Take a tour inside Titanic 2 as Clive Palmer unveils ambitious plans

Feb 27th 2013, 05:49 | By Kate Gilbert | Add comment

Costumes for everyone, Irish jigs in third class & plenty of lifeboats…

The plans for Titanic II have been unveiled, revealing there will be three classes, the same food menus, period costumes and identical interior decoration.

The man behind the adventurous project, mining tycoon Clive Palmer, revealed his plans for the boat at a press conference yesterday.

'Titanic was the ship of dreams, Titanic II is the ship where dreams come true,' he said.

Passengers can choose to stay in the lavish first class cabins or experience the Irish drums, stew and shared bathrooms of third class.

'That'll be where the most fun will be,' Palmer said at the conference.

'For me that's the great adventure. I can sit down there, have some Irish stew, talk to somebody and at night I can get up and do the Irish jig. It'll be a great place to be.'

Each passenger will also get a period costume relative to which class ticket they hold.

40,000 people have reportedly already registered for tickets to be on the maiden voyage, with Palmer saying people 'want something a little bit different, an experience.'

'We thought it would have a lot of appeal. We didn't know how much appeal, but certainly we've found it's had enormous appeal. And financially very strong as well ... it's going to be a blockbuster.'

One of the top 100 richest men in the world, Australian Palmer will be funding the project himself, but declined to comment on how much it is estimated to cost.

Whilst the exterior and interior will match the original 1912 Titanic as closely as possible, there have been a few mod cons added such as a 400 seat theatre, a casino, air-conditioning throughout, and obviously some safety improvements.

The ship will have 18 modern lifeboats, with the capacity of carrying the ships 2,435 passengers and 900 crew members.

Markku Kanerva, the director of sales for marine design company Deltamarine, who are overseeing the project, told reporters at the press conference that Titanic II would be 'the most safe cruise ship when it is launched,' ironically mimicking the claims of an 'unsinkable ship.'

The vessel is due to set sale at the end of 2016, following the same route from Southampton to New York.

The project has raised criticism, being dubbed 'morbid' and disrespectful to the 1,523 people that were killed when the original ship sank in 1912.

Take a tour inside Titanic II...

The grand staircase is one of the most recognisable features of Titanic (can't you see Leonardo DiCaprio standing at the top waiting for Kate?) and is the focal point of first class. Oak paneling mixed with carvings of fruit and foliage sit underneath the dominant wrought iron and glass dome, at the centre of which sits a 50 light crystal chandelier.