It was the most insulting occupation possible. It was the butt of jokes for generations. It was an unthinkable position in which to be.
Captain of The Titanic.
Joke…
As the Titanic was sinking, its passengers were praying, screaming, crying and 
running. One passenger found the captain and urgently asked him this question: "How far are we from land?"
Captain: "Two miles."
Passenger: "Only two miles? I think I can swim that far. In which direction should I swim?"
Captain: "Downward."
Joke…
The Titanic captain calls a meeting of his officers.
"I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"The good news."
"We'll get eleven Oscars."
This is worth mentioning — at least we think it is — because for more than a century the captain of the Titanic has been derisively chastised for allowing the then-big ship to hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean…and now his position is in demand.
As you may have heard or read, there is a replica of the Titanic apparently under construction. It's scheduled for completion three years from now, according to Clive 
Palmer, the Australian billionaire whose brainchild this is. The idea is that the Titanic will look as it did that cold night in April 1912, from menus to class of passengers (1st, 2nd, 3rd) to lack of televisions to swimming pools and gyms that look as they did 102 years ago.
While the mining magnate hasn't started recruiting staff, he has already had applications.
Eight people want to be the captain, whose name was Edward Smith.
"Some," Palmer told an Australian newspaper, "are cruise-ship captains and some are super tanker captains."
Note: the successful applicant will not be paid according to the pay scale of 1912…but to the scale of 2016.
Titanic II — as he has named it — has also attracted passengers-to-be. Apparently, there are wealthy Americans willing to pay $1 million to be first-class passengers when the ship leaves Southampton late in 2016. About a week later, it will arrive in New York, which of course its predecessor never did.
As long as the captain steers clear of icebergs.
Norwegian Epic
13 nights
October 20, 2013
Barcelona, Funchal, St. Thomas, Miami
Inside: $499
Cost per day: $38
www.ncl.com