EXHIBIT ABOUT THE MIGHTY TITANIC DOES NOT DISAPPOINT

By Sharon Schultz

When I received the email from the event promoter, Fever, announcing the Baltimore premier of “Titanic: An Immersive Voyage,” I did not go immediately to tickets and click purchase as I have in the past. I hesitated. Only months ago, I had experienced the magnificent Titanic Belfast museum in Northern Ireland. I stood in the place where the Titanic had been built! It did not get better than that.

The tragedy of the RMS Titanic has mystified the inquisitive from every generation for the last hundred plus years. Like millions of fans around the world, I, too, am mesmerized by the legend of the unsinkable luxury liner that sank to the bottom of the sea. 

Belfast’s Titanic Experience is about the ship, from the people who designed the plans, to the workers who willingly put their blood, sweat, and tears into the massive build. Their stories are paramount, set among artifacts recreating the atmosphere of that time. The Titanic Experience in Belfast visually describes the planning and construction of the massive ocean liner in the very place where it happened. The modernistic design of the building presents the illusion of a stone monument rising out of the earth. The enormous structure is indeed fitting to house the story of the mysterious ship on which the hopes of so many rested on its decks and in the cabins below.

I encountered my first Titanic Museum several years ago. Titanic Queenstown in Cobh, Ireland, is housed inside the old White Star Line terminal and tells the story of the Irish immigrants who were the last passengers to board the ill-fated ship before it sailed to its watery grave in the Atlantic Ocean. We saw how the working-class passengers appreciated the limited spaces they were allotted aboard the ship, and the meager meals, as well. Yet the atmosphere seemed hopeful. Standing on the remains of the same dock where the Irish passengers waited for the tender that would take them to the great ship anchored just off the harbor, I felt their excitement, their anxiety, and their fear of the unknown. I felt the hope they held for a better life.

Two years ago, the Titanic Expo came to Maryland’s National Harbor for a limited engagement. At that time, my only Titanic experience had been at the White Star exhibit in Cobh, Ireland, so I was eager for more and I was not disappointed. It was all there: the formal staircase, the corridors with glass paneled doors, the staterooms, the underclass bunks, the glitz, the glamour, and the reality. I remember being very pleasantly surprised by the totality of the presentation I had mislabeled as just a traveling show. and I almost did it again.

Regarding the email from Fever, I did not hesitate that long. That afternoon I had my ticket for opening day to see Titanic: An Immersive Voyage at the Power Plant at the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. The event did not disappoint.

Titanic: An Immersive Voyage is a wonderland of colorful, virtual imagery cleverly blended alongside related innate objects. Amazing is the word that comes to mind. The virtual scenes put you right there, surrounded by tangible objects and life-size sets that lend even more realism to the story. The huge smokestacks that are center stage inside the old power plant easily take on the role of shipboard smokestacks. The realism was spot on. 

The Immersive Voyage is a self-guided tour that takes guests through a visually stunning timeline in April 1912, detailing everything that a passenger on the Titanic would have experienced from the moment of boarding to the ship’s demise. There were the usual artifacts on display, as well some I had never seen, in sparkling glass cases placed throughout the expo.

Each of these Titanic collections had some things in common, as expected. However each told the story from a unique perspective. In Belfast, it was about the planning and construction of the Titanic, while in Cobh, it was about the Irish immigrants leaving for America. The Titanic Expo in National Harbor was an impressive display of artifacts and visual images that highlighted individual passengers and crew members. But Titanic: An Immersive Voyage allows visitors to be there and feel the experience, with the assistance of virtual reality.

The Baltimore exhibit offers the exclusive opportunity to take a deep-sea dive 2.5 miles down to the ocean floor, to explore the wreckage of the Titanic – virtually! Simply wear the provided VR headset and follow the yellow brick road. A voice will guide you as you self-tour your way into a submersible that will take you down below the ocean’s surface to see the virtual wreckage. The extra fee for the VR experience is nominal and worth the cost, but this optional thrill is not for the faint of heart, or weak stomachs. I did not know that virtual deep-sea diving may trigger a non-virtual onset of seasickness! 

Titanic: An Immersive Voyage, opened at the Power Plant in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on March 13, 2026, and will reside in that space until May 30, 2026. Paid parking is available nearby. Admission varies in price: $18-26, plus VIP extras. To buy tickets and find additional information, go to https://www.expo-titanic.com/baltimore/.

Sharon Schultz is a retired freelance photojournalist and proud Bay Boomer.