To get a first-class room on the RMS Titanic in 1912, it might have cost upwards of $4,300. In 2017 dollars, it's roughly $105,000.
Incidentally, that's how much it costs to get on the private submarine that will take dozens of people to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, where the Titanic now lies.
Everett-based OceanGate is building that sub here in the Puget Sound. The company will take 54 people along with their crew next spring to comb over the wreck.
OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush emphasized that these are not tourists -- people will be expected to help document the expedition.
"This is not a sit-and-be-entertained kind of experience," Rush said.
In May 2018, the company will load the Cyclops 2 submarine into a truck to Newfoundland. Over the course of seven weeks, explorers will use new technology to document the decay at the underwater heritage site.
Rush said more people have climbed Mount Everest and been to space than have seen the Titanic.
"I think it's hard for people to appreciate how little there is in the world as far as resources go to take people underwater," Rush said.
The Titanic project will be a multi-year survey. The spots on next year's expedition have already been filled. But people can begin applying to the 2019 expedition.
