Visiting The Titanic Cemetery in Halifax On Holland America Zuiderdam
Contributor Jackie Sheckler Finch visited the Titanic cemetery in Halifax during a Holland America Zuiderdam shore excursion. This fascinating visit to the site where most of the victims are buried brought history to life.
Why do people choose to take a particular cruise? Is it a certain ship they want to enjoy? Is it a destination they want to visit? Is it something they have read about a cruise line?
For Carolyn Matthews of Massachusetts, it was a combination of all three. Carolyn’s main goal was to visit the Titanic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where many who perished in the Titanic sinking are buried.
“I have been fascinated with the Titanic ever since I was a little girl and read about it in school,” Carolyn said. “Then I saw the Titanic movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and felt I learned more about the real people who went down with the ship and those who survived.”
When she heard that Holland America Line offers a cruise from Boston to Halifax, Carolyn said that made up her mind. “What’s a better way to go to Halifax than by ship?” she asked.
So, Carolyn and I were both on the Holland America Zuiderdam for the seven-day Canada & New England Circle cruise, going round-trip from Boston. Port stops included Saint John, New Brunswick; Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; a day at sea (Atlantic Ocean); Portland, Maine; and back in Boston, where we headed home.
Cruising on Holland America Zuiderdam
First, let me tell you about the lovely Zuiderdam. Launched in 2002, this mid-size ship with a maximum of 1,916 guests and a crew of 798 was the first in the Vista class of Holland America ships.
With elegant décor and wonderful works of art, Zuiderdam offers luxury without being overdone. Of course, the ship has pools, hot tubs, a fitness center, a casino, shops, a beauty salon, cafes and bars, a library, an impressive World Stage theater, and so much more.
On our cruise, Captain Mark Trembling said we had 1,854 passengers and 793 crew members. Passengers came from 12 different nations, with the most from America (1,7092), second most from Canada (19) and third most from the U.K. (15).
Celebrating two decades with Holland America Line, Mark said he began seafaring when he was just 16 years old, working on cargo ships and is glad to be at home on the Zuiderdam.
“Every cruise is very different,” he says. “Cruise ships are very big and require a great navigation team. We all work together and this ship has a fantastic team.”
My Comfy Stateroom (5025) on Zuiderdam
Seeing the verandah on my stateroom made me happy. Large with two chairs and a table, the verandah was a wonderful place to watch the sea flow. Cabin attendants Toto and Lasy kept the verandah glass at the lower half of the railing sparkling clean for easy visibility.
A peaceful white-and-taupe décor welcomed me each time I opened the stateroom door. The bed was large and comfy, with nightstands on each side. Plenty of storage space and European, American and USB outlets.
My bathroom had a bathtub and a shower, along with Elemis toiletries. A sofa, coffee table, desk, chair, safe and mini-fridge completed the stateroom with a large screen TV fixed to the wall across from my bed.
A Choice of Five Dining Venues
Zuiderdam offered five dining venues, two of which were extra-cost options. The Lido Market buffet on Deck 9 featured casual dining with many choices from early morning to late at night. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered fantastic views.
The Dive-In on Deck 9 had fast food like burgers, hot dogs and fries. The two-deck main Dining Room had a lengthy menu with excellent choices.
The two extra-charge restaurants were Canaletto ($25) and Pinnacle Grill ($52). Canaletto is known for its fresh Italian pasta made from scratch every day. Pinnacle Grill specializes in fresh fish, steak and seafood.
Onboard Activities and Entertainment
I carried the six-page Daily newsletter with me because there were many activities and so much entertainment every day.
Live music could be found in the Rolling Stone Lounge, Billboard Onboard, Ocean Bar and Explorer’s Lounge.
Then there was the World Stage theater with entertainers like Breton Thunder, the Dam Band, Zuiderdam Singers, magician Jason Bird and much more.
A Moving Shore Excursion to the Titanic Cemetery
When the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, the Mackay-Bennett ship was among four Canadian vessels given the grim task of recovering bodies left floating in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.
The ships were commissioned by the White Star Line, the owner of the Titanic, which had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, the reportedly “unsinkable” Titanic took the lives of 1,497 of the 2,209 people aboard the ship.
The small Mackay-Bennett was equipped as a floating morgue, carrying 100 coffins, 100 tons of ice and enough embalming supplies for 70 bodies.
“But what they found was so many more bodies. It was impossible to bring them all back and bury them,” tour guide Helen said.
“Many of the Titanic victims were buried at sea but 209 bodies were brought to Halifax, the closest major port to the Titanic disaster,” Helen said.
Visiting Titanic Graves in Halifax: Learning Stories of Lives Lost
Quietly walking through Fairview Lawn Cemetery on our shore excursion from Holland America Zuiderdam, Helen pointed out the graves of 121 Titanic victims, more than any other cemetery in the world.
The small granite blocks paid for by the White Star Line were arranged in a way that resembled a ship’s hull. Many of the Titanic dead buried here are still unidentified. And many more bodies were never found.
“The tombstones in Fairview Lawn Cemetery carry the date of death along with the number in which each body was recovered,” Helen said.
Space was deliberately left on the grave stones to add the victim’s name, should it ever be discovered. Very few have been.
Larger, more decorative graves were commissioned by the victim’s family, friends or other groups. Families that could afford it often had their dead relatives transported elsewhere for burial.
One grave was known for decades as “The Unknown Child,” a toddler wearing brown leather shoes when his body was recovered from the disaster site five days after the sinking.
“The crew of the Mackay-Bennett pulled the body of the fair-haired child aboard as victim No. 4,” Helen said. “He couldn’t be identified so the crew called him ‘Our Babe’ and paid for his burial with a fancier stone.”
Identifying ‘Our Babe’
Decades went by. In 2001, modern DNA testing had grown so much that the child’s body was exhumed. All that remained in the child’s coffin was a bone fragment and three teeth. But that was enough to give the baby boy a name.
“Our Babe” was later identified in 2007 as 19-month-old Sidney Leslie Goodwin of England. Sidney had boarded the Titanic with his parents and five siblings.
The family was heading from England to Niagara Falls, New York, where father Frederick Goodwin hoped to get a job with a new power station opening there. Frederick’s brother Thomas was already in Niagara Falls. The family was traveling as third-class passengers.
“It is said that all the lifeboats had already been launched and there was no place for the Goodwin family. They all perished,” Helen said.
In August 2008, a memorial service was held for relatives of the Goodwin family who chose to leave the “Unknown Child” headstone and add another footstone with the baby’s name and birthdate. Visitors often leave toys, money, trinkets and other memorabilia on the baby’s grave.
The Grave of Ernest Edward Samuel Freeman
With disdain in her voice, Helen pointed out a large tombstone. The disdain was not for the honorable man praised there. But for the man whose guilty conscience, she said, may have forced him to pay for the stone.
The man who made sure, she added, that everyone knew he purchased the marker for Ernest Edward Samuel Freeman.
In large print at the bottom of the stone are the words – “Erected by Mr. J. Bruce Ismay to commemorate a long and faithful service.”
Chairman of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, Ismay survived the sinking, while his personal valet, Freeman, was said to have helped save other passengers and went down with the ship.
“Despite the order of women and children first, Ismay got in one of the lifeboats,” Helen said.
With only enough lifeboats for about half of the people on the ship, Ismay claimed that he boarded lifeboat C because there were no women and children in the area. Eyewitnesses later disputed that assertion.
Branded a coward, Ismay retired from the White Star Line a year after the Titanic tragedy. He died of a stroke on Oct. 17, 1937, at the age of 74.
The Tale of J. Dawson’s Grave
“This is not the Jack Dawson that many people think he is,” Helen said. “Women would leave love notes and flowers and other personal items on the grave of J. Dawson.”
At that, Helen showed a photograph of Joseph Dawson, a 23-year-old Irishman who shoveled coal in the Titanic’s boiler room.
“He is not the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 film ‘Titanic.’ There was no real Jack Dawson on the Titanic,” Helen said.
Movie director James Cameron said he had no idea there was a Dawson on the Titanic at all. He just liked the name.
When the movie came out, the J. Dawson grave in the Nova Scotia cemetery became a popular pilgrimage for lovesick fans of all ages.
On the actual Titanic, Joseph Dawson was off duty when the ship hit the iceberg. Awakened, Dawson grabbed his dungaree coat and went to the boat deck.
With all the lifeboats gone and the Titanic taking its final plunge, Dawson removed his heavy work boots, jumped into the sea and tried to swim before he died of hypothermia. His body was still floating when the Mackay-Bennett arrived.
Dawson became body No. 227. He was identified by the National Sailors and Firemen’s Union Card No. 35638 for J. Dawson, which he had on his body. Since nobody claimed his body, Dawson was buried in the Halifax cemetery.
Ida and Isidor Straus: Together Until The End
They chose to die together. The last time survivors saw them, the couple was sitting hand in hand on the deck of the sinking ship. His body was recovered. Hers never was.
Co-owners of Macy’s department store, Ida and Isidor Straus had been on a winter holiday in Europe and were returning to New York. Married for 41 years, the couple was booked in first class. When the ship began sinking, both Ida and Isidor could have taken refuge in a lifeboat.
The story goes, Helen said, that Ida was ready to take a seat in a lifeboat when Isidor said he would wait until the women and children who had clustered nearby were safely seated. A crew member told 67-year-old Isidor that because of his age, he could join his 63-year-old wife in the lifeboat.
Isidor again refused, noting that women and children needed to be rescued first. That’s when, the story goes, Ida famously stated, “We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go.”
When the Mackay-Bennett recovered Isidor’s body, he was identified by a gold and onyx locket found inside his watch pocket. Inside the tightly sealed locket were photographs of his oldest son and oldest daughter. Isidor’s body was returned home, where he was buried in the Bronx.
John Jacob Aster IV: Body # 124
One of the richest men in the world, 47-year-old John Jacob Astor IV, was on the Titanic after an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt with his 18-year-old bride, Madeleine. His wife was five months pregnant and the couple wanted their child to be born in America.
Astor was said to be among the first to realize the Titanic was sinking. He awoke his sleeping wife, told her to dress in her warmest clothes, wear the jewelry they had and escorted her to a lifeboat, telling her, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Survivors said that Astor was last seen smoking a cigarette on the deck. He went down with the ship. His son Vincent from Astor’s first marriage offered a $100,000 reward for the recovery of his father’s body.
Ten days after the sinking, the crew of the Mackey-Bennett pulled body No. 124 from the sea. He was later identified as Astor from the initials sewn into his jacket and from a solid gold watch in his pocket, engraved JJA.
Astor was buried in New York. Madeleine reached the rescue ship and gave birth to their son, John Jacob Astor VI, four months later.
Planning Another Halifax Cruise
Back on the Zuiderdam, I asked Carolyn if she was pleased with the cruise and the shore excursion to the Halifax cemetery. In fact, Carolyn said, she was so happy with her trip and learning more of the Titanic story, that she and her sister plan to book a future Zuiderdam cruise to the same destination.
“My sister has never been on a cruise,” Carolyn said. “I can hardly wait for her to see how fantastic it is.”
That’s the ultimate compliment for any cruise line. And I hear it more and more often from happy passengers who are booking a future cruise while they are already on board.
Also on More Time To Travel:
Motoring through Britain: The Beatles, Titanic and Single Malt Scotch
Disclosure: The author was a guest of Holland America Line but any opinions expressed in this post are her own.
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