Titanic memorial cruise sets sail

Relatives of survivors and those who perished on the doomed Titanic were among the passengers waving goodbye on the memorial cruise ship that set sail from the English port of Southampton

There are more than 1,300 passengers aboard the Titanic memorial cruise. It will retrace the ship's historic journey before it crashed into an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic ocean in 1912.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MILES MORGAN TRAVEL, MILES MORGAN, SAYING:

"For an awful lot of those people I've spoken to the cruise is absolutely the perfect way for them to commemorate their loved ones who passed away from 100 years ago."

Philip Littlejohn's grandfather Alexander was a 1st class Steward aboard the original Titanic. He survived but was haunted for the rest of his life by those who died.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) PHILIP LITTLEJOHN, AUTHOR AND GRANDSON OF TITANIC SURVIVOR, ALEXANDER LITTLEJOHN, SAYING:

"I did know my grandfather but I was only 5 years old at the time. But it wouldn't have made any difference if I was 55 because he never talked about it. There was a certain amount of guilt amongst male survivors that they had survived when women and children had gone down."

Mary Beth Crocker waited six months to go on her honey moon aboard the Titanic.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) AMERICAN HONEYMOONER, MARY-BETH CROCKER, SAYING:

"We've had an interest in the Titanic for a really long time. We live in a historic district in the Midwest and we love historic preservation, history, costume history, you know all sorts of things like that. So that was one of the main reasons why we came. We also wanted an adventure."

While aboard, guests can attend lectures and events that bring new life to the Titanic's story, which ended in tragedy with the deaths of 1,514 people.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) AUTHOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TITANIC INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY, CHARLES HAAS, SAYING:

"I believe also that for many people based on what we have seen in the past this is going to be a profoundly moving and emotional experience. And again, speaking from the standpoint of a retired teacher, it is going to offer many, many teachable moments about Titanic and its impact on the world."

Another memorial cruise is setting sail from New York.

Jessica Gray, Reuters