Roberta Maioni

[Andrew Maheux]

Hi, In Roberta's account of the voyage featured here on her biography page, she says that on the fatefull Sunday evening, she went to the music room to listen to the band. Does she mean the Lounge?

Thanks

Andrew Maheux
(pronounced- Mayhew)

 

[Charles Provost]

She most probably meant the Reception Room, on D-deck, adjoining the dining saloon.

Hope I helped!

Charles

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

I agree with Charles. My guess is that she dined in the Maids' and Valet's saloon on C deck. When dinner was over, she descended one deck to join the Countess and listened to the music that was being played in the D deck reception room.

Daniel.

 

[Andrew Maheux]

Good point that does make sense. Thank you both for helping me.

Andrew Maheux

 

[Charles Provost]

You're welcome.

 

[Brittany Perera]

Hello everyone! I'm new here. I have been longing to know if anyone has more information about Roberta Elizabeth Mary Maioni? More than her passenger profile on this site. Like who was the steward she was in love with? I would really appreciate any sort of feedback. Thank you.

Brittany

 

[Kyrila Scully]

Hello, Brittany,

I'm sure Bob Godfrey will jump in soon with his theories, as he's been narrowing down the list of suspects, but "Cissie" Maioni never revealed who the man was. I understand she slept with some sort of remembrance of him under her pillow each night, but I can't remember what it was. Someone else is bound to know. She took the secret to her grave. Isn't that romantic?

Kyrila

 

[mary mason]

i think the reminder was a little white star pin

 

[Brittany Perera]

I think it was most likely a bedroom steward, but I do not know. I am just presuming. Thanks for you help.

Brittany

 

[Bob Godfrey]

I'm keeping quiet while I investigate the usual suspects, but I think it unlikely that the gentleman in question was a bedroom steward. Cissy's family maintained that he was a very young man and the bedroom stewards were of fairly mature years (possibly White Star policy). The keepsake was one of the star-shaped badges worn by the crew, on stewards' caps for instance.

I have doubts that true love could have blossomed in the space of a few days, especially since stewards had very little free time, and it's possible that the depth of their relationship may have 'grown in the telling' over the years. A poem about Titanic and a written account of her experience on the ship show that Cissy had a very lively imagination.

 

[Brynda B]

I know the name of the steward she was in love with. She met him before they sailed. He signed on in a hurry to be with her when he found out she was going to be sailing. They were in love and planned to be married eventually.}} If anyone is interested in this story let me know as I don't really want to post on here exactly "how" I know.

 

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

Letters reveal heroism and family love of Titanic steward from Portsmouth who perished in disaster

Two heart-rending letters that capture a tragic Titanic steward's devotion to duty and family have come to light.

web.archive.org

 

[Yuriko Cheng]

So I'm marking the Titanic's 110th anniversary by reviving a three-year-old thread, haha.

In My Maiden Voyage, Roberta Maioni said that she was helped into one of the lifeboats by 'an elderly officer, tears streaming down his cheeks...He was Captain Smith—the master of that ill-fated vessel.' Now, unless I'm very much mistaken, Captain Smith remained on the bridge the entire time the lifeboats were being loaded except for occasional trips to the wireless shack. None of the other survivors mention seeing the Captain anywhere near the lifeboats that night. Since My Maiden Voyage was written in 1926, it's possible that Miss Maioni's memories simply got muddled the way they tend to do over time. But if Miss Maioni wasn't referring to the Captain when she penned My Maiden Voyage and she knows that it wasn't the Captain, then she was either embellishing or else outright lying in her account.

This inaccuracy suggests that parts of her accounts of her experience on the Titanic could have been similarly made up or exaggerated or simply confused. Miss Maioni's Titanic legacy is for the 'real-life Jack-and-Rose-esque' love story that supposedly happened when she fell in love with a steward whom gave her a White Star badge for safekeeping before he perished in the Atlantic. The story itself seems...........not very plausible to me for a lot of reasons. Yet Miss Maioni did have the White Star pin, proving that something happened between her and a crew member onboard.

So, what does everyone think? Could there have been some other way she acquired the badge? Or did a shipboard romance really happen and I'm just too cynical to believe it?

 

[Thomas Krom]

He was Captain Smith—the master of that ill-fated vessel.' Now, unless I'm very much mistaken, Captain Smith remained on the bridge the entire time the lifeboats were being loaded except for occasional trips to the wireless shack. None of the other survivors mention seeing the Captain anywhere near the lifeboats that night.

Captain Smith helped with the loading and lowering of lifeboat number 8, 6 and 2 during the sinking and was seen near lifeboat number 12 as well, however he didn't had an active role in it's loading or lowering there.

 

[Yuriko Cheng]

Do you have a source on Captain Smith's movements? I'm sorry, it's just that I was always under the impression that the Captain never left the bridge.