
The SS United States failed in 1969, so I don’t think you have a good financial model! ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/6 "2017-11-06T05:53:28Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > The SS United States failed in 1969, so I don’t think you have a good financial model! Can not add to this answer. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/7 "2017-11-06T08:57:06Z")
Sadly for you, someone got there first: [Titanic II: We knew it was being rebuilt, but as these amazing new designs show, it really WILL be 1912 all over again | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287163/Titanic-II-We-knew-rebuilt-amazing-new-designs-really-WILL-1912-again.html) It seems that that project never got past the proposal stage though - maybe you could save money by taking Palmer’s ideas as a start. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/8 "2017-11-06T09:23:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So, how much would it cost to build _Titanic II_? How much of my inheritance do I have to spend? I have no clue. But I’ll book a first-class cabin, just because. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/9 "2017-11-06T09:26:28Z")
A lot of it will depend on the required material characteristics of the deck chairs. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/10 "2017-11-06T10:08:32Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I have no clue. But I’ll book a first-class cabin, just because. You might want to be careful. That 1st class parlor suite in the movie cost $4,350 in 1912. That is about $100,000 today. A simple berth in 1st class was about $3,500 in today’s dollars per person. It wasn’t cheap to travel on the Titanic or its sister ships. ---
**Author:** ![MedellinMike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@MedellinMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MedellinMike)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/11 "2017-11-06T11:33:10Z")
\*Titanic \*was about 52,000 tons. Looking at the following site: [http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/759-how-much-does-a-cruise-ship-cost](http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/759-how-much-does-a-cruise-ship-cost) ships in that weight range look to cost about $350 million. There is some variation based I expect on the luxury level of the ship. I’d assume 1/2 a billion or less should cover you. As big as _Titanic_ was, it’s 1/3 to 1/2 the tonnage of a lot of the cruise ships out there now. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/12 "2017-11-06T12:10:46Z")
There is another minor point that the people who could afford to pay for a cabin on a luxury liner, are not usually willing to take four or five days off to enjoy the amenities when they can fly over in as many hours. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/13 "2017-11-06T15:03:48Z")
> [@MedellinMike](#): > > \*Titanic \*was about 52,000 tons. Looking at the following site: > > [http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/759-how-much-does-a-cruise-ship-cost](http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/759-how-much-does-a-cruise-ship-cost) > > ships in that weight range look to cost about $350 million. There is some variation based I expect on the luxury level of the ship. I’d assume 1/2 a billion or less should cover you. > > As big as _Titanic_ was, it’s 1/3 to 1/2 the tonnage of a lot of the cruise ships out there now. I think you might be getting mixed up between tonnage and displacement - certainly the article you link to does. Tonnage is a measure of volume, and displacement is the weight of the ship. Confusingly, figures for both are colloquially given as ‘tons’, even thought they’re 2 completely different things - I think it might have been better if the former had continued to be spelled ‘tuns’. That figure you give for the weight of the Titanic is correct in being the displacement. The Titanic was built at a time when the figure for the tonnage, or volume, was still a bit less than the figure for displacement. As technology moved on the 2 figures became co-incidentally similar (c. 80,000) for the super-liners of the 1930s such as the Queen Mary and the Normandie. By the end of the century, ships had inflated like balloons, so that now the figure for the volume (tonnage) of the QM2 is 150,000 gross tons while the figure for displacement is at 79,000 tons, actually less than that for the Queen Mary. While a giant modern cruise ship will have a displacement twice or more that of the Titanic, its tonnage will be more like 4 or 5 times larger than the Titanic’s. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/14 "2017-11-06T16:04:30Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You might want to be careful. That 1st class parlor suite in the movie cost $4,350 in 1912. That is about $100,000 today. A simple berth in 1st class was about $3,500 in today’s dollars per person. It wasn’t cheap to travel on the Titanic or its sister ships. > [@bob\_2](#): > > There is another minor point that the people who could afford to pay for a cabin on a luxury liner, are not usually willing to take four or five days off to enjoy the amenities when they can fly over in as many hours. You’e both underestimating the market for the very rich. [See all seven continents in 357 days on the world’s longest cruise](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2016/10/10/worlds-longest-cruise-around-world/) > [@](#): > > If you’ve yet to make any plans for 2017 and have more than £125,000 to spare, a new year-long, around-the-world cruise might help you check some items off your travel bucket-list. > > The “World of Travel” cruise hits seven continents on seven different cruise lines, in a 357-day trip around the world. Lest you think that was a one-of-a-kind never to be repeated, here’s a whole page of very long cruises, [World Cruises 2018 and 2019](https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=514), with the high end on almost all of them in six figures. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/15 "2017-11-06T16:40:05Z")
Along similar lines, I’d like to see someone build a working Boeing 314 II . ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/16 "2017-11-06T16:49:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’e both underestimating the market for the very rich. > > [See all seven continents in 357 days on the world’s longest cruise](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2016/10/10/worlds-longest-cruise-around-world/) > > > [@](#): > > > > If you’ve yet to make any plans for 2017 and have more than £125,000 to spare, a new year-long, around-the-world cruise might help you check some items off your travel bucket-list. > > > > The “World of Travel” cruise hits seven continents on seven different cruise lines, in a 357-day trip around the world. For that kind of scratch, I wouldn’t expect to have to change ships six times. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/17 "2017-11-06T17:02:39Z")
Go high tech. You’re gonna need a hell of a 3D printer, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/18 "2017-11-06T17:35:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’e both underestimating the market for the very rich. > > [See all seven continents in 357 days on the world’s longest cruise](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2016/10/10/worlds-longest-cruise-around-world/) > > Lest you think that was a one-of-a-kind never to be repeated, here’s a whole page of very long cruises, [World Cruises 2018 and 2019](https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=514), with the high end on almost all of them in six figures. Hmm, my old sailing ship is looking for folks for their next world voyage. I think they leave in the spring. It’s not what anyone would refer to as luxurious. > [@blondebear](#): > > Along similar lines, I’d like to see someone build a working Boeing 314 II . I wish someone had kept one of the originals. A museum in Ireland has built a non-flying [replica](https://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/boeing-314-clipper-flying-boat-replica/) (well, most of one, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/19 "2017-11-06T17:43:03Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Along similar lines, I’d like to see someone build a working Boeing 314 II . I guess nothing has come of attempts to recover the sunken ones: [Money sought to retrieve submerged Boeing Flying Clippers](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/money-sought-to-retrieve-submerged-boeing-flying-clippers/) [The Sunken Clipper](http://www.panam.org/pan-am-stories/627-the-saga-of-the-sunken-clipper) But I would get in line for a ride on a 314 II, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807/20 "2017-11-06T20:17:09Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > A lot of it will depend on the required material characteristics of the deck chairs. If you do this, can I get a job rearranging those chairs? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-build-titanic-ii/800807.md?page=2)