Passengers searching for a glimpse of the R.M.S. Titanic aboard the submersible that disappeared within the North Atlantic this week have endured hours in a harmful drop to the ocean flooring aboard a cramped craft with a single porthole.

Mike Reiss, a producer and author for “The Simpsons,” boarded the vessel, referred to as the Titan, final summer time. He stated that passengers had been required to signal a waiver that talked about demise 3 times on the primary web page.

Passengers on his 10-hour journey — a visit that may price as much as $250,000 — had been composed however excited, he stated. Sandwiches and water had been out there on the vessel, however he recalled being instructed that many passengers didn’t eat through the journey due to pleasure, and that the rudimentary bathroom on board had by no means been used.

OceanGate Expeditions, which operates the vessel, has described the journey on its web site as a “thrilling and unique travel experience.” The firm didn’t instantly reply to a request for extra data on Tuesday.

The Titan is a good match. David Pogue, a CBS reporter and former New York Times tech columnist who has been on board, described the cylinder as “about the size of a minivan.”

Images from OceanGate present a vessel with an interior like a metal tube, the place passengers can sit on the flat flooring with their backs to the curved partitions. There is a few overhead lighting however no chairs, and little room to maneuver or stand upright.

Still, Mr. Reiss, who had beforehand traveled with OceanGate Expeditions to see Hudson Canyon off the shores of New York City, described the journey to the Titanic as “very comfortable” and stated he fell asleep through the quiet, dimly lit descent. “You just drop like a stone for two and a half hours,” he stated.

As the submersible made its technique to the Titanic, Mr. Reiss stated, it was carried astray by underwater currents. The compass was “acting very weird,” he recalled, and the staff knew solely that they had been about 500 yards from the place they need to have been.

Still, the Titan, which might spend solely three hours on the ocean flooring, managed to reach on the wreck with roughly 20 minutes to spare for what Mr. Reiss known as a fast “photo op.” He was in a position to see the sunken ship by the porthole, which he described as the dimensions of a washer window.

The wreck was “the biggest thing in the world,” he stated, “but you’re in such darkness, you just don’t know where it is going to be.”