While Germany's advertisement scared away some would-be Lusitania passengers, most placed their faith in the British Navy to protect the ship, and some laughed off the risk altogether. In their position, would you have cancelled your ticket?
Created: 03/20/16
Replies: 19
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
While Germany's advertisement scared away some would-be Lusitania passengers, most placed their faith in the British Navy to protect the ship, and some laughed off the risk altogether. In their position, would you have cancelled your ticket?
Join Date: 01/01/16
Posts: 434
I do believe I would have canceled my trip, especially if I was traveling with children. I am really not a brave person! Knowing the outcome of the Titanic, knowing how many lives were lost and the horror those passengers went through I am sure I would have cancelled. Even today I would not be fond of getting on a cruise ship!
Join Date: 03/01/12
Posts: 24
Join Date: 01/25/16
Posts: 179
If I had been traveling myself, I probably would have seriously considered delaying the trip. But I think most of the passengers probably didn't take the threats very seriously. Plus, as stated above, the British Navy would gave been able to protect them. Indeed, many passengers and crew did assume the British Navy would be monitoring and protecting them.
Join Date: 06/10/13
Posts: 27
No I probably wouldn't. I take the position like the passengers on the ocean liner "that it wouldn't happen to me". This was a newer liner that had a stellar safety record commissioned by the British military and would be protected if there was a problem.
Join Date: 09/08/12
Posts: 75
Join Date: 10/16/10
Posts: 872
I'm quite sure I would have gone regardless. I think I would have felt the concerns were overplayed, and would have banked on the ship being too well-built to sink. I also would have convinced myself that no one would be heartless enough to endanger that many civilians at one time.
Join Date: 08/12/15
Posts: 167
Yes, I would have cancelled because there was a what going on in Europe! I'm very cautious, and would not feel like it was safe for any civilians to be on the water with warships around! Just because there are Americans on board does not guarantee safety!
Join Date: 03/15/12
Posts: 22
Join Date: 12/03/11
Posts: 271
I'm fairly risk-averse and doubt I would have booked passage in the first place, given the presence of warships and submarines in the Atlantic. But if I had booked passage, I'm fairly certain I would have canceled.
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 250
Join Date: 03/13/14
Posts: 51
This reminds me of living in today's era, there are threats all around us. The boundaries between civilian and solider are not as clear. I am highly risk adverse, but yet life goes on. I think Larsen tried to show us how uninvolved the Americans were during the lead up to WWI. There is another thread that kind of touches on this, what are the parallels? Perhaps we find ourselves in a time where we, too, are living in a bit of bliss based on our location in the US. I think of Brussels and Paris and think, would I still want to go out knowing what we know now? Maybe the question is, if I were a Lusitania passenger how would have I evaluated the risk? It seems that many at the time thought it was not too risky. My guess is that I would have reacted the same.
Join Date: 04/18/12
Posts: 73
Since the war was well underway, I probably would not have booked passage in the first place. But some of the passengers were headed home, so it's hard to say what I would have done if that were my situation. I'm reminded of the trip my husband and I took to Egypt in 2008. I know I would not go to that part of the world now, but I have friends who went on a pilgrimage to Israel and spent part of the time near the Lebanese border. They had a marvelous time, but I would not have taken the trip.
Join Date: 07/29/14
Posts: 62
Being the cautious woman I am noted for, I believe that I would have cancelled but hindsight is always easier to say what I might have done at the time. Perhaps in my desire to travel on such a magnificent ship, I might have been persuaded by the Cunard Line, that it would be safe to travel with full British escort through the war zone.
When I was younger, I may have felt differently than I do today as a senior citizen!
Join Date: 01/17/16
Posts: 7
I don't believe the passengers would have known their fate before hand so, no I would not have canceled my ticket due to the fact that you can't know that it would have happened. Everyday we do things that are dangerous and we take that risk knowing something could happen but we still do them.
Join Date: 07/16/14
Posts: 374
In my youth? Probably not! Although, growing up in Manhattan, I've always had a good sense of avoiding neighborhoods that had an iffy rep. Europe was in the midst of a War. Don't think I'd have booked to begin with. Now, in my 70's? Definitely would NOT book.
Join Date: 11/12/11
Posts: 31
No I wouldn't have canceled. I would have believed what everyone was saying. The Lusitania was safe, faster than submarines and the British will be protecting them at all times with their warships. I'm in love with travel and would have taken the risk.
Join Date: 02/20/16
Posts: 5
If I were going home, I would've gone for it, but if it was just to take a trip for travel's sake, no thank you. I'm not a cruise-type person so I wouldn't have needed much convincing to cancel. Hindsight is always easy, though. It seemed that most of the passengers believed they were going to be protected. Call it naivete or just faith that no one could be capable of purposely torpedoing a passenger vessel. The reality of that is just too heinous to conceive of.
Join Date: 10/23/12
Posts: 85
Join Date: 04/05/16
Posts: 23
I probably would have kept my plans in tact and travelled on the Lusitania choosing to believe it was safer than any vessel ever built. I also would have believed that it would be protected from German U-Boats. What happened to the Lusitania was inconceivable to most people.
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