Titanic II is happening

It's official: They're making Titanic II. No, thankfully, not the movie.

Plans to build an 883ft-long "full-scale re-creation" of the famous ocean liner that sunk in 1912 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic were announced at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum this week.

The brainchild of Australian mining magnate/Titanic fanboy Clive Palmer, the 55,800-ton luxury liner (to be built by Chinese firm CSC Jinling Shipyard) will hold 2,435 passengers and 900 crew, and feature Turkish baths, a casino, gym, swimming pool, and a theater -- where they'll be showing the movie Titanic on a continuous loop. Just kidding! That'd be so wrong.

In all seriousness though, the theater will be the ship's primary venue for entertainment, as Palmer's vision of voyaging back in time includes no Wi-Fi or TVs on board at all.

As you can imagine, replica Titanic II has created quite a stir, generating a heathy mix of both skepticism and offense.

"Titanic II is a curiosity and may have a draw as a floating hotel, but the idea of spending close to a week at sea on a vessel built around such a thin premise is seen as a stretch, at least by many within the industry", Cruise Week editor Michael Driscoll told USA Today.

According to J. Joseph Edgette, a cruise ship enthusiast and Titanic expert (as in, an expert on the Titanic -- not just a giant know-it-all), it's custom practice to never name a ship after one that has sunk. Clearly, Palmer missed the memo, though, as he's also named his cruise company Blue Star Line, in honor of the original Titanic's carrier, White Star Line.

Excited about the prospect of sailing on Titanic II? So excited that you just started quoting DiCaprio lines and humming Celine Dion? Please, stop. Also, you've got two years until this thing happens, so feel free to calm down; the ship's maiden voyage from Shanghai to Southampton in the UK, through to New York, isn't scheduled until late 2016.


Chloe Pantazi is an editorial assistant on Thrillist's travel team. She's not very good at sea. Follow her on land on Twitter at @ChloePantazi.