Dear Darren,A slight correction; the Ship of Dreams exhibit in fact has MANY artifacts, just none raised during salvage efforts. Many of the items in SOD, such as deck chairs, woodwork, life vest, life boat name plaque and flag, life ring, passenger belongings, were actually on the ship or were once part of the vessel. The only difference is they were recovered from the surface debris in the immediate wake of the sinking and were not raised during modern salvage efforts. This in no way dimminishes thier historical importance one single bit. In fact, many of the artifacts in SOD, (such as the woodwork from Titanic), afford us a rare look at the ship which salvage efforts can simply not present. i.e., When was the last time you saw one of the salvage subs bring up a section of elegantly carved railing from the Titanic's 1st class aft grand staircase? Well, they have a section of this raling, which you can no longer see even on the wreck, in SOD. Also presented in SOD are telegrams and personal correspondance from those who sailed on the doomed vessel. Reading such bits of history gives me a far better understanding of the HUMAN toll and impact of Titanic than I could ever experience from looking at some forensically cleaned china wares, or a cracked and corroded porthole. As far as exhibitions go, Ship of Dreams in Orlando in an excellent example of how to present the Titanic to the public in a well rounded and respectful way. It has authentic historical artifacts, accurate recreations of on board life, and also presents enough of a variety of objects associated with the great ship that one is allowed to experience a real feeling for all the varied elements of the Titanic's amazing saga. Just my opinion. Regards, Steve Santini.
