Tuesday Trivia: Cal & Rose’s Suite

When I visited the Titanic Aquatic Exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium earlier this year, I tried to determine which of Titanic’s impressive suites Cal and Rose were supposed to have occupied in the movie. I came this this conclusion in my Titanic Aquatic post.

Cal and Rose’s stateroom was one of the 2 most luxurious suites on the Titanic. These promenade suites, 2 of the 4 parlour suites on B-Deck, B-51 and B-52, had their own private promenade decks, and went for $4,500 one-way ($78,950 in today’s money!). Bruce Ismay, the chairman and managing director of the White Star Line, occupied B-52 and 2 of the other B-Deck parlour suites, leaving Cal and Rose with B-51. In actuality, this suite was occupied by Mr. Thomas Drake Martinez Cardeza and his mother Mrs. James Warburton Martinez Cardeza. Other first-class suites went for about $2,500 (or $43,860 today).

But while doing some reading on the Titanic movie site, I came across this statement from the studio:

One of the era’s most powerful millionaires, J. P. Morgan also booked passage aboard Titanic, ultimately changing his mind 24 hours prior to the ship’s departure. It is his luxurious suite that Rose, Ruth and Cal occupy in the film. Who, if anyone, ultimately occupied this prestigious suite in real life remains a mystery to this day.

Afte some more research, it appears that there were 4 parlour suites on the Titanic (B-51, B-52, B-54, B-56). These were the most expensive rooms on the ship, and two of them had their own promenade decks. According to The Titanic (Geoff Tibballs, 1997),

In the midst of the assembled glitterati, there was one notable absentee. Suite number B52, the promenade suite opposite Mrs. Cardeza’s, was to have been occupied by J. Pierpont Morgan, the ship’s owner. But Morgan withdrew at the last minute, claiming that he was feeling unwell. . . . The suite, which had been designed to Morgan’s own specifications, was taken instead by J. Bruce Ismay along with his valet and secretary.

Bruce Ismay had rooms B52, B54, and B56; no word on why he needed such accommodations, but he was the head of the White Star and had an image to maintain—and a lousy image it was after the sinking. His B-52 suite was the port promenade suite, and B-51 was the starboard promenade suite. Charlotte Cardeza (Mrs. James Warburton Martinez Cardeza), a wealthy Philadelphian,  has been confirmed to have stayed in B-51 (and the two rooms attached to it, 53 and 55). Her entourage had the most luggage of any group on the ship (14 trunks, 4 suitcases, and 3 crates of baggage), and Charlotte was the disaster’s biggest insurance claimant (she filed for £36,567 in damages). These suites are depicted wonderfully in some interactive blueprints here.

Interestingly, in the movie’s screenplay, James Cameron writes that Cal and Rose stay in B52,  but that would be the wrong stateroom, unless the filmakers decided to switch Ismay’s room to B51. They must have supposed replacing the Cardeza’s with Cal and Rose (also wealthy Philadelphians with lots of cargo) to be the quietest option. It is impossible to tell definitively from the movie in which direction the ship is moving during Cal’s outburst which would decide if the room is on the port or starboard side, so we’ll just have to leave it at that.

~ by Lady Ashley on September 28, 2009.