Third Class separated families on the same deck

[Asianyiah Solomon]

Hello everyone,

I already know about the whole women/family and single men berthing places and how families could be separated, with mother and daughter (s) aft and father and older son (s) forward. What I'm wondering about is if the separated families were cabined on the same deck as much as possible, or did it not matter?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Arun Vajpey]

What I'm wondering about is if the separated families were cabined on the same deck as much as possible, or did it not matter?

Good question. I think Thomas Krom would be in a better position to answer that but IMO, they would try to berth them on the same deck if at all possible. I think if there were 4 or more people in the same "family", they stood a much better chance of finding a cabin for themselves.

As I mentioned in another thread, this would be a problem that most shipping lines would have faced at the time, at the height of emigration from various home countries into the "New World". We know with hindsight that in 1912 there were still decades left where sea travel would be the principal route for that emigration as well as holiday crossings; also, although tapering off slowly, ambitions for a 'new life' in America were still very much present. So, there would be many couples, relatives, friends etc travelling together, not all with children. So, accommodating all of them in a "moralistically correct" manner would have been something of an exercise; also, since Third Class passengers were the bread and butter of most shipping lines, competitive companies might have been tempted to offer more acceptable incentives and options.

 

[Asianyiah Solomon]

Good question. I think Thomas Krom would be in a better position to answer that but IMO, they would try to berth them on the same deck if at all possible. I think if there were 4 or more people in the same "family", they stood a much better chance of finding a cabin for themselves.

As I mentioned in another thread, this would be a problem that most shipping lines would have faced at the time, at the height of emigration from various home countries into the "New World". We know with hindsight that in 1912 there were still decades left where sea travel would be the principal route for that emigration as well as holiday crossings; also, although tapering off slowly, ambitions for a 'new life' in America were still very much present. So, there would be many couples, relatives, friends etc travelling together, not all with children. So, accommodating all of them in a "moralistically correct" manner would have been something of an exercise; also, since Third Class passengers were the bread and butter of most shipping lines, competitive companies might have been tempted to offer more acceptable incentives and options.

I agree with you.
I was reluctant to put my protagonist with his father on, let's say, G Deck, while mother and sister are all the way up on E Deck; especially, taking into account how the White Star Line did its best to offer all of its passengers luxuries they wouldn't find on other liners, and this included the steerage. Still, I thought it would be nice to see someone else's opinion on the matter.